St. Louis continued to be a relaxing time with Pierre, as it has been with all my good friends. On Sunday night, his wife Angela came back into town as she'd been seeing her dad back in Oklahoma. Pierre and I have a good time together for sure, but somehow having her around acts as a bit of a catalyst and we all have even more fun. I think both him and I respond to her presence by being funnier, and I always get a kick out of having someone else to talk to about Pierre, someone that obviously knows him pretty well. I didn't really do anything touristy in St. Louis, apart from waving at the arch from a distance and going to the ball game. Saturday was supremely lazy, spent talking about soccer (with apologies to Mr. Toady, Pierre and I came up with our respective all-time best 11 players in each position, excluding Pele and Maradona. Fascinating, I agree), doing laundry, and hanging out at the bar.
Mama's Deli in Iowa City, IAI arrived in Ames, Iowa on Monday night, and have been stomping around the old stomping grounds of two of my roommates, Scott and Rob (and I guess Allison too). I'm staying here with a good friend of Scott's, Tim and his girlfriend Nicole. They are both super nice, super easy to get along with. Yesterday and today have involved three things mainly: beer, pool and pizza. Again, a very relaxing time, made even better by the fact that I don't know them that well. I have a feeling though that I will be friends with them from now on. He's one hell of a cool guy and she's obviously very smart and quite fun too. This stay over here reminds me of staying with Dane and Annie in eastern Washington on my move from Oklahoma to Portland. Dane was a fellow groomsman in Jake and Susan's wedding in 2006 right before I moved to Portland and had told me I could crash at his place on my way to Portland if I needed to. Two people I'd met only briefly before but had a great time with.
Tim
The working toilet in Tim and Nicole's basementI am looking forward to seeing some of the people (and animals) back in Portland though. Five weeks isn't very long but when you see most of these people every day, it does seem a little long. Looking forward to hearing some stories from other people. And Scott just told me a really funny story via text message. Apparently he'd been looking all over the house for Roberta, his golden retriever. He couldn't find her and noticed that the door to my room was open. He found her sleeping on my bed (everybody say "Awwww"). What a cutie.
View Leg 20: Ames, Iowa in a larger map
What you may find slightly less cute is that 'Berta was lying in your bed WEARING YOUR CLOTHES. Underwear and all (don't ask how I know). She's also started showing up at the museum as well, and since half the staff is out sick (Swine Flu), Nolan's been giving her some shifts. It's a little disconcerting but at least she doesn't talk about soccer the whole damn time.
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