Upper Midwest Road Trip...

I have just returned from a road trip that took me from Grand Forks all the way down to Kansas...I had a great time and was able to reunite with many old friends. The trip started on New Years day, and I couldn't have thought of a better way to start 2008 than driving 8 hours...It was a nice time to reflect on the past year and get my mind right for the upcoming one.

I went to Cedar Falls, and stayed with an old friend. I was able to watch a great basketball game (UNI v. Evansville) UNI won and actually played pretty well. Caught up with all my old coaches and all in all had a good time. One disappointment was returning to Pablo's my favorite place to eat when I was at UNI to find that it was not nearly as good as I remembered and I would now take Qudoba or Chipoltle over Pablo's any day. Disappointed. Highlights from Cedar Falls were watching the UNI game, going out to eat with my coaches and doing the bar crawl with Jeff Glas, no one was out and about on a Thursday night so it was a struggle.

From there I went to Ames, Iowa to see Coach Mac, and catch up with some of my old teammates from Germany. Again it was great to catch up with people that I have not seen and don't get to see on a regular basis. Getting to see my friends from Germany made me miss it more than I ever thought I would. Germany and I would think Europe in general is a different culture possibly more open and loving, and its weird to say but I love those guys, and that doesn't make me gay. Disappointments from the Ames Trip, the game in general it was men against boys as UND was awful, and Iowa State played well but they are a mid to low level big 12 team. It was awful, its not often that you can get beat by 30 and have people walking away saying the game should not have been that close. The lopsided score was not a true reflection of just how bad UND is. They have a long way to go. Highlights: Going up to Coach Mac's office, going from the MVC to the Big 12 is a big step and you can tell it in the money that they have to throw around, everything was top of the line. Went to Coach Mac's house after the game and his house is HUGE, I don't think he is missing his days in Cedar Falls much, I guess $600,000 a year will do that to a person. Then went out with my friends from Germany, I enjoyed my time there I just wish I could have seen them more.

From there I went on to Kansas to see Jum and Danny. I have to say I was surprised at how much I liked Lawrence its a nice college two with alot to do, but yet still feels small. I liked it alot. Disappointments: I was only there one night, just the way things worked out but I would like to have seen more and spent more time. Oh and the stomach ache that the wings gave me. The heartburn was not worth it. Highlights: Strawberry-lime aide, watching American Gladiators, (and howling along with wolf), Dax Flame, Titian's Loss, tour of campus, and the outstanding welcome I got from Danny and Jum. Thanks guys your hospitality was outstanding.

From there I went back up to Des Moines, to have dinner and spend some time with Katie, it was great to see her and talk as we had not talked for along time, and given our sorted past, it was nice to get somethings out on the table and clear things up. The next morning I left for home after a week long trip.

All in all this trip was a huge success its nice to be back but I start school again on Monday so I am ready for class not ready for the drama. It was great to start 2008 and it was a nice way to get a start on one of my goals which is to be a better friend, Mission Accomplished.