Adventure Time!

Henry Vilas Zoo

It was a bit too cloudy today, so the girls decided against the water park. Instead, they found a nearby zoo. The Henry Vilas Zoo is a donation-only zoo that was just a few minutes away from our hotel. We stopped for lunch at QDOBA Mexican Eats, which was basically a Chipotle. Everyone loved it, so I felt validated for skipping the McDonald’s.

The girls really enjoyed the zoo. It was smaller, but probably the perfect size before being too big to enjoy in one visit. We missed the aviary that closed earlier than the rest of the park, which was a bummer for me, but otherwise it was a good visit.

After the zoo, we went by a Target to pick up some laundry detergent. It was a bit of a chore to get there through the university campus, but we made it. The Target was big enough to have a parking garage on the ground floor and escalators that carried your shopping cart back down for you. It was pretty impressive. Upstairs it was just the usual stuff, but parking was neat and unexpectedly easy.

Back at the hotel, Summer took laundry to a place just next door to the hotel while the girls and I went swimming. I’ve spent more time in a pool this year than probably the last ten years combined. It’s been fun, but my hair is over it.

That tallhorse is hungry.

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West Towne

We decided to go to the nearby mall today since we were expecting rain. We started with breakfast downstairs, and then headed to the mall. It was pretty big, and there were quite a few sales going on, seemingly due to the death of retail. We’ll probably be going back again before we leave, to visit the Boston Store that’s going out of business. Yet another store selling the fixtures out from under themselves.

Everyone got hungry for a late lunch, so we had some Chinese from the food court. It was really good, and it kept us all going until we got back to the hotel for more evening snacks and pool time. Overall another light, yet successful day.

I miss Russellville water.

Adventure Time!

Costco

I crashed pretty early last night after running on very little sleep over the course of our trip up here. I caught up on sleep well enough that I got up and around at a decent hour. Breakfast at the hotel was pretty good, and after a slow start to getting around, we went to pick up the girls.

I wanted to go to Costco with Beth to see if they had the Nest Hello and Google Home Mini bundle that was available online. We stopped and got Starbucks for everyone on the way. We didn’t spend very long in Costco before Beth had to run, and the rest of us went to another local store to pick up some things for her.

After dropping that off, the girls wanted to go to Culver’s for some burgers. That was good, but I think it made everyone tired. We headed back to the hotel to get unpacked before dropping Summer off at the gym.

The girls and I went to a closing Toys “R” Us to look for deals. The store only had a couple days left, and it was super depressing to see all of the fixtures being sold out from under them. The carcass had already been picked pretty clean, but we bought a couple things before crossing the street to Dick’s to kill some more time. After that we went to a comic book store, and then the Dollar Tree in the shopping center next to Planet Fitness.

When Summer came out, we went back to the hotel to swim for a while before crashing for the night.

Oversnacked

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Pupp Yup?

I only got about three hours of sleep, so I was dragging all day long. We survived the night without any permanent injury or loss. In fact, the shower was tall enough for me to wash my hair without bending over backwards, and it had more pressure than the one at the Red Roof Inn we stayed at the night before, so overall I guess it was a success. I still ended up paying over $15 an hour to sleep, but at least I had power and a shower.

We got up and went to Greenbush Bakery to pick up a bunch of donuts that were donated to Beth’s event. I guess I thought she was running the show, but she was one of several volunteers. We actually beat them there right at 6:30, so I felt good about that. Beth had a bit of a meltdown when she found out where they put her vendor booth, but we eventually got things set up to go. I was too tired to be of much help after that. I had no idea there was such a large community of people with concern for canine cancer awareness. It felt a little silly to me, but I understand it at some level.

We finally wrapped up around 2:00, and Summer and I headed to the AmericInn. It ended up being a pretty great score for us. It had good reviews at a decent rate. The breakfast photos looked quite a bit better than average, and as we walked in we saw a sign that they have a nightly manager’s reception with beer, wine, and appetizers. The room was nice enough, so I think for the first time since we got here, I felt like it could be a good week.

Still exhausted, we walked to the dim sum restaurant in the hotel parking lot for an early dinner. It seemed to be pretty authentic, to the point that the menus were in two languages, one of which was not Spanish. It was a kind of à la carte menu, and we ordered five items to share. I think all but one of them were steamed. The last was fried and seemed more Americanized. Overall it was pretty good.

From there we went back to the room where I took a nap until the manager’s reception. They had nachos, popcorn, two kinds of wings, and lil’ smokies to go with the wine and beer. I couldn’t get into either of the wines, but the Spotted Cow beer was pretty decent.

Any time is a good time for sarcasm if you’re brave enough.

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No-tell Motel

We slept in late today after a pretty rough night of sleep for me at the Red Roof Inn. It took us another nine hours or so to get where we were going after all the extra rest stops. We stopped just before St. Louis for some pretty great barbecue and were waited on by a kid from Hector while we watched competition level cornhole on the television. Several hours later we finally landed in Sun Prairie just after dark, and then went through the arduous process of finding a place to stay.

I don’t know what was happening in town, but virtually every place we went to was booked solid. We did find a $200 hot tub suite, but passed since we only had about five hours to use it before we had to be up to go to Beth’s event. That was also news to me. After both calling and driving all around greater Madison, we ultimately crashed at a tiny motel just a couple blocks from Beth’s place. I just knew we were going to be robbed and murdered. I was wholly reliant on Summer’s intimidating looks and extensive karate training. It was exactly the kind of place you stay when you shave your head and the random girl you’re with dyes her hair in the sink because you’re both on the lam with some kind of government conspiracy-proving evidence. I’m pretty sure Bruce Willis was in an adjacent room.

To add to the disappointment, the front desk clerk was the first person I’d encountered on our entire trip that spoke with any kind of an accent, and it was thick Indian. Apparently Wisconsin forgot it was a northern state and people sound the same here as back home.

THUGS WON’T STOP
TO WAIT FOR A COP
GUNS MAKE SENSE
FOR SELF DEFENSE
BURMA-SHAVE

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You ol’ whippersnapper, you…

I spent all morning cleaning and getting packed. We didn’t actually leave until the middle of the afternoon, but it worked out great because we wanted to go to Whipper Snappers in Branson for dinner. The food seemed better than the first time I went. The restaurant wasn’t nearly as packed. In fact, I’d guess at least half of the tables were open. There was the usual, stereotypical Asian family in the back, all working away on the crab legs. They even asked for a to-go box for the dessert they brought back to their table but didn’t have room to eat. I was too busy working on my own crab and lobster to notice, but it seemed like they stuck around long enough after they were denied to eat the food there.

After dinner, we walked next door to Krispy Kreme for a free hot donut sample. It really was pretty cool to see the donuts work their way down the conveyor belt, and then the end product straight off the line was super delicious. From there, we made it to Springfield for the night. My first hotel choice was blocked off by construction, so we landed at a Red Roof Inn. The room is tiny, but it’ll get the job done. I would have liked to make it a bit farther the first day, but all the hard stuff is done, and we’ve got all day to get there tomorrow.

Who puts a full-size ironing board in a room this small?

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The Great Escape

I was mostly on my own today. There were only a few of us there in the morning, and Jason showed up late, so everyone just went to do their own thing. I accomplished what I needed to accomplish. For lunch, I rode with Dale to meet Jason and Allen at KFC.

After work, Summer and I went to Superfast to get my oil changed before the trip. We stopped by her place to pick up her clothes, then met my dad at my house so I could show him how to take care of everything. I’ve worked up quite a bit of traveler’s anxiety on top of just being super tired, so we won’t be leaving as early as I’d like tomorrow, but we’ll still have plenty of time.

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Middled

We actually had a group plan today. Amanda and I ran cable for the 5th grade office while Allen and Jason ran a line from the gym to that same switch closet. We finished first, so then it was up to us to run four more lines for the middle school side. I let myself get aggravated at them again, so I was irritable all afternoon.

After work, we walked across the street and bought my neighbor’s couch to replace my super broken sofa. The two end seats recline, which is kinda cool. Now I just have to get rid of my old one so I can fit the new one in the house.

We went to Ruby Tuesday for a BOGO dinner, then to Walmart to pick up some cat food. Bác Vân called to say she made egg rolls, so we stopped to chat and pick those up once we made it back home. Both of us were pretty tired after the day, so it was an early night for us.

It’s amazing how much stuff a hoarder can fit into a two-car garage.

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/shydino

Amanda and I spent all day together to try and accomplish anything. We took the morning to wall mount a TV at Sequoyah, then went to London to move a copy machine. I went to Subway with Allen and Jason, and Summer stopped by just to see me for a minute. Then Amanda came with me to the junior high where I had to come up with something to do. We ended up blowing out the 8th grade hallway computers and projectors, and came to the realization that I have way too many computer labs out there.

After work, we walked across the street to look at a couch in my neighbor’s driveway. She said she was holding it for a girl that was supposed to come get it in the morning, but if it’s still there tomorrow, I’ll probably pick it up. We came inside from that, and I started some laundry while cleaning up a bit, then we ended the night with some more of The Office. Things are about to get really weird there now.

Recaps are lazy writing.

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No Projects

It was another disappointing morning at the shop with no leadership to speak of. I had plenty to do, so I guess I really shouldn’t complain, but I feel like I spend too much time worrying about others not keeping busy. It may be unfair to assume nobody else has as much going on, but I do have both summer school campuses for the second time in a row. Who the hell else has work orders to do when nobody’s there?

I spent all day at the junior high finishing up my library computer swap, and then cleaning up a bit in my office. Summer and I met Allen and Dale at Popeye’s, where the girl at the counter misunderstood our order. No surprise there. Then after work, I ran by Orr to see if they could squeeze me in for a service. No such luck, so I came home to a surprise pork chop dinner. We ate and watched The Office, and eventually ran out of time and had to go to sleep.

Polyphasic sleep is on my mind again, and has been for a little while. I can’t decide whether summer is the best or worst time to try it, but I’m just so intrigued.

I need longer days.