Today is not an adventuring or roaming day. It is a stay at home and be lazy day for me, and a take Mom to the doctor day for Chris. It is not a very pretty day outside and it is getting colder rapidly, but I am still loving the day. We are finally going to have Chris’ birthday meal this evening, almost a month late.

Chris’ birthday was last month and we celebrated by going to the QU Balloon Glow with our kids. Then the next day we went on a one day adventure to Oskaloosa, IA and Chris got sick! It was a long miserable trip home for him. Taylor, also, had made reservations and bought the tickets for us to go on the Dick Brother’s Brewery tunnels tour the next day, and he thought he was going to have to miss that. He did get to feeling good enough to go on the brewery tour, so I drove and we came straight home after the tour, which was very cool. Thank you very much Taylor, Tristan, and Sierra for making it such an enjoyable event. The only down side was that they do not allow photos in the tunnels.

By the time Chris was feeling well enough to think about having a family meal, his mom, Betty Jo, was having shoulder replacement surgery, and she wasn’t up to it for a few days. Between work and some other plans we had, we were not able to schedule his meal until today. The kids won’t be able to be there because of a family event with Tristan’s family, but that is okay as we spent his birthday with them, and a few other times with them over the last few weeks. So tonight it will be us and The Moms.

Since I did not have to work today, I got up this morning and put a beef roast in the crock pot with all the fixings to make a nice gravy and started it cooking. Then I made a batch of Chris’ favorite homemade bread. By the way, as I write this the house smells amazing from the bread I just baked and the simmering beef. Later today I will cook potatoes and make mashed potatoes and maybe a veggie. Chris will finally get his requested hot beef plate birthday meal. His ice cream cake will have to wait, because I forgot to get it started a couple of days ago, and it can’t be rushed.

Now to wait for Chris and Betty Jo to get back from Hannibal 犀利士5mg to pick me up and meet Mom at Betty Jo’s and enjoy Chris’ birthday meal with The Moms.

Chris and I spent the weekend in Cedar Rapids, IA. This is the second year we have gone up for the Fairfax, IA model rocket club’s fall launch. Since there are no local model rocket clubs, Chris launches with the Fairfax group and with a club from Macomb, IL so he does not have to launch on his own. Launching models rockets on his own would not be a bad thing, but we do not have the large wide open piece of ground that would be needed.

We spent Friday night in Cedar Rapids because the launch was supposed to be Saturday starting at 9 am, but the wind was blowing so much it was postponed to Sunday morning. Good thing we had made plans to spend Saturday night in Cedar Rapids also. This schedule change worked out great because the wind speed was very low on Sunday.

With the launch postponed we had all day Saturday to explore the area and visit some of our favorite places. Since it was chilly and windy in the morning, we started the day with a drive around the outskirts of town and saw some beautiful countryside. The fall colors were absolutely stunning. After driving around for a while we decided it was warm enough to go to our favorite area of Cedar Rapids, Czech Village and New Bohemia. They are neighboring areas separated by a river and referred to together as The District. They are both beautiful old neighborhoods that are thriving with retail businesses, bars, and restaurants. There are many different types of stores including antique stores, which we both enjoy. Although this trip neither one of us found any treasures to bring home.

We also enjoy the NewBo City Market very much. It is a large building with spaces for many small businesses to have a “store front” location. There are some really good places to eat there, our favorites being the Caribbean Kitchen for the Jamaican Beef Patties and Roaster Coffee for tea! Chris likes the Chai Frappe and I like the London Fog. This time we also indulged with a Dutch Letter from the Amana Colonies Bakery.

After spending a few hours enjoying The District, we found a few thrift stores to check out. Neither one of us had any major finds just a few small things. I did get a small hand carved nativity that is signed and dated to add to my collection. We finished up the day with supper at Sugarfire BBQ and a little shopping. Then we headed back to the hotel to rest up for Sunday.

We woke up to a very chilly Sunday morning, but it was sunny and clam. After we got the car packed up, we headed back to Czech Village and Czech Town Station for breakfast. It did not disappoint! This was the first time we had tried this res威而鋼
taurant, but we will go back. After fueling up for the day, it had warmed up a bit and we headed to the Fairfax launch site.

It was a perfect day for flying model rockets, sunny and not too cold and the wind was very calm. I think all the rocketeers got to launch everything they wanted. As usual some recovered unharmed but other came back with some damage. All in all I think everyone had an enjoyable day. I know Chris did and I had a good time photographing it all.

While we were at NewBo City Market on Saturday, I was talking to one of the vendors selling home décor, including framed photos. She had a photo of a lovely old bridge and I asked if it was local and still standing; it was and still being used! She gave us the name of the bridge and general directions for finding it, and that is what we did after the rocket launch ended. And, as we were enjoying brisket at Sugarfire on Saturday evening, Chris saw a Facebook post our friend Joe had tagged him in about a rescued bridge that had been moved to a nature center in Cedar Rapids, so we went on a short hike Sunday afternoon and visited this bridge also. For those of you who don’t know, Chris loves the old iron bridges and photographing them. He really enjoys it when he finds a design he has never seen before, and these two bridges were the same design and one he have never seen before. He thinks they are probably the oldest bridges he has photographed as they were both over 140 years old. The bridges were fabulous and Chris was thrilled with getting to see them.

We had a fantastic weekend with memories made, good food consumed, last year’s acquaintances a little closer to being friends and new acquaintances made. We want to thank the Fairfax Society of Rocketry for making these two Missourians feel so welcome and wanted at their events. Here’s to the spring launch!