(Friday, August 31)
Rick is notorious for sleeping in. Late. Much later than most people past the age of 25 could justify. On the drive to Cedar Rapids from Ames he had promised to sleep in typically late, even though we had plans to have lunch with his parents. I woke up at 8 AM this morning, and knew that there was no way Rick would be awake for several hours. Since I was still feeling feverish and generally sick, I decided to go back to bed to try to sl
eep it off. And sleep it off I did. All the way to Noon. At which time I found my way to the shower, and spent half an hour getting ready for the day. When I'm all set I go looking for Rick, and find him in the kitchen siting with his mom, talking. It turns out the sprinklers outside had woken Rick up at 9, and he couldn't fall back asleep. He and his mom had been waiting around for me to get up for more than 3 hours. It's a nice way to meet a friend's parents.We pick up Rick's dad at his printing company and head off for lunch at a local pizza place. I wish i remembered the name. Rick's dad, Jim, is apparently the typically schmoozey business man, as the apparent owner of the place comped us our meal: Pepperoni and Black Olives on thin crust. Yummy. But I'm still to sickish to really taste any of it. Jim is a winker, and though later Rick tells me "he does that to everyone," at the time it made me feel as though he was trying to communicate with me in some kind of secret code. Two winks for "I know where you live."
The conversations revolves around the embarrassing loss from the previous night (Rick's parents are Hawkeye fans), the upcoming Iowa game in Chicago -- to which Ric
k's rents are going -- and politics. I'm uncomfortable talking politics when first meeting people. It so dangerous, especially in Iowa, that I might say something to completely alienate myself or someone else. Turns out the rents are fairly pragmatic, share a dislike of the religious right, are appalled that Fred Thompson is a legitimate Presidential candidate, and think Hillary is a liar. I can deal with most of these thing, but i do think Hillary gets a bad rap. I let it go in the interest of keeping things amicable.With Jim back at work, Rick and I have a couple hours to kill back at his house before we can leave for Madison. Its about a 2 hour drive, and i we arrive to early, everyone will still be at work. We spend the time shooting the breeze with Connie (mom), playing with an oversize Black Lab named Sammy, and drinking lots of fluids in an effort to recover enough for tonight's compulsory bar hopping. Having killed just enough time, we hit the road once more.
The drive between CR and Madison is very pretty . Lots of big, rolling hills, and low valleys as you skirt the Mississippi river. I sleep for most of it. When we arrive in Madison, its a quick stop to meet Rick's pal Randy and his new condo. Its a nice place and Randy has good taste. You can tell even though the place still feels new and not quite home yet. Although I have to say that it looks much more like a home than my place, and I've got 6 months on him as a homeowner. Thats just plain old ambition on his part.
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