Yeah... We have friends.

We had hit three states by 8am.

North Sioux City was in South Dakota. South Sioux CIty was in Nebraska. Sioux City was in Iowa. We woke up in North Sioux City at 7am intent on doing another good days worth of driving. We sped 15 minutes down to South Sioux City to grab some to go breakfast at a local bakery and to officially get another state visited under our belts. We were in Nebraska for a total of about 15 minutes. We cruised up to Sioux City and onto a highway leading to Cedar Rapids, Iowa - our destination for the day. SM has friends in Iowa and we were so excited to see them!

We had emailed and phoned with Erica and Joe along our trip to coordinate the day of our arrival in Iowa. SM had lived and worked with them in Tacoma at the Catholic Worker house. It had been almost 8 years since seeing them. Now their two small toddlers had morphed into two growing children. Wow!!! It was so nice to finally meet them - as in converse with them. Oh, and we can’t forget Max, their dog. Murph tired the old guy out. We arrived around 1 pm and spent a few hours catching up with the family (SM) and meeting them (CP). Erica had to work for a few hours later in the afternoon, so we took the chance to drive around Cedar Rapids to check out downtown. The bones of the older midwest city were great. But, two years ago a flood came through submerging the downtown and low-lying areas in 12 feet of water. It virtually wiped out every home and business in that part of town. And after 2 years, maybe half the buildings were still vacant and boarded up. It was tough to witness and we can’t even imagine what it was like to live through.

After poking around, we still had some time to check out the area. So, we took a short 30-minute trip to Iowa City. It’s a small college town, home to the University of Iowa. Who can guess the first stop?... the Old Capital Brewpub. After a bump, we walked around the campus a bit and the small businesses that inevitably surround a college. We ended up at Devotay, a tapas restaurant for a an appetizer. The food was all locally grown and pretty darned tasty. We made our way back to Mel, stopping off at the local organic food market to re-stock our supplies of fruit.

We headed back to Cedar Rapids for an evening of Thai food (not too shabby for middle America!) and great conversation. SM - It was so nice to re-engage with the Zitos. It was like we dropped conversation 8 years ago and picked up where we left off. We are so thankful to have made the visit and so appreciate their hospitality. For the second time on the trip, we slept in Mel in front of a old friend’s house.

The next day, our destination was Wisconsin! SM has another friend, also from his days in Washington, that lives in Milwaukee. The first stop on the way to see Tracy was the town of Mount Horeb. She had recommended it as a stop “if we wanted to see some trolls on a hill”. Yah, of course we did! It didn’t hurt that there was a sign at the exit of the highway for “The Grumpy Troll Brewery”. We drove into town and right to the visitor center. Once inside, the woman at the desk asked if she could help us. Without skipping a beat, CP exclaimed “We wanna see some trolls”. Taken a bit aback (CP- I thought she seemed thrilled by my excitement), the woman grinned and said, “Well you have come to the right place”. She gave us a map showing the location of each troll statue in town - 17 in all. We headed out in search of trolls, hoping to catch a few pictures of those sneaky little suckers. We felt like we were on a TV show entitled RV Troll Hunters. It was an adorable little town and we were so glad we stopped by.

Our next stop was Madison, WI, home to the Badgers of the University of Wisconsin. Since Portland, OR, we had not been to a decent-sized city. Madison certainly isn’t huge, but it felt a bit like culture shock. We spent most of our time walking around the State Street area, a pedestrian-only street full of independent shops stretching from the capitol building to the university’s campus.

Question for you all.... what three things do you think of when you hear Wisconsin? Beer, cheese, and bratwurst? Well, we are food-centric individuals and that’s what comes to our mind. On a recommendation from our Dorchester upstairs neighbor (a Badger), we tackled the local fare at State Street Brats. For food, we split a red brat, a white brat, and some fried cheese curds. For drink, we spilt a New Glarus Bewery Company favorite - the Spotted Cow. You could have guessed by this point. But just to be clear, we have not shied away from eating and drinking to our heart’s caloric content on our trip thus far. Today’s lunch was the greasy, faster-food equivalent of dinner at the Ritz. It was just such unhealthy goodness!

Not to be upstaged by faster-food, we walked up the hill to the capital to check out a local artisan cheese shop - Fromagination. After much browsing, we settled on several Wisconsin cheeses and some local honey and crackers. Yum!

With our bellies filled with brats and cheese and the fridge packed with cheese just the same, we made our way to Tracy’s home in Franklin, just outside of Milwaukee. We were greeted with open arms by the entire Patterson family... what a great bunch of folks and such wonderful hosts! It just so happens that the days we visited Franklin coincided with Tracy’s days off. The night we arrived, she took us out to a local soul food restaurant. SM - boy do my friends know where to eat. CP scored some yummy crab cakes and SM got the Kansas City BBQ beef ribs and homemade cole slaw. We waddled our way home and into Mel. We were bushed from a long day.

Tracy had a pretty good plan tailored for our visit. We had already checked BBQ off the list the prior evening. We slept in a bit and when we were all ready, we headed out to explore downtown Milwaukee. We grabbed some lunch at a funky pub and then scooted across the street to walk the Public Market. We were told in no uncertain terms from a Facebook friend that we had to get some frozen custard when we were in Milwaukee. Who knew? Add that as number four to the must eats of Wisconsin. YUM!

Stop three of the day was the Lakefront Brewery (of course) for a tour and tasting. Listen up Rogue Brewery! SM - This tour was by far, hands-down, the best brewery tour I’ve ever been on. The guide was phenomenal... funny, captivating, informative, beer and brewing knowledgeable, well-spoken, and as of that day, Tracy’s soon-to-be new boyfriend. He was adorable... Anywho. We loved the beer and the tour - a must do if you are ever in Milwaukee. One of the coolest things we learned on the tour is what Lakefront does with all it’s left over grain from the brewing process. Most breweries sell or donate it to local farms to be used as food for livestock. This has always troubled us since the grain mash from beer isn’t, actually, the healthiest thing for cows and pigs to eat. Lakefront is different! They donate it to an organization called Growing Power (WWW.Growingpower.org) which, long story made very short, feeds it to worms which compost the material. Super cool!

After the tour was over, we got a few certificates for more free Lakefront brew, good at 8 or so bars around Milwaukee. We ended up in the East Town neighborhood for a drink. What a neat part of town - full of independent shops, restaurants, and bars - all on a welcoming, tree-lined street. We also scored some coffee to replenish the RV stock.

Next stop - the Harley-Davidson Museum. One more thing that Milwaukee is proudly known for is the birthplace and home of these great machines. We spent a few hours inspecting some awesome mechanical works of art dating back to the beginning in 1903. We actually got to see the very first Harley Davidson motorcycle ever built. Pretty cool stuff!!! The museum chronicled not only the development of motorcycles and technology into what they have become today, but also the birth, growth, and survival of an iconic American company. (As you can tell, SM wrote this section and was beside himself - like a kid in a candy store. Thanks for being patient with him.) CP scored a few more Harley Davidson shirts for the boys (and girl) back home.

All-in-all, Milwaukee was a wonderful city. And, certainly not even remotely what either of us expected based on our limited knowledge of the city... which was pretty much what we knew from watching reruns of Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley.

Quite satisfied with the day, we made our way back to the Patterson Estate. Another of SMs friends from Tacoma - Amy - also lives in Milwaukee. She and her new beau, Pablo, came to Franklin to join all of us in a steak dinner. SM - again, I had so much fun catching up with old friends. What a treat for me to see a handful of people in both Iowa and Wisconsin that mean so much to me. Thanks guys!

In the morning, we reluctantly left the peace and quiet of the Patterson driveway in Franklin to head to the big city - CHICAGO.

On our way to Chicago, we stopped at one last Wisconsin locale - The Cheese Castle. There are no words to describe it. You simply must go. We bought cheese curds. Our bellies recommend them.

We arrived in Chicago late afternoon and stopped at The Green Market (actually, CP did - no parking - so, SM just drove around): a farmers market in Lincoln Park that specializes in local, organic and sustainable meats and produce. CP picked up some fresh, good eats. We then headed over to find parking in the nearby Lakeview neighborhood. We got lucky being in a city - mid-week, in the middle of the day - and found a spot pretty quickly.

After dusting off the bikes, we rode the several blocks down to the lake front. Being in a big city was a bit of a change. It seemed that pretty much everyone in town was walking, running, or biking the paths by the water. It was a refreshing change to see the level of exercise and fitness. Feeling somewhat inspired, we biked from Lakeview to the Aquarium - a round trip distance of five miles or so. We were drenched in sweat. It was in the mid 90‘s and we had biked in the mid-day sun. Of course that means we developed an appetite. When in Chicago.... Chicago-style pizza! We earned (having walked another mile from Mel to get there) a medium sausage and cheese from Gino’s East. Yum!

We had made plans to head to CP’s friend Joanna’s house for dinner and stay in the area that evening. So, we decided to get Mel a little closer to her house and check out the parking situation. It was tough... we found one spot but it was severely crooked and sloped (which impacts the generator - aka makes in not work - aka no air conditioning in 90 degree weather - aka not gonna happen). It also required that we “feed the meter” every two hours... We needed to figure out a better plan. SM stayed put in the RV and CP took Murphy for a much needed walk. While on the walk, CP and Murph saw a parking garage which looked possibly tall enough to fit the RV. They went inside to investigate and passed a man, a pastor actually, in his car leaving the garage. He said, “Can I help you with something?” CP said no, but felt the urge to explain that we were from out of town, taking a seven-week trip, that she was checking to see if our RV could fit in the garage because it wasn’t going to work on the street, that we were in town visiting a friend living around the corner, and we needed a safe place for Mel that evening. The man thought for a minute and leaned in to say in a hushed tone, “You can park it over there in the church lot.” CP was surprised. “That lot?” she asked eyeing the large, level, well lit, empty lot. “Yes.” he whispered. “Just write Saint Luke’s and your phone number on some paper and leave it on the dashboard. They won’t tow you unless the church calls them. And, I am the one who would call.” Smiling, he said, “I won’t tow you.” She thanked him profusely and skipped back to the RV to tell SM the good news.

We slid Mel in the Saint Luke’s (Lutheran church - by the way) parking lot, showered the day’s activity off, and walked around the neighborhood a bit. We headed to Joanna’s for another delicious home-made dinner on the grill and some great company of Joanna, Robert and Evan.

In the morning, we hit the road so glad we had been able to see such wonderful friends over the past few days.

Next stop: Kentucky!