Dima’s Corner

This weekend I drove down to Kansas City to check out the town and hang out with my friend Fernando who just moved down there. It was a good five and a half hour drive, but, surprisingly, I did not feel too bad after it. I checked out KC couchsurfing group and they happened to have a monthly meet up that night so we joined them at Harry’s Country Club (which is not really a country club but a nice small bar with lots of different foreign beers). There were at least a dozen and a half people swapping travel stories and just hanging out. Afterward we walked around the downtown and checked out the Power and Light district, one of three hip places to hang out in town.

On Friday, we hit up another one of the three places to hang out - the Plaza. It was a more trendy area than the bar scene at the Power and Light district. Another couchsurfer, Melissa, took us there after grabbing some pretty decent sushi at Kato. First we hit up reVerse, a trendy joint, where Melissa’s roommate joined us and afterward we walked over to Fred P Ott’s for a more casual atmosphere.

I have been thinking about getting a pistol for a while now and a few weeks ago took a day-long NRA pistol basics course at the North Linn Fish and Game Club in Central City.  We spent half a day in “class” learning about gun components, how they work, different types of ammunition, safety rules, and shooting basics. In the afternoon we went out to the range and did some shooting.

There was a reporter from the Cedar Rapids Gazette doing a piece on increasing number of gun permits being issued this year. He took some pictures while we were on the range and I forgot all about it. Fast forward to today and the article has been published on the front page of the newspaper so I am famous again! A bunch of people have already stopped by with some witty (and some not) comments about it.

Princess Shayani demanded our presence at a toga party in honor of her birthday this weekend and so we obliged. I was making the rum drinks I enjoyed in Virgin Islands and soon we ran out of rum and bananas so we went on a quest to get more supplies from the evil empire of Wal-Mart. After the victorious return and a few more drinks, we whipped out the Twister and it became a very interesting game with (apparently incorrectly worn) togas further limiting our movement (yes, I blame toga!).

A group of folks I work with decided to check out a churrascaria (Brazilian steakhouse) at some point and this weekend was it. The closest we could find is Samba in Madison, Wisconsin, about 2.5 hour drive from here. These restaurants are famous for all-you-can-eat style dinner made of many different kinds of meat grilled and delivered to the table whenever you indicate that you want some more. Since it was a long drive for a dinner, I decided to drive up to Madison on Friday night to check out the city as well. I got the full taste (aftertaste?) of the college experience on Friday by staying at the University of Wisconsin dorm and having to evacuate at 2 am in the morning when someone pulled a fire alarm.

On Saturday, I drove out to check out the Cave of the Mounds nearby. It formed over the period of hundreds of millions years and was accidentally discovered in 1930s during lead mining in the area. Since it was discovered fairly late, it was immediately equipped with lighting system and plenty of concrete walkways. So, while some of the sites of formations inside the cave were pretty cool, it felt like it was over “developed”. After visiting the cave, I stopped by at a nearby town for a Norwegian festival to try some of the food, however the only thing I could find were burgers and gyros. Instead, I ran into another guy I work with on the street, in the middle of nowhere in Wisconsin - it is a small world…

It was time to drive out to Middleton for a tour of Capital Brewery there. On the way, I managed to swing by an apple orchard and pick up some apples as well. The brewery tour was pretty good with lots of beer (at least three pints) for only $3. I really enjoyed their Super Club beer which is made with corn and has a very pleasant taste. Soon afterward it was time to go meet up with others at Samba four our dinner feast. Overall, I have a mixed feelings about our experience. I have had by far the best steak I have ever tasted (flank steak) and the cinnamon covered pineapple was delightful. On the other hand, the rest of the meats did not leave up to the hype. Sure, the sausage and tenderloins were good, but not $35 dinner good.

On Sunday, I went to Muscatine, Iowa to get a ride in a Civil Air Patrol glider. This was my second time in a glider and I did not think it would beat my first one flying above the mountains in Boulder, Colorado last year. While the scenery was not nearly as exciting, it was still a lot of fun. We got released at 1900 feet and were able to pick up some good thermals to get up to 4600 feet and fly around for almost an hour with no power whatsoever. Good times!

Once again I was not able to pull a crew together to venture out to Mount Rushmore for the weekend. Instead, I saw a pretty cheap deal for flights to Tennessee and decided to go check out the Blue Ridge Mountains and kill three birds with one stone - visit a friend, cross out another state off my list (only 17 to go!), and earn six flight segments towards my Skymiles Medallion status next year (only 5 to go!).

We went hiking in the Smokies and the view of the never ending Blue Ridges, some covered in fog and clouds, was breathtaking. On the back to Knoxville we swang by the McKay bookstore - a huge warehouse filled with used books, movies, music CDs. I walked out with a couple books and a dozen DVDs to add to my collection.