Snapshots from Outta Town

We didn't quite find our hoped for balmy paradise along the main downtown walkway in Iowa City, Iowa outside in January, but we did

in row 28, section L of the Carver-Hawkeye Arena for a good game against the Badgers.  Hotel

Vetro, concrete floors and all, was not what we expected on this visit, but was a very cool, sleek room

located in the same complex as the authentic Japanese restaurant Formosa, and an awesome little grocery store called the Bread Garden Market.  And we may not have found a smooth ride home over the bluff ridges on the way home, but I will say we did find true adventure, as seen here from the Volvo dashboard at New Vienna, where the gas stations were closing down, as one worker said, for the first time in memory.

One step closer to balmy paradise...ah, Sundara Wisconsin Dells in any old cold month breaks the ice – here a view of the heated pool and hot tub from our room above.

A short walk from Sundara, Rivers View Pub and Grub with its very own tree coming up through the bar for the locals to climb late at night.

Having seen Iowa and Wisconsin, on to Minnesota at Radisson Blu for a short trip to Mall of America, where the Blue Men (Julia) regularly entertain guests.

Children become paintings on the wall.

And the Twin Cities Grill offers up some wild rice entertainment.