Wirlwind of Weekends

What do you mean there's an online life outside of Facebook?
I suppose I've just been neglecting to write anything here lately on the grounds that "I'll do it later." Anyway it seems like I've had something to do for the last few weekends.
The first big event was a friend Shane's birthday party the last weekend of May. Jay and I drove over to La Crosse and arrived at The Freight House just ahead of everybody else. I presume the place used to be an old train station, or depot, or something. It was huge inside! Anyway, we had a great steak dinner, and I can't speak for anyone else, but I was stuffed! After dinner the whole party wandered a few blocks over to a place called The Starlight Lounge. This place was a lounge right out of 50's or 60's! There was even a live band playing music that matched the theme. The band was a little loud which made conversation difficult but we survived. Jay had to work the next morning, so we took off after a while and the rest of the folks headed off to another bar called Players.

The next weekend was a boys weekend in the Twin Cities. Bill picked up Jay and I and we started by heading up to Lino Lakes to visit a friend. After that we took a quick detour to my office. In the past Bill had expressed an interest in seeing the place. After a tour of the office we headed to Minneapolis to meet up with with Erin and Paul at the hotel. After checking into our rooms, and getting a bunch of vouchers for the hotel bar and for brunch, we were all hungry, so we had lunch at a place called "Rock Bottom." We took the scenic route on the way there, but found a more direct route back to the hotel afterwords! We had some time to kill before dinner so we decided to go see a movie. We drove over to Roseville in hopes of catching a showing of Up. Unfortunately Up sold out a little after we got there so we settled for Night at the Museum 2. It actually wasn't all that bad.
After the movie we headed back to the hotel and cashed in some of the vouchers for happy hour. Next we decided it was time for dinner, so we headed over to Brit's Pub. Unfortunately it had been raining on and off all day, and it was raining again when we were seated, so there was no way we were going to get a table out on the roof. I think everyone had a good meal, and I can certainly recommend the Guinness roast beef. It was so tender it just fell apart! After dinner we planned to go back to the hotel and freshen up, or whatever, before heading out to the bars. But after a big dinner, and a few drinks folks started nodding off instead, and our big night on the town turned into everyone falling asleep around eleven! The next morning we all got up for brunch in the hotel restaurant. Erin inadvertently got into a napkin folding contest with the waitstaff while we were waiting for the food to be served. After brunch we checked out. Paul and Erin had plans with family so they were going to stick around the Cities for a while. Bill, Jay, and I wound up heading home.

The next week was a short work week for me because we were off to Kohler, Wisconsin Wednesday afternoon. Jay has wanted to tour the Kohler factory for a while, and the last tour of the week was Thursday. We got on the road, and it was a fairly uneventful drive, aside from a little construction and a much needed break for dinner and stretching. We pulled into the hotel parking lot around 10:30 or 11 pm and we were so tired we pretty much headed up to out room and crashed.
We got up the next morning, showered and grabbed a quick bite to eat before catching a shuttle over to the Kohler Design Center where the factory tour started. Our tour guide was an older guy who had worked in the iron works for about thirty years, if I remember right. The tour started out with a short, completely forgettable, movie. The Kohler company was founded in the year blah, it started out making blah, blah, and blah. If you've ever been on a tour anywhere you know the script.
From there the four hour walking tour of the factories started. I'll spare you the details of the tour, but we basically saw the 'pottery' building (porcelain sinks, toilets, drinking fountains), the iron works (cast iron sinks, bath tubs), the brass works (fixtures), and a plumbing area where the workings of all the whirlpool tubs were assembled.
After the tour we went went back to the Design Center. The Design Center is also a kind of a catalog store and design showcase. You can wander around and see all the sinks, tubs, toilets, fixtures and everything else Kohler makes. They also have guest designers come in and create rooms to show how different Kohler products could be used. There were some really cool examples, but nothing Jay and I would be able to afford!
After the tour we were hungry so we started looking around for someplace to eat and decided to grab something from Quiznos. I was tired so we went back to the hotel room and I wound up taking a nap before dinner.

A word about our hotel room before I go on.
It rocked!
If you look at the picture of the shower above, you'll see five adjustable shower heads. One of the valves on the right let you switch between the two overhead, the three at chest height, or both sets. When they're all on you're basically standing under a cascade of nice warm massaging water! I was gonna tell Jay to steal it, then I realized a shower like that would probably empty our hot water heater in about two minutes. Oh, bother. The bed was nice and comfy, and there was a wet bar to one side. There was also a wall mounted, flat screen TV with a breakout box sitting on the dresser. The breakout box gave you a spot to plug in your own HDMI device, your laptop (VGA connector), or anything with RCA connectors. There were also speakers all over the room that played whatever was on the TV. The clock radio even had an iPod dock! Of course all toilets, sinks, fixtures, etc. were by Kohler.
Anyway, after waking up from a nap Jay and I went to a cute little Italian place that was in the same little 'strip mall' as our hotel. After dinner we wandered along the mall and into a little chocolate shop that Jay saw in a brochure. Apparently the place had become quite popular since it was recently blessed by Oprah. Jay and I picked out some chocolates, and each got a gelato before going for a walk around the little lake that our hotel overlooked. As we were getting close to the hotel again I saw something that looked like a large cat, or a small dog. After a second I realized it was a little red fox! We both watched it as it trotted away from the edge of the hotel parking lot, into a grassy field, and off towards some neighborhood. I don't think we did much more that night.
The next morning we got up, and grabbed a continental breakfast before packing up and checking out. Since we were in the area, Jay wanted to head over to Sheboygan and take a look around. He asked the desk clerk that was checking us out if there were any sites we should see. She grabbed a map and highlighted the route to Sheboygan, pointed out a good restaurant along the river, and said there was a lighthouse out on a breakwater. We drove out to Sheboygan and parked in the parking lot of what looked like a city park. We took a few hours to walking around, checking everything out. The first thing we did was head out on the breakwater to see the lighthouse. We also walked along the Sheboygan river and Lake Michigan, looking at all the little shops and charter services, and went out on the other breakwater. At that point it was getting towards lunch time, so we decided to retrace our route along the Sheboygan river and look for someplace to eat. As we were walking back Jay pointed out "Your forehead looks kinda red!"
Crap.
Well we stopped at a little place called The Mucky Duck Shanty for lunch, and to check out the severity of the sunburn. Both of us were pretty red. By the time we finished lunch it was about time to head back to the car and make our way to Jamie and Bill's place in Madison.

The other half of this mini-vacation was to celebrate Sarah's birthday. Cindy, another college friend of Sarah, Jamie, and myself, was also showing up. I hadn't seen Cindy since I graduated, but I heard she had gone over to Japan for a few years, and that was about all I knew.
Well when Jay and I got to Jamie and Bill's place, Sarah was already there and the first order of business was to run out to Walgreens and get some aloe lotion for the sunburn! When we got back Jay and I started slathering on the aloe, and got some mild relief right away. I knew taking even a tepid shower the next day was going to be an exercise in pain.
Well after a bit Cindy arrived and we got down to B.S.ing and eventually a dinner of hamburgers and hotdogs. Hurray for grilling!
At some point in the evening I'd mentioned that I had never seen Hot Fuzz, so Sarah declared "INTERVENTION!"and we watched that before we all turned in for the evening.
The next morning Jamie, Sarah, Cindy, Jay and I all went out for breakfast at this cool little hippy place, I forget the name of it. You place your order when you walk in, and when your food is ready, the people in the kitchen bellow out your name, and you go grab it! From there we went to the Farmer's Market which was right by the capitol. After that it was back to the house, and then we went out yarn shopping with Sarah. We hit a couple different spots, and the second one had a little café in back. Everyone but Sarah wound up relaxing back while while she checked out all the yarn. After that we still had some time to kill before dinner so we swung past some lake front hangout at the University. Eventually it was time for dinner!
Since it was Sarah's birthday celebration she chose a Japanese steakhouse. Well I call them Japanese steakhouses. The place where you sit in front of a hibachi and the chef sets stuff on fire, does tricks, flips food at you, etc. Jamie was brave and ordered sushi, and the rest of us had something off the grill. At the end, word had gotten out that we were celebrating a birthday so the staff came out with a fruit plate with a little candle. When we all done, and the bills had been paid (higher mathematics were required to split the bill) and we were back outside, Bill asked who wanted to go to the half-price bookstore. Well just about everybody's arm shot up and we spent an undetermined amount of time scampering through the book store around the corner from the restaurant.
After we all bought our fill of books, we headed back to Jamie and Bill's place. When we got back I dug out my Kindle so I could show it to a presumably interested crowd. I was heading to the bathroom first, probably to slather on more aloe, when Sarah saw it so I gave it to her and she took off with it. A few moments later I heard what can only be described as a massive, spontaneous nerdgasm as the Kindle appeared in front of geeks and hard core readers! I went after it, and wound giving a little show and tell to everyone. Bill seemed particularly fascinated with the display. After the excitement died down I think we just started talking, or playing Magic before eventually heading off for bed.
The next morning Jamie made French Toast, bacon, sausage, and all the usual stuff for breakfast. I can't remember if Cindy showed us her presentation on Japan that day, or if it was sometime on Saturday. This is what happens when you get old, and when you wait a month to write about something! Anyway, her presentation is a must see if you ever plan on going to Japan. She points out points out different cities and regions of interest, what to expect when you go there, the climate throughout the year, and how long you should plan on staying in each place!
Eventually Bill busted out his camera for some group shots.

It wasn't too much longer after that Jay and I started hugging people good-bye and packing up the car to head home. Jay took the wheel for the trip home, since I had driven up to that point, and I pretty much read all the way home.

What did I do the weekend after that? Oh yeah, Father's Day! I went up to my parent's house that Sunday. My brother and his wife apparently had other plans, and Jay had to work. More steak for the rest of us! So dinner on Father's Day was just Dad, Grandpa, Mom and myself.

The weekend after that was my sister-in-laws birthday. Jay had to start work at 6am that morning so he was done by 2pm which meant he could join. We took off for the cities around 3pm to meet up with everyone for dinner. Once everyone got there we oohed and ahhed over every little thing my niece did. We ate, and oohed and ahhed as the niece ate baby food and mashed potatoes. Then we oohed and ahhed, as the birthday desert got passed around. Everyone headed home when the desert was gone and the bill was paid.

That brings us up to this holiday weekend! Friend Paul had people over for grilling Friday night, and Shane was kind enough to have folks over to his place on the 4th! Shane cooked for us and everything! As the night wore on people started getting chilly (yes, in July) or getting bitten by mosquitoes, so folks rotated inside and outside as smoking breaks required. When the fireworks show started, we wandered outside to the street corner, where we could see the show through a gap in the houses and trees. When the show was over people started heading home. Thanks again to Proper Eric for getting my camera back to me before I left!