Sorry about the length of the con report. *blush* This section should be shorter. While a lot happened, it was more family related which I’m sure most people won’t be interested in reading.

Mon, Nov 24th
So, as I said yesterday, Matt and I left the convention center to head back up to O’Hare. We “dropped off” / “picked up” the rental car, then turned towards I-80 and Iowa. Which took longer to reach then we expected. But, we eventually crossed the Mississippi and ended up in Le Claire, Iowa. We stopped for gas at a local station, where a funny thing happened.

I’d gone in to pick up some sodas while Matt gassed up the car. I came back out to find him chuckling. Turns out the couple filling their car up in front of us had been to MFF as well! The fellow had on one of this year’s con shirts and the gal was sporting a pair of ears. *laughs* Small world.

Still, we had a few hours left to go before we hit Maquoketa, so it was back into the car and on the road.

I love the Great River Route because it is such a scenic drive, but the GPS decided to take us up near Buffalo Bill Cody’s homestead and along some back roads instead before dropping us off onto Highway 61. By the time we pulled into the hotel it was dark. After checking in and giving my parents a call, we set out to find their house. They’d moved while I’ve been out here in New England. I’m also unfamiliar with Maquoketa, but figured we had the GPS so… no problem.

I now know why people out in the country (both Clinton and Iowa City – the towns I lived in – are decent sized) give directions such as ‘if you see a red barn you’ve gone too far.’ My dad gave us directions involving large bales of hay and such. ‘Great,’ I’m thinking, ‘Dad’s been in the country too long.’ So, I didn’t pay much attention. Again, GPS. Except their street wasn’t on the GPS… It was dark… The street signs were well back from the road… And there are a hell of a lot of fields with large bales of hay in them out there. We passed their street and went well out of the way before doubling back.

But we found them. It was nice to see them again after almost four years or so. We had dinner, relaxed for a bit, then headed back to the hotel.

Tues, Nov 25th
We met up again and went back down to Le Claire. We wandered through a few shops before dad decided he wanted to check out the Buffalo Bill Museum. Not so much because of Buffalo Bill, but because of the Lone Star steamer that was now housed in an enclosed building connected to the museum.

The museum was… interesting. It was less about Buffalo Bill and more about the various residents of Le Claire herself. The ladies maintaining the museum were very pleased to have guests visiting, especially once they found out dad lived in Le Claire as a kid and remembered when they brought the Lone Star onto land. We watched a couple of videos, then went out to see the steamer.

The Lone Star was supposedly the last operating wooden steam towboat in the area when it was dry-docked by bringing the whole boat up onto shore. My dad says when it was removed it was in nice shape. And, since there’s a similar wooden steamer dry-docked in Clinton, IA (the Showboat which is well kept up and acts as a full playhouse during the summer months and at Christmas) he thought the Lone Star would have been kept up and preserved as well.

But instead, she’d been left to sit out in the elements with no repair for around 40 years. The poor boat was a mess, which left my dad disappointed. Still, it was neat to see.

The weather was getting colder, so we headed back to Maquoketa and separated for the day. Matt and I went out to dinner then relaxed for the evening. I don’t know what it was about being out there, but we kept falling asleep early.

Wed, Nov 26th
My parents had plans already, so Matt and I headed up to Iowa City to look around. A lot of the shops we remembered were gone, replaced by even more bars and – for some reason – highly priced jewelry and knickknack shops. How can college students afford this stuff? Meanwhile, the campus was still recovering from the flooding this last spring. Part of the walkway by the river was fenced off. Still, it was nice to visit the town again and to see the gold dome on the Old Capital building repaired – it had burnt down my last semester out there.

We then wandered into Coralville to the Coral Ridge Mall where we had lunch and hung out a bit before heading back to the motel.

Thurs, Nov 27th
Today was Thanksgiving Day here in America and we spent the day out at my parents. My mom ended up cooking too much food and, unfortunately, we left them with a lot of leftovers. Not that I think my dad minds much. It was a relaxing day.

Fri, Nov 28th
Matt and headed out to a local restaurant and were struck by how quiet the place was. I don’t mean deserted, it was packed. But everyone was talking at a nice, low level. No screaming children… No one gabbing at the top of their voice on their cell phone… So different from here on the East Coast. It was a nice breakfast too. We then met up with the folks and drove out to Eldridge to look at… prefab homes.

Matt and I have been wanting to move out of Massachusetts for a while now, and one of the thoughts was maybe we could find a bit of land and build on it. The houses were nice – we both fell in love with one of the models. Armed with some information and a DVD from the company, we have some possible ideas to think over. But, that’s all in the future.

Afterward we all went out to lunch then lost mom in a local – and very large – craft shop. That woman can move when shopping! Unfortunately, lunch didn’t agree with Matt or myself, so we went back to the hotel early.

Sat, Nov 29th
Mom wanted a mother/daughter day, so we spent the day bumming around the Dubuque Mall. Matt, meanwhile, went into Dubuque to mail our comics out. We’d decided that trying to drag four heavy boxes (along with the rest of our luggage) back onto the train and then through Boston at 11:00 at night did not sound like a fun time. He then headed off to my parents house. Dad had rented a basket lift and planned on pruning a few of the trees that day. Mom and I returned later to find the back tree “pruned” beyond recognition and limbs all over the back yard. We had dinner, hung out a bit more then called it a night.

Sun, Nov 30th
The last day. Matt and I were on our own for the morning, so we wandered about the Dubuque Mall then went down to see the town of Clinton. Around mid afternoon we headed out to take my parents out to dinner, then introduced them to Cold Stone Creamery. Then it was back to the house for a bit where we showed my parents some photos and videos from the con Matt had found online. Mom thought the Hamtaro Incident was funny. They took some pictures, then it was time to say goodbye which was sad but, we’ll be back out next year. I don’t want to go four years before seeing them again. Hey, my parents are actually pretty cool people.

Mon, Dec 1st
It’s a new month and we’re off on the road early to return the car to O’Hare. But first, we stopped off at the UPS Store to ship the two large duffel-bags. While not as heavy without the books, they’re still a pain to maneuver and, since I wasn’t willing to sit in South Station by myself at 10:00pm with two large bags while Matt picked up the car and we didn’t want to mess with the bags on the T, it seemed the best option. Bags shipped and car returned, the only thing left was to find our way out of O’Hare and to the Metra… which was a bit confusing. But, we made it out then spent hours waiting for the Amtrak train to leave. Around 8:00pm we were able to board and at around 10:00 we were on our way.

Tues, Dec 2nd
We hit the dinning car a bit late this time (we managed to get some sleep – I think we’re getting this train thing down pat) only to find they were out of water in the dinning car and only had cereal which was cool. I forgot how sweet Frosted Flakes are. I may have to pick some up. We talked, enjoyed the scenery, had a slight layover at Albany again, then pulled into South Station around 10:00pm. Then a short ride on the T, a bit of a walk and we were back in the car and headed home.

We arrived back in Plymouth an hour or so later… mission accomplished.

So yeah, that’s what happened the last few weeks. Now all that remains is waiting for the books to arrive so we can do inventory (the two large duffel-bags arrived earlier today) and calming the cat down. *laughs*

Thanks again guys for letting us have this time off. Matt and I really appreciate it. We’ll be back on Monday with our regular Mon-Wed-Fri schedule and the next page of ‘Hunter’. Thanks for reading and take care!

“Journeys, like artists, are born and not made. A thousand differing circumstances contribute to them, few of them willed or determined by the will –whatever we may think.”
– Lawrence Durrell