Iowa!!!

That is right people, Vic and I took our vacation this year to good ole Iowa, and you know what? It was awesome. Some of our best friends are living there right now. Marc, who works as a audio guy in the video game business and his wife Lisa who is getting her PhD in journalism. We met these two when all four of us lived in Indiana. Vic and Marc were in the same graduate program, and we became instant friends. This was such a relaxing vacation, except for one small problem. I missed my son more than anything. He stayed home with Vic's mom. I know he had a blast, but I don't think I can leave him next time. Jack will be going on all vacations with us from now on. It is just too hard to be separated from my son.

We had a blast just hanging out and playing games, going to a haunted house and corn maze, I even went and sat in on one of Lisa's classes she taught. I saw how insane a big ten college town gets during football season. Indiana was a big ten school, but they are not known for their football, mostly basketball there. But here, wow. Friday night the tailgating starts, and goes all through the night. Even the bars stay open around the clock on game weekends. The bars were crowded at 9am! How crazy is that! It was a blur of black and yellow for the Iowa University Hawks. People were charging between $20-$50 for people to park in their lawns. Tickets for these games are sold out 6 months prior to the actual game. Needless to say, football is taken very seriously in Iowa. Sunday was bittersweet. I was excited to come home and see Jack, but hated saying goodbye to the Carltons. At least they are planning a trip to Utah, the end of December. Marc has convinced Vic to go snowboarding with him. That ought to be something to watch!

Here are a few pics of the plane ride, the haunted house, the football madness and the four amigos!