I can't believe it's already my last day of vacation. It seems like it was only a few hours ago that I got off of work last Wednesday. It was such a glorious occasion. It was even a fast day at King's Pointe. Well, you can just imagine what time has done since then. From Saturday on, things kind of blurred together. There's not a single fiber in my body that wants to go back to work, so I'll give out this one final hoorah to recap what has been a memorable break.
Thursday: The day of Ames. I woke up at 8:15 and got ready to accompany Olivia and Breanna to Ames where Olivia was to show us her little corner of the world. We were off by 9:30. The car ride there was quite interesting, for in those two or so hours, I discovered that Olivia and Breanna both experience road rage, rain isn't always a dampener, and Cheerios is pretty much my new favorite cereal. We arrived in Ames amidst clouds and sunshine and got the quick tour of the outskirts of campus. We then drove to some apartments that one of Olivia's friends was staying in. There we met up with Allyson and Mischa and proceeded to lunch at Panera. On the way, we picked up another friend of Olivia's: Jared Knight, the vice president of Iowa State's student body. If it helps, he reminded Breanna and me of a cross between Ben Grieme and Mark Cronin. He was quiet at first, but as soon as he realized that Breanna and I are two of the coolest people ever, he opened up a little.
Panera was wonderful. Afterwards, we dropped Jared back off at the Union since he had lots of freshman orientation stuff to do. What followed was the most extravagant tour of a college campus I've ever had the opportunity to take. I'm convinced that I didn't go on as many college visits as I should have in high school. Iowa State has one of the most amazing campuses I've ever seen. Breanna and I were overwhelmed with all Iowa State had to offer. Instead of going to Greece, we might just have to transfer to Ames.
We then made our way to Main Street where we sampled some spectacular cupcakes, inhabited the most comfortable couch ever, and ate at Old Main where we met up with Giff and five more of Olivia's group. It was quite a group. It was so much fun seeing Giff again. I'm pretty sure that if the waitress had been paying more attention, we might've been thrown out. We sure were acting like a couple of five-year-olds. Just like old times, huh?
After spending some time in another apartment, which belonged to the friends we met up with at Old Main, it was time to say goodbye. After bidding farewell to Olivia's friends, and after playing some updated rock-paper-scissors with Ben, Olivia, Breanna, and I hopped back into the car and drove back to northwest Iowa. It was a comfortable ride back, and we all arrived home exhausted, but thankful for such a wonderful day. That was my Thursday.
Friday: The day of Okoboji. What a day it was. I woke up around eight to prepare for what promised to be a spectacular day of fun on the lake. John arrived around nine and after making a quick pitstop at the bank, we were off. (In my grandmother's Malibu since my golden wonder was being repaired).
The drive up was quite interesting. You never know what you're gonna get with John in the car. We made a quick detour to Alta so he could drop off his saxophone, then completed the journey about an hour later. We arrived amidst some cloud cover, but it was a warm day and rain was not an imminent threat. (This was good for both of us since neither of us had any motivation to put on sunscreen).
Introductions were brief. At first, I was worried that it would be a little awkward for John since he would be surrounded by Eggers, but as I've alluded to in previous posts, John is quite an enjoyable guy and they all liked him instantly. We were soon on the boat heading to get gas. While waiting, we conquered what is called, in those parts, the Iceberg. We climbed to the top and jumped into the unknown, some of us having more luck than others. (John continually slipped and belly/back flopped. It was a fate we all suffered every now and again). But then it was time for tubing.
John and I went first. Instead of Uncle Carl driving, however, Aunt Sue took over the wheel. Carl and Brody were in St. Louis for a basketball tournament, so it was John, me, Aunt Sue, the girls, and some of their cousins from California. We volunteered to go first and we climbed onto the tube. Oh man, were we in for quite a ride! I had the opportunity of going last summer, too, so I knew what to expect. To some degree. Turns out Aunt Sue is quite a driver and we were soon hanging on for dear life. I felt so bad going over bumps because I'm not as strong as John so my grip would sometimes weaken and my forearm would go flying into his face. I shudder to think if the opposite had happened, considering his forearm is the size of my thigh.
We went for about three rounds, meaning we fell off three times and then called it good. Our fingers were burning with the strain of hanging on for such an intense ride and I had a tube burn on my elbow after the first five minutes. Quite the usual. We climbed into the boat and let the cousins have their turn. They weren't nearly as professional as we were, but that's to be expected when you get young 'uns trying to do grownup jobs.
Dark clouds forced us inside after about an hour-and-a-half on the water. We settled into cold meat sandwiches, carrots, and mac-n-cheese. John took this opportunity to show us his ability to make sandwiches as tall as the Empire State Building. It was pretty entertaining.
After lunch, we walked around the lake and went to Arnold's Park to discover that Craig Morgan was holding a concert there that night. We searched for him but were unsuccessful in spotting the celebrity. We went back to the condo and sat around until we decided to boat over to the Barefoot Bar. We took our time getting there and I got to go tubing one more time with Brittany. Again, forearm in the face. I should probably work on that.
After relaxing with refreshments and browsing the shops, we headed back to the condo where we got ready to head back. We said goodbye to the Urbandale cousins and their cousins and started our drive home. We stopped in Spencer at the Taco Bell and got some wonderful, warm Mexican food. We also stopped in Alta again so John could practice a saxophone duet with his sister. Since he wouldn't let me listen, I chatted with Katie's husband, Kyle, and his parents. They're a very nice family, and they sent us off with oatmeal M&M cookies. Our final stop was at Allie and Justin's house. I wanted to visit their house, but I mostly just wanted to hold Chloe for a little bit and give John that same chance, but sadly she had just been put down for the night so we left soon after arriving. We got back to Galva around 8:30 and John drove back to Holstein. What did I learn that day? John puts enough food on his sandwiches to feed the entire nation of Zimbabwe. That was my Friday.
Saturday: A day that was supposed to see me get all muddy playing volleyball turned into a day that saw me dressed up and sitting in a funeral home. John's grandmother passed away last week so he was not able to join our volleyball team. However, mud volleyball was cancelled due to there not being enough teams to compete, so I travelled with my mother to Anthon for John's grandma's funeral. There were certainly a lot of people there. I'm surprised we were able to find a seat. It was a really nice service and I was able to hear John's duet after all. It was a beautiful arrangement of one of my favorite hymns: How Great Thou Art. John looked the part in a stellar black suit that would even shame an ensemble worn by Preston Sunderman, and he was even nice enough to come back and say hi to us before it all started. On our way home, we stopped at the ice cream place in Correctionville for a treat. The rest of the day saw me lounge around and do some much-needed relaxing. My whole entire body hurt from the previous day's excitement, so it felt nice to sit down and be lazy. That was my Saturday.
Sunday & Monday: These two days were the same as Saturday afternoon and evening. I watched movies, I read my book, and checked Facebook way too many times. The only thing worthy to mention was that last night I finally got to play some tennis against my father and beat him 6-0 6-0 under the lights in Holstein. It was great to finally get out again and I felt pretty good throughout the entire contest. That was my Sunday and Monday.
So here I sit on the last day of my vacation. I knew it wouldn't last long and it really has gone by very quickly. Yet I was able to have a fantastic five days. And now it's my sixth and final chance to have a relaxing, pleasant day with my family. Today, my goal is to have a pleasant sendoff into the two-and-a-half weeks left of work. Only fourteen days left at King's Pointe. It's going to be unbelievably busy, but I think that if I take it one day at a time, things should be all right. There's my recap, and here's me saying that I hope all your summers are exciting and that you're all able to spend lots of time with friends and family. Cole out.
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