From Dubuque through Nebraska

After driving steadily through Wisconsin, we decided to have a relaxing day in Iowa. We left our casino campsite after a great stay next to the swollen Mississippi and headed west. We stopped at a rest-stop for lunch and made sandwiches. Our truck drawer has been serving us well as a kitchen and we have yet to eat in a restaurant this trip.

We stopped in the afternoon at an Iowa state park. It was a beauty spot called Rock Creek Lake.  We arrived at the campground at 3pm and promptly set up a hammock and mixed gin and tonics.  We spent the afternoon relaxing in the sun. Brad’s long hair was becoming and tangled greasy mess with the limited showering opportunities so Courtney expertly cut it to a more manageable length. We played backgammon, yoga’d, fished and relaxed.

Pauly: you’ll be happy to know that we have been practicing our fly fishing technique. We are getting quite good; we have both caught fish! Brad’s was the bigger of the two fish measuring a debatable 7.5 inches.

·         A note about our needy travel companion:

Aurora is adjusting to life as a vangabond. However, we are finding that we have been going above and beyond to cater to her. We’d like to relay a few examples of her suckyness:

 As we drive, Aurora has two potential places to sit: in the box on a full double bed or in the truck cap on the passenger; she always prefers the latter. Lately she has outright refused to go into the box of the truck and when the tailgate is open she runs full tilt to the cab, jumps up onto the passenger seat and lays down before you can say ‘no!’.

We decided to bring a few of Aurora’s choice toys along with us. These toys include:  a rubber bone, a Frisbee, and ball. The Frisbee is by far her favourite and we enjoy as much as she does a good toss and retrieve. We hastily left a rest stop after dinner and forgot her Frisbee in the long grass. We then drove into Iowa for the night. When we realized the next morning that the Frisbee was gone, there was a sense of panic amongst all of us. We decided without significant hesitation to backtrack the 20 minutes to retrieve the lost toy.  Aurora was gleeful to have the toy back in her mouth.

And to reward us for all the effort we’ve put into making this a pleasant trip her, she rolled in a dead fish for us. Aurora has unyielding instinct to roll in foul smelling objects (be it scat or carcass). Immediately upon arriving at our last campsite, she decided to roll in a dead fish and completely coat herself in rotten fish oils and smells. So before relaxing with a gin in a hammock, we gave her a bath.

Today we are driving through Nebraska, it is flat, rainy and windy. We are going to push on to North Platte or Colorado.