IOWA CITY

I love my hometown.  Every time I go back I seem to discover or rediscover the most amazing people and places in town.  My flight from Denver to Cedar Rapids was horrendous.  I have a bad habit of speaking hyperbolically but this time I'm serious, I thought I was going to die on that flight.  The flight was strange because unlike the rush of terror caused by a close-call almost-accident, the fear I experienced on the flight was 20-30 minutes of sustained freaking the F out.  AND I was all alone.  GAH!  This is all to say that my trip in Iowa City became extra special because I survived an awful experience.  The following might get boring.  I'll just be writing about what I did each day.  YEAH!

My flight got in around five.  I got my bearings back, went to my dad's to visit with my grandparents, and then immediately went downtown for a much needed Moscow Mule.  Yum delish.  I had fun chatting with the bartender but after a while wanted some familiar company.  My old pal, Adam, was the only person who was game and we had the perfect night of wandering around dt Iowa City.  This pic is from the inside of the only record store in Iowa City, where Adam works.

The next day was all about family.  My aunt, uncle and cousins joined my grandparents at my dads house for the perfect Memorial Day weekend meal.  We watched some home vids.  Laughed at my lazy eye as a child.  After the family thang, I went to Brendon's house and shot the shit with his fam and fiance for a bit and afterwards mosied on over to my gal-pal, Lynde's, mom's house.  I hung out with Lyn's mom for a bit and then went to my favorite hangout, Quinton's, with Meredith.  We were later hit on by some major BROS at Panchero's and then TCB's and I was reminded of some of the negative aspects of Iowa City life.

On Tuesday I straight-chilled at my mom's all day.  I became enthralled with all the junk on TV nowadays and then made my way to a City High softball game with Kaily J.  In junior high and high school I would go to Kaily's softball games with her mom or dad and was basically her groupie; so it was fab to catch-up in a familiar spot.

On Wednesday I watched Midnight in Paris with my Dad and reminisced over last summer's adventures together in the awe-inspiring Paris, France.  After all of that sentimentality, I went climbing with the bro-ham and Ivy at Iowa City's new climbing gym.  Needless to say, I was super psyched and resolved to find a gym in Denver ASAP.

 When we first showed up, none of us had any shoes and we had forgotten our chalk at home.  So, for the next half hour or so, I climbed barefoot and Westy and Ivy climbed with their tennis shoes.  Hardcore, no fun.  We got lucky, however, when Tony showed up and saved the day with both shoes and chalk.  

I loved seeing Westy climb in the gym this go-round because I remember when we first started climbing in Iowa City and couldn't do much of anything.  I still can't do much of anything but had a lot of fun derpin' around, nonetheless.

 SHOES!

Later that night, I went to my favorite martini bar, Formosa, with Anna and Meredith and when we migrated to Joe's Place, we ran into Tony and Katie and all the climbing people I'd seen at the gym that day.  I was feeling so festive at that point that I convinced Jacob, Nick and Tyler to join us at Studio and the rest of the night was just hilarious.  Tyler and I may have danced in a CAGE at Studio....??  Too much fun.

Although Thursday was wild, Friday was just... idk, Friday night was the epitome of Iowa City shenanigans.  I ran into at least 20 people from my past and probably did the high-pitched scream-hug with each one.  I first went to North Lib to check out Jenni and Jenna's beautiful house.  Jenni's parents were there, being hilarious as usual.  Jenni, Jenna and I enjoyed margs, chips and queso at the Saloon and then went to Joe's for an impromptu City High reunion.  Austin and Andy lit up my life, as usual (see below).  And Jim and Dave reminded me how many times they have saved my life in the past.  As you can see, I was just stupid-happy the whole night.  There might even be a hint of my childhood lazy-eye in there!

The rest of the night proved to be just as cray-cray.  I ran into the climber group AGAIN and since they were celebrating Tony's bday with stick-on mustaches, I couldn't not join the fun.  Morgan even gave Herkey a mustache... Classic.  Afterhours took place and because I was with climbers, I was forced to do as many pull-ups as I could muster.... which was about 1/2 pull-up.  But!  I loved hanging around folks who are so psyched on climbing.

The next day was brutal but because it was my last day, I forced myself to wake up and head back to downtown Iowa City for ArtsFest.  I met up with my pal, Paige, who I have missed ever since she moved from Denver.  Our families go way back so I knew I had to see her on my trip.  It was a must.  We kept things mellow, walking around the various ArtsFest booths and then stopping for grilled cheese on the Donnelly's patio.  When we parted ways, I met up with my family to do some shopping at my fav thriftstore, Revival.  I found a purdy dress and wore it out of the store on my way to Atlas for dinner.  Atlas was our last family meal together.  My mom, dad, brother and Ivy were there and it made me sad that Mike was back in Fort Collins.  We ate like kings and watched a concert from the patio until it was time to go.

I spent my last night in West Branch, recovering from the wild week, and it turned out to be the most perfect night and end to my trip.

The next morning I was able to say one last goodbye to my love, Meredith, and then Westy and I hit the road.  We passed the time on the long 13hr drive by listening to the most killer music, reviewing Spanish words and phrases, and talking about life.

I can't wait to go back.  VERY SOON.