Dance wit cho blonde Date (reference Animal House)

It's dark and misty in Iowa AGAIN. I miss Palm Springs! I ventured there over MLK weekend with my High School buddies. It was a great respite from Iowa's gray winter. Day one in paradise was a bit rainy. After that - sunshine baby! That and my girls made all the difference. They shine like the sun too.

It was a small group this year - just four of us were able to make it to CA. But we were mighty! Paula and I arrived first - flying in the last leg together from Dallas. Julia followed from Denver shortly after. We got the rental car and headed to the resort in Indio - a suburb of Palm Springs. On the way we picked up groceries and, you guessed it, liquor! In the small world department, the wine sommelier at the liquor store, Steve, was an old friend of our classmate, Jack Bunce. He also knew our pals Roger, Kirk, and Greg. We stopped up the wine line with a walk down memory lane.

for one thin dime, Steve filled us with wine sips and memories

Then we were on to the resort, through the rain - even a bit of floodwater. Good job Paula for piloting the ship! We reached the resort and got checked in. Our nicely appointed room overlooked the Lazy River.  There were palm trees! In the morning we woke up to a sunny day yall! There was a slight chill in the air but the sun felt good as we roamed the property and got the lay of the land. The amenities included a large pool, a couple hot tubs, game room, movie room and a small store/coffee/beer place. The clubhouse for the golf course reminded me of the Atlantic Golf and Country Club - except for the palm trees and view of the low desert mountains with a dusting of snow.

That afternoon we had a date with dates! On our way to the resort, we had scoped ouShields Date Garden Store, advertising delicious "date shakes". Must have! We stopped on our way to pick up Sally from the airport. I tried several types of dates in the showroom/store. Shields invented blonde and brunette. I purchased the blonde ones. Paula, Julia and I split a delish shake and then we watch the "Must See" video - the words sex and date were involved. It was quite fascinating. The dates were yummy.

 We were thrilled when our pal Sal arrived from snowy Portland, where the two snowplows the city owns didn't bother to run by her house. Luckily her husband Bob got her to the airport. Our girl needed some R&R. We sat in the hot tub that afternoon and were entertained by 86 year old Elsie, who was originally from the Cedar Rapids area. She relocated to Alaska where she raised a family for many years, now living in Seattle. The four of us couldn't really get a word in edgewise about our exciting exotic lives. Interesting (self-centered) lady.

downtown PS

The rest of the weekend was filled with laughter, shopping and serious talk about family, cooking, health and the state of the world. Not in that order. I'm lucky to roll with some good cooks! One night we had grilled swordfish steak tacos and fresh mango salsa. Thanks, Jules! I stuck to clean up duty.

One highlight of the weekend was lunch with our dear friend Robyn's sister Karla, who has lived in PS many years. It was loads of fun to catch up with Karla who reminds me greatly of her momma, Jody Henningsen. We sure missed Robbie Dob, though. She was stuck in Orlando due to work obligations.

Left - Sal, Julia, Paula   Right - me, Karla

Some of my favorite time in Palm Springs was spent walking each morning with Paula. The sun shined and the scenery was beautiful! I could get used to that.

walk view

What a fun vacation! I wasn't ready to go home. The weather, the food, the bevies. No work. My magnificent pals. I brought some blonde dates home. $7.99!

Checking In

The Class of 1976 Reunion is in the books. Phew! We had a grand time.

Some highlights:

• Paula and Julia came to my house Thursday night and we went downtown to my fave restaurant Alba, and hit Governor's Plaza to get our picture on Cass County - the whole state is portrayed in concrete.

• On Friday morning, we took off for Walnut, taking Highway 6 part of the way to avoid heavy I-80 traffic. The huge antique festival was going on. I purchased a non-antique metal rooster for my front landscaping.

• We took another road trip for lunch to the small town of Hamlin - where the bridge was out, so we took gravel. Paula's truck was up to the task. A nice man in bib overhauls parked at the first stop sign in town, right in front of us and walked back to speak to Paula. He was concerned three gals in a Texas truck were lost. He directed us to Darrel's for pork tenderloins. Yum! #smalltownfriendly
• The route to Anita from there was not easy either - with more backtracking due to roadwork. We had booked rooms in the Anita Grant Motel because the Walnut Antique event booked all rooms for miles around.  
• When we went to check in, the first words out of the hotel owner's mouth were "I've had surgery to have my toenails removed, and you can't have the Brass Bed room after all." That was not a good sign. Sandy Bullock (no relation) proved to have Hotel ADD. The check in process took over a half hour, during which she showed us several rooms. Then she suggested we probably should have booked at Chestnut Charm - the Bed and Breakfast in Atlantic. Hmmm, is the hotel operation bar too high for you Sandy? Sandy told us her new sign had the word Grand removed from the name - because she didn't want people to think they had a pool, or you know - grand stuff.
• When the check in process was complete, I had five keys for the five rooms for everyone in our group - even though half our group hadn't yet arrived. And I didn't even fill out a registration form. Ahhh, gotta love small town Iowa. Julia, Paula and I had a much-deserved cocktail before getting ready for the night's picnic.
• The Class of 1976 picnic at Sunnyside Park was a rousing success. I enjoy the picnic style that allows people to just stop by. I chatted with lots of different classmates that night. I was sorry Cindy Westfall Turner, who was instrumental in planning the event, wasn't able to attend due to an ill family member. There were around 100 in attendance. We stayed until dark and then stopped by a local establishment before heading back to the motel 15 miles away.
• I was a bit disappointed that more classmates didn't join us at the City Park on Saturday morning for the hike. #lightweights! I had a couple minutes to take a photo of the statue honoring veterans, including my great, great grandfather Adnah David, civil war vet.

  

the intrepid walkers

• Thank goodness Todd Pellet hi-jacked my planned walk route. I didn't know about the Quarry - a beautiful area with concrete trails and ponds along the East Nishna Botna river and the confluence with Troublesome Creek, just north of the downtown area and restored Depot. When we were done, my phone said 11,000 steps, some 5 miles!

Trish and Paula check out park information

• We ran errands after that. First stop - Henningsen Locker. Julia's family runs this place that is hugely popular and it was crazy busy. Paula picked up some RollyPolly. That's not really what it's called, but it's something like that. It's sliced, spiced meat that is excellent. And we stopped at Bonneson's Five and Dime. The store just moved to a new location, so there is even more room for bargains. I purchased a butterfly on a stick for Patrick's grave.
• At noon we met Paul at the Super Bowl for lunch. He'd been in Portland for work all week and drove over from West Des Moines to attend the evening event and to see his adopted class - he knows my classmates better than his own! Soon a whole host of people were there for lunch, the '76 golfers and the hikers. The stories started flying, nothing was sacred - Ted Becker, Ted Wickman, our senior party (though nobody else admitted being there - did I graduate alone?), hunting, keggers). It was such fun.

I don't think it was a fish story...

Dave, Jack and Trish listen in rapt attention

Robyn tells of the time Ted Becker removed everything out of her apartment for a prank - down to the toothbrush!

#clean up nice...

We wear a lot of blue

The food was excellent (courtesy Bob's Downtowner) and drinks were good. The stories that night were hilarious. Deputy Bill Ayers missed his calling and should be in stand up comedy. Roger asked a couple of us to speak. Kirk and Dwight had messages that were a bit spiritual, very uplifting. I talked about an electric tooth brush. But in the end I did bring in a message - one I've shared here before. My friendships with some of these people stretches back over 50 years. My girlfriends have been especially important to me. They've been there in in good times and bad. Life can wear us down, empty us out. My friends help fill my bucket back up. It was fun seeing classmates from the first 18 years of my life.

We extended the evening by sitting on the Country Club deck until after midnight. It was a gorgeous Iowa night. Paul Goldsmith was a wonderful designated driver and drove the daisies back to Anita safely. On Sunday we ended up eating Casey's Donuts and breakfast sandwiches at the Anita Park. I did get my quota of laughs in. I care so much about these ladies!

 

Thanks to Roger Underwood, real life Nancy Drew for solving the Case of the Missing Classmates. He's invested a lot of time into our class, genuinely caring about the lives about each and every one of us. Everyone had a great time. 2021 - it's a date. I think Todd Pellet volunteered... 

Friends for humanity

I'm still basking in the glow of a fabulous trip to Oregon with five of my best friends in this world. As I traveled to see them last Thursday my mantra to myself was that I wanted to be able to fill up their buckets over the weekend. And with any luck, I'd get my pail filled too. You know that deal - each day you start with a pail and some people scoop it out and others scoop stuff into it - filling you up.

I kinda needed some filling. It feels good to help fill others' pails too. This year Sal had invited us to Oregon. Two days at the beach and two days at her place on the Sandy River. Robyn, Paula, Chris, Julia and I were all able to make it. Pam couldn't make it, sadly. We had to make due with - you guessed it (or maybe not) a can of Pam.

I was the last to arrive at the airport. Wouldn't you know it - they had made a new friend, Eddie the bartender. And had a few drinks...

Eddie loves the AHS Class of '76

And we were off! To Rockaway Beach on the Oregon Coast - a nice 3 bedroom little condo. We hung out, talked, walked on the beach and laughed. My ribs got sore. On Friday afternoon we stopped by a little spot and picked up dungeness crab for the evening meal. My good cook friends took care of meal prep. The crab was already steamed. There were yummy red potatoes and a delish peach salad too. A meal fit for the queens that we are. We talked politics, health, family, sports - all of it.

After supper,  Jules broke out her Cards Against Humanity game. It's pretty raunchy but was quite fun - and this from a known game scrooge (me). We howled with laughter at times. Robyn kicked our butts - clever gal that she is. Each night I was first to go to bed. It seems laughing wears me out! But I was up early.

On Saturday we shopped a bit in our little beach burg. I scored some colorful fingerless gloves for work (aka the frozen cubicle). Then we were on our way to wine country via cheese country - Tillamook. It was a fun day with a couple wine tastings and a picnic at a place called White Rose - just like our favorite Atlantic bar. We'd picked up chicken and pork at a roadside grocery store in one of the small towns on the route.  Too bad there was any Armie and Irma.

Wine tasting

Sally and husband Bob's place on the Sandy River is perfect and so was the weather. We arrived there Saturday evening. It was a nice relaxing night sitting on the deck. On Sunday morning we went out to breakfast before saying goodbye before two of our group had to say goodbye - Robyn and Chris.

With our friend the bear

 We went for a hike that afternoon. The Sandy River is low. And it was smoky in the area due to fires in Washington. The drought is taking its toll. Paula, Julia, Sal and I watched a movie that night, and headed to the airport Monday morning.

Sitting on the deck at Sal's solving the world's problems

Julia took off first, but Sal and I got to meet Paula's friend Vic who flew in to meet her. They were going to travel on to Seaside, Seattle, Victoria and finally a cruise in Alaska. That sounded better than going back to work! My flight stretched late into the night, but I wasn't sad or grumpy. I was smiling.

My pail was full from a few days with my besties. Those are some great ladies. They shared their joy, sorrows, aches and pains. And listen to mine. Somehow that helps me feel better. Sharing the one's load always does. They filled me in on life tips and recipes.

Sally thinks we should put together a booklet from the weekend full of all the information passed out through our time together. I don't think Julia has a recipe for that salads she created - she just knows how to throw stuff together and make them fantastic. Rob can do it too. Just like the hair gene...I don't have that food/entertainment gene either. I need an actual recipe. I am able to spout off many insignificant factoids however - a font of knowledge! Too bad that doesn't feed anyone. Paula is also competent in the kitchen. Though she, Chris and I tended to work on the clean up crew. Rob is also an excellent bartender. Great skills that girl.

Good thing I get to see them all again next summer at our 40th Class Reunion in Atlantic (or risk the wrath of Roger Underwood).