Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Des Moines-Northwest

... to heavy snow. Really, seriously, reality doesn't need to bite this bad. My new employer called twice to confirm plans for orientation, check on the moving status and see what they could do on their side to help with the moving arrangements. All that being said, that was really nice. Today we stopped in Abilene, KS at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and looked around. A bit of a history lesson as I ...

... chatting, laughing, stories and dancing and some football thrown in. Unfortunately I couldn't drink cos I was still feeling average.<br><br>We met some more people as the night progressed and as some people started to leave we finally got some quality time from a now chilled out but extremely happy bride. Of course we took advantage by taking photos cos you know how brides are... "how are you doing? Oh ****, I've gotta say hi to these people" :p As the night wore on Mark and I ...

... br><br>Alicia had mentioned a couple of funny little things and the bane of my American road trip introduced itself to me on the journey to Alicia's place - 4-way stop signs. They kind of made sense, kind of didn't (we'd use roundabouts for the same purpose) but I managed to get home in one piece, without running stop signs and without attracting attention of the police; not that I wasn't worried about that last one.<br><br>The morning was spent with everyone packing things as Mark, Kym ...

... got up and jumped on the computer so he avoided slacker status. The plan for the day was to do the grand Des Moines tour so we got our stuff together, bode farewell to Nate (he had to work) and headed off.<br><br>So there we were, myself, Alicia, Mark and Kym... and whoever was on the other end of Alicia's phone at the time (she was ringing ALL day much to her annoyance). The first stop was the Des Moines Capitol building (which works cos Des Moines is the capital ...

... little tougher than I imagined, but not horrible. We then showered and hit the road towards Des Moines. We arrived and parked downtown. After walking around for about 15 minutes, we felt like we had seen all we wanted to see, haha. It was a little bigger than Knoxvilles downtown, but it seemed like noone was smiling and there wasn't anything around except buisnesses. Maybe we were in the wrong part, but oh well. We left after grabbing a bite to eat for lunch and started towards Nebraska...

... attached is a museum and the opportunity to take a tour through the place John Wayne wore diapers. The garden was full of Red, Blue and White flowers, it was very patriotic.<br><br> Just a quick stop off before we head to Grandmas house for a few days! So far enjoying the corn state. We hope you are all well. Love and Peace to you all, the corn(y), Bek and Jesse Train<br>

... my final stopping point for the day, Buffalo Center, my home town! Here are a few tidbits about BC so you may understand where I come from. The town's population is about 860 made up of mostly German and Norwegian ancestry. The town boasts the first consolidated school west of the Mississippi, built in 1876. There are six churches, a bank, small grocery store/deli, barber shop, library, gas station, and swimming pool among a few others. Our ...

Well, I have embarked on something new that's for sure! My first ever girls getaway . . . theatrics included. There were four, and now there are three. Within 48 hours of the planning process beginning, one of our travelmates quietly bowed out. We tried to make a ruckus. We tried to get her attention and let her know how much we want her to go, but nothing . . . not a single word ...

... for the land of the cubicles and have always had a bug to be our own bosses - Sarah, as a flute instructor and Mary Kay consultant, and Jason, as a web-based business owner. So we did what most of you reading this would probably like to do. We quit our jobs and decided to give it a go on our own, knowing that something big could be just around the corner if we would only turn it. But how did we get the idea ...

... funny now. We also had a lot of people ask us why on earth we were paying them a visit, it's quite funny really, a lot of the locals are completely stumped as to why two Australians (!!) would be visiting their small town. The Casino was great, a few floors with all the stuff you'd expect plus a live band on once the racing had finished. We didn't stop too late though as it was me driving back in the dark trying to find our Motel - oh what fun this was. It's so simple driving ...