Back in Arizona

Hal writes:

I have not figured out how to get pictures off the camera and onto the laptop that I purchased for $10. Until I do, these posts from Arizona will be sans photos.

After the weekend for Jim's wedding, I spent less than 24 hours in P-ville before I was on the road again. I drove up to the cities and Kevin and I went to see Pirates 3 (hello poppet). Before my flight the next day, I was able to spend some time with Brian, Kristine (Anna's sister), and their two children. We went to the Como Zoo to look at the animals.

My first day full day in Arizona was yesterday and I was determined to have an adventure. Although I still "planned" my day, I did allow for a "go-with-the-flow" type of variations periodically. My fast task was to navigate a big city bus system. I managed to get from the house that I am staying in and make it the 10 miles to downtown Phoenix and walked a few blocks to find Chase Stadium, home of the Arizona Diamondbacks. After a couple of failed negotiations I finally found a deal of a ticket. My seat for yesterdays Dbacks vs. Tampa Bay was ten rows behind the TB dugout. Typically these tickets run $55 - $95 in the area that I was sitting, but I got mine for $20. The nice part about the day game was that it has an A/C system so it was only 75 degrees in the stadium as opposed to the 115 it was outside. I could have navigated by way back through the bus system, but Anna got done with work as the ballgame ended, so she drove down to pick me up. Later in the evening we went out to eat and then followed it up with my first taste of gillatto (Italian ice cream).

So far this morning I went for a short run (it's hot outside!) and then the dog and I splashed in the pool for a while. Anna's uncle is getting ready to take me to lunch for my first taste of "In and Out Burger" restaurant. Then, I will look for a new adventure this afternoon.

Jim's wedding

Hal writes:

I've been up in the Appleton/Oshkosh Wisconsin area for the past few days to celebrate Jim and Christa's wedding. The events began on Thursday afternoon. As a precursor to the bachelor party, I was invited to participate in the 3rd Annual Fox Valley Mini-Golf Invitational. The event covered four 18-hole mini-golf courses in the area. New this year is a traveling trophy to be awarded to the overall winner with engravings to occur after each year. Below are course officials tallying the official results.

The next morning I had no responsibilities until the rehearsal in the late afternoon, so Dario (one of the groomsmen) and I traveled to Green Bay and take a tour of historic Lambeau Field. Security officials confiscated my Vikings jersey on the way in. The photo below was taken just before I threw some grass killing chemical in the shape of a Viking horn on the field.

One of my former RAs from Wartburg, Jenni, is now a grad student at UW-O and is dating Peter (one of the groomsmen). It was fun to spend time reconnecting with her. Now that I am not her supervisor, I no longer have to worry about not corrupting her, so I showed her how to smoke her first cigar after the wedding reception. ;)

It is also worth noting that Peter also owns a PT Cruiser, so Anna and I are not the only ones under the age of 40 to do so. I would be remiss if I did not include a picture of the bride and groom. Here they are at the rehearsal dinner. We went to the restaurant that they went to on their first date in Oshkosh.

During the wedding ceremony, another usher and I snuck outside to "decorate" the rented Cadillac that Jim was using for the weekend.

It was assigned at the reception and I was randomly placed next to a former UW-O RA who UW-P just happened to hire as a hall director this past week. Small world after all. A highlight of the evening was a live 20-piece big band that played for the reception. I guess I was too busy dancing and singing along ("Don't get around much anymore", "Somewhere beyond the sea", etc.) to take a picture of the band. Here's a picture of Jim and I at the reception.

I am currently back in Platteville for one night. Tomorrow is a new student registration day, so I will be leading a Parent Transition Session as a part of the day before leaving for Minnesota. Tomorrow night I'll visit the naughty antelope and we will go see Pirates 3. Then on Tuesday I will spend some time with my niece and nephew (hopefully at the zoo) before flying down to Arizona for the week. This time I hope to post some pictures from Arizona while I am down there, but if not, there may be a two week gap before I post again.

Dubuque River Fest

Hal writes:

On Saturday I made a trip to Dubuque to purchase some wedding gifts for a couple weddings that I will be attending in July. Since I didn't have much else to do, I decided to check out the America's River Festival that was happening in Dubuque. Before I went down to the port, I took a walk along main street. Here is one of the older houses of Dubuque.

This next house is on the hillside. Anna and I once stayed here, it is a bed and breakfast. The windows on the top right side of the house belong to "Anna's Room" of the Hancock House.

This church is St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Dubuque is known for having either a bar or church on just about every street corner. ;) The stain glass you see is actual Tiffany Stained glass.

The main reason for my journey to main street was to check out Jitterz Coffee and Cafe. This is the new store owned by Badger Brothers Coffee, where Anna works part time in Platteville. They serve sandwiches at lunch, which is different than Badger Brothers, but they still have the coffee and ice cream that BB is known for. When I went inside I found one of my former RAs from a previous school working for the coffee shop.

Out side the United Church of Christ. They have the God is Still Speaking campaign. "Never place a period where God has placed a comma." --Gracie Allen

OK, finally on to the River Fest. It reminded me a lot of county fairs that I attended growing up. There was a carnival area with lots of inflatable toys for the kids and all kinds of food that you know is not good for you. Unfortunately, they did not have my favorite fair food (mini doughnuts) so I didn't buy anything. The first area that I walked up to were the "Dock Dogs". These dogs would run off a long dock and jump in the pool to retrieve a rubber duck or a ball. I'm not sure if I missed a bigger show because it seemed pretty basic. And there were a lot of t-shirts and other items that said "Dock Dogs" on them, so there must be a big following somewhere.

Next stop was to watch the Lumberjacks compete. I think ESPN 7 was there to tape the proceedings for a future broadcast. In the spirit of getting the crowd excited, foam axes were handed out to everyone to wave in the air or beat on your neighbor during the competition.

And what would a festival be without a concert? Randy Travis had played the night before, but the Doobie Brothers were doing a sound check when I walked by.

If you can't tell, I'm bored with not having my wife around. And if you read this entire blog, you must be bored to... or enjoy dock dogs...

Never go against the family...

Hal writes:

What are RDs to do with themselves during the summer? This 9 to 5 nonsense just won't and we need to find ways to amuse ourselves in the evening. The RD summer film festival started this evening with the first installment of The Godfather. We will be watching Part II and Part III within the next week.

Pictured below is some of the fun equipment that I have access to. By next fall, the projector will be attached to the ceiling and the computer, DVD/VCR, and projector will be in a cabinet. But for the time being, I can just wheel it out to the multipurpose room so we can watch movies and the big screen. If it is nice out one of these evenings, we may have an outdoor movie by hanging a bed sheet on the side of the building.

Below are Kim and Jen ready to watch the movie. Hey, how did the comfy, leather lounge furniture make it in to this room? Naughty RDs...

If you happen to be in town Thursday evening, we will be watching Part II. Due to the length of the movie (3 1/2 hours), we will be ordering pizza.