Man driving vacations are GREAT, I’m never flying AGAIN!!!  OK, just a hint of sarcasm sneaking in there.  I’d say that was my longest stretch in a car since the Angel Fire trip several years ago.  Honestly it wasn’t that bad, especially considering all the money we saved over flying, renting a car, etc.  This overlooks the minor detail that we spent $1500 getting our 10-year-old vehicle ready for the trip, because I’m assuming it is now good for another 10 years.

The trip I am referring to is our 1200 mile jaunt to Loveland, OH for our second Pigfest.  We went last year and had such a good time that a repeat was definitely in order, but after the bashing our checkbook took in Europe last month we decided to make the dreaded I-70 run instead of flying.  We took off bright and early Friday morning on a blistering pace, and made pretty good time until I passed a State Trooper in Illinois at roughly Mach II.  I can’t even begin to explain why, but when I glanced ahead and saw a big white car sitting in the median with lettering all over it, all I thought was “Student Driver.”  It had a light bar and everything, it’s not like it was cleverly disguised.  One of those inexplicable optical illusions I guess.  Anyway, for whatever reason he didn’t even give me a glance, although I was conservatively 30 mph over the limit.  I took it as a sign that I’d better dial it back a few notches though, so we took it a bit slower the rest of the way.  When we got to Cincinnati, we checked into a hotel downtown, met up with everybody, and spent the rest of the evening at the Hofbrauhaus on the Kentucky side.  We were pretty spent from the drive so we didn’t make it as late as the rest of the crowd, but it was a passable effort, especially for us.

Saturday morning (OK it was “early afternoon”) we got started with a good breakfast at First Watch.  I always thought those were exclusive to KC;  Apparently I thought wrong.  After a tasty omelet, we continued even further East to the Paff Entertainment Complex in Loveland, OH.  (At least I think we were going East…  You would do well to ignore my comments on geography in general.)  The weather was perfect for an all-day outdoor party;  The high was right around 80 degrees and it was mostly sunny all afternoon.  After spending the whole day with whiffleball, cornhole, soccer, volleyball, and assorted other activities we had a huge dinner (roast pig, naturally) and then enjoyed a backyard concert by MER, out of Chicago.  It was a great show, and ended on a much better note than last year, when the police unceremoniously cut things short.  We made it a little later into the evening, and then snuck off to our tent to call it a day.  Unfortunately the unseasonably cool weather that we had enjoyed so much all day had dropped into some very unseasonable temp’s for the night.  We didn’t have any sleeping bags or blankets or anything (why would you need them in July???) and after about 30 minutes our teeth were chattering.  We called no joy and low-crawled into the house, where we scored a premium spot on a comfy hide-a-bed;  It pays to turn in early I guess.

Sunday I got up early and tried to wake Donette up;  I thought maybe we could sneak back out to the tent before anybody noticed.  Couldn’t roust her up though;  I think we were busted anyway.  We had a tasty breakfast, packed up our tent, and started the trek back to KC.  On the way out of town we stopped by Kim’s parents house and visited a while, and enjoyed a second breakfast.  (Hey, it was getting close to noon.)  We found that Ed may have been exaggerating the horrors of the West Side all along;  We didn’t get mugged, shot at, or even car-jacked the whole time we were there.  We chatted for a while, then headed out of town, stopping by Skyline Chili on our way for one last breakfast.  The drive home was as uneventful as the trip out.  Our plan was to stop in St. Louis, but we were so enthralled by the beautiful scenery of the Interstate that we just kept on going all the way to KC.  Actually we really weren’t all that tired and getting home sounded good.  Plus, “the kids” were being taken care of by Ronda and we didn’t want to push our luck with that.

Today we just rested up, washed the car, and miscellaneous stuff like that.  In a rare burst of energy, I even got my Pigfest pictures posted already.  Yes, I’m aware I don’t even have my pictures from last month up yet, so don’t bother reminding me.  For a bit more comprehensive photo coverage, check out Claire’s (Ed’s Mom) album.  You can get more wrap-up and picture links on Ed’s site too.

The update will be just a bit late on Monday, as we will be driving home from Cincinnati.  Driving??!!  Yep, driving.  We waited a bit long and airfare was too pricey.  And, not only am I being subjected to the unspeakable horror of nine hours in the car, I have been forbidden to take a laptop.  (GASP!!)  I hope we can manage some fun amidst these brutal conditions.

Our weekend sorta kinda started Thursday, which is always nice.  The Martins joined us in Westport for an O.A.R. concert.  Normally we wouldn’t take part in such wackiness on a school night, but we were feeling particularly energetic I guess.  It was a good show, other than the slightly uncomfortable feeling that we were 20 years older than everybody else.  I also had hard time shaking the notion that we were getting cheated on the venue a bit.  Saturday night Ed went to see them in Denver, where they were playing at Red Rocks; In KC the show was in a parking lot outside the friggin’ Beaumont Club.  I can’t help but notice a bit of disparity there, yet the ticket prices were the same.  Welcome to Kansas City, cultural center of the Midwest.  After carefully comparing the setlists with my seasoned eye for the arts, however, I don’t think we got shorted any on the music;  Good show.

Friday I had to work, which was pretty tough after a late night out.  I gave ‘er my usual 110% though, showing up early and staying late.  (Never know who actually reads these things…)  After that, I hit the lovely new digs at the Brooksider for a while, enjoying their copious amount of man-made shade, also known as a covered deck.  Donette joined me after a bit and we headed down to Jalapenos for a big dinner.  We were so full after that we ended up just going home and lounging in front of the TV the rest of the night.

Saturday morning I was scheduled to drop off my motorcycle at a shop in Excelsior Springs, so they can install my new handlebars and grips.  I’m pretty pumped for this upgrade, if not for leaving my toy in Excelsior all week.  I was having some trouble finding a place to get the swap done, at least in a reasonable amount of time.  Seems everybody is all booked up.  Anyway, I had to ride all the way out there and leave it with them, which I wasn’t too excited about.  I thought I heard them bang something into the gas tank last night, although it might have been my imagination.  Donette picked me up out there, and we headed over to her parents house to eat some lunch.  Gotta maximize your trips north of the river, you know.  For evening entertainment, we went to see “Sweet Charity” at Starlight with the Martins.  We haven’t been having much luck with our Starlight tickets this year.  We missed the first show entirely while we were on vacation.  At the second show, we sat in the pouring rain for the entire first half before bailing out during intermission.  Then, Saturday night the show was delayed for an hour and a half while they tried to get the stage door un-stuck.  Honestly I didn’t notice a big difference in entertainment value between staring at the door and staring at the production itself, but it was a rather boring wait.  They finally started the show around 10:00, but then we had to leave at intermission again because I had to work at midnight.

Sunday we spent the better part of the day up on Smithville Lake with the Martins and Browns.  I’d planned on smoking a “practice” brisket, even had one all seasoned up in the ‘fridge, but couldn’t refuse a little boat time.  We floated around all afternoon, listening to the Royals lose again and soaking up some sun.  I managed to burn myself again too… Slow learner.

By the way, there are some new pictures of our recent Spain trip up in the gallery; check ’em out.  Plenty more to go… I’m getting there.

The bad news is, it’s like 105 degrees out there.  Whadda ya gonna do.  That seemed like a very long weekend, most likely because of the holiday thrown in the mix last week.  We had a good Fourth, speaking of the holiday.  We headed out to Mom’s and had a festive ‘que dinner, at least as much as we could with the intermittent rain.  Dave and Larry brought lots of fireworks so we had a nice barrage of firepower too.  The kids shot off most of the stuff, although I just couldn’t help throwing just a few firecrackers.

Friday I had lots of plans, but, go figure, went to the Brooksider instead.  We didn’t go inside though, just unsociably sat outside on the deck and enjoyed the evening.  If you haven’t been to the good ol’ Brooksider recently, they’ve made considerable upgrades to the deck.  No reason to go in and get all smoky when they spent all that time and money fixing it up outside, I figure.  After hanging out down there for a while, we went across the street to the grocery store and picked up some dinner; Pork chops and potatoes to be exact.  The rest of the evening was spent hanging out our own back deck, grilling up some grub.   Came out pretty well…  I’ve been on a “fresh herb” kick lately and I think I need to be a little more judicious in my seasoning.  Just doesn’t quite have the PUNCH of dried herbs it seems.  Have to start snipping the plants a bit more liberally.

Saturday we got up and decided to go on a moderately long motorcycle ride.  Kind of test the feasibility of taking a longer trip, I suppose.  I had actually never ridden on the interstate, so that was an adventure in itself.  We ended up in lovely Kearney, MO, for no particular reason other than it seemed like a nice distance.  We hung out there for a while, cruised through the Jesse James farm and had a drink at Sonic, then headed over to Smithville and back home via 169.  The whole trip was just about 100 miles, and we fared pretty well.  Everything but my arms that is… I burned the crapola out of my upper arms where the wind blew my sleeves up and exposed my farmer’s tan.  Ouch.  Would we make it 250 miles or 300 miles in one day?  Well, that question wasn’t fully answered I don’t think.  We were ready to get off the bike when we got home, I’ll just say that.  After our heads quit vibrating, we made a tasty lamb chop dinner and spent the rest of the evening reading.

Sunday I had the bright idea to go lay out at the pool, to try and even out the sunburn I got the day before.  As I read that last line, I realize the sheer folly of my reasoning.  I guess my mission was accomplished;  My entire front side is now glowing a nice shade of radioactive red.  What was I THINKING??!!  Sheesh.  Anyway, we hung out there for a few hours and then spent a little face-time down at the Brooksider again.  After that John and Susan W. came over for dinner, so we fired up the grill again.  We broke out the rotisserie and did a pork loin, with more fresh herbs of course.  I hope that stuff grows back quick because I’ve been clipping it like crazy.  After that we watched Entourage, and then I went and slept in a tub full of aloe vera lotion.

I got nothing.  I almost started construction on an ark but got caught up in the Andy Griffith marathon.  Seriously, I have done absolutely nothing since Donette left town last Thursday for a “girl’s weekend” in Hot Springs, taking the car with her.  The dogs and I just sort of sat on the couch and sulked, staring out the window at the rain.  We were so stir-crazy by Sunday that we did go on a pretty long walk (in the rain, naturally) but other than that the entire weekend was spent playing on the computer or watching TV.  My sole accomplishment was getting Fedora Core 7 up and running in VMWare.  Wanna hear about that?  Didn’t think so.