Tuesday in Iowa

I'm just learning how to add pictures, so bear with me.. these are backwards.

I woke up at 8 (6 PST) thinking I was doing quite well thank you! I looked over and Earla's bed was empty, breakfast smells were drifting down from upstairs and I heard conversation. OH NO, conversation without me... that will never do. I was out of bed and dressed in a flash. Earla and Chris were finishing breakfast when I entered the dining area. It seems that they hadn't noticed at all that I wasn't there. A good cup of coffee smoothed my ruffled feathers and toast, eggs and bacon didn't hurt. We discussed a number of options for exploring the Des Moines area and took off just before noon. The sun was shining and it was brisk, but the day got greyer as we went. Our moods never matched the grey though. On the way to Adele, IA we drove through an arboretum. It was beautiful with Iowa grasses and exceptional scenes greeting us over each hill. From there we went to Adele where we found a wonderful shop called Atherton House. Earla and I are standing below the sign in the picture. This little shop featured gift items from all over the world. There were no "made in China" type souvenirs, no plastic stuff. What a treat and we found a few treasures... something from Iowa. Chris bought a pumpkin soup mix and a scone mix. Then, we walked around the corner to the quilt shop. What fun! The fabric was beautiful, and there were patterns and some finished pieces. After the quilt shop, we headed to the antique store. Sadly, it was closed for lunch, so we got in the car and drove out to the lake where Mike and Chris have a home. When we got there, we made the soup and scones, and played a game of Scrabble while they cooked. Earla said to mention the BERGEL WON!!! Of course I wouldn't say that, except that Earla told me to. The soup and the cranberry orange scones were yummy. Mike joined us as we were finishing lunch. After that, we played a rousing game of Kismet and another and another, none of which Bergel won. Chris and Earla had little naps while I did a Sudoku puzzle and Mike took the dog for a walk. Then, we went out to see "the boat" that Mike is restoring. He made me clean it. Can you believe that --- cheap labor! Really not so as we went out to dinner. It was Chris' Birthday and we dined at a wonderful Italian restaurant. Because Dave Eilers said that we had to have beef in Iowa, Earla had a petite fillet and I had a steak salad. Truly, it was good Iowa steak. Along with that, there were good drinks, good bread, and good conversation. It was almost 8 when we headed back to Mike and Chris' house. There we played another rousing game of Scrabble while we watched "NCIS LA" and "The Good Wife." Critiquing the TV shows, we agreed we could skip "NCIS LA," but that we liked "The Good Wife." I'm stalling --- Earla won this game of Scrabble. We will all be tucked into our nice warm beds soon... Tomorrow we head north past my childhood home and on to Owatonna, MN.