More cowbell!

Alright. I think I'm ready to come clean and tell y'all where we went on our recent road trip. You know, the trip where I was to be sedated because I hate to travel. In fact, I'd rather watch back-to-back-to-back episodes of Fox & Friends in the Morning than be placed in the back of Stew's SUV for eight hours. First off, the sedative didn't work... unless the intent of it was to give me symptoms of delirium tremens for the entire trip. It was only this past weekend when I finally stopped feeling snakes crawling on my back. Luckily, I was spared the so-called "sedative" for the long journey home. Anyway, getting back to our trip... A few weekends ago we visited Stew's homeland of Pierre, SoDak, for Mike "Hello, Mueller" Mueller's 40th birthday festivus (Seinfeld fans might catch one or both Seinfeldian references here). I was previously prohibited from disclosing our destination out of fear that someone would tip off the local authorities. As luck would have it, this was one of the few times Stew was able to visit his hometown without actually finding himself in the backseat of a police cruiser (ask Stew about Uncle Jimmy's bachelor party sometime...). And it was a fabulous weekend. Claire and I got to visit Steamboat Park for the first time ever, and the grown ups got to catch up with good friends. Speaking of good friends... Stew got to hangout with childhood pal (and fellow U of SoDak alumn) Trevor Jones and his family for a few hours, where Claire picked up a free scooter from the Jones girls. And before heading to the Izaak Walton Clubhouse for the birthday bash, Momma, Stew and Claire spent some time with the Smith Family (Mary, Addy and Jeff... also known as "SmitHead"). I'm told SmitHead broke out his world famous Vodka Slushies for a little pre-party primer:

Smithead’s Famous Slush

Boil 7 cups of water.
Take two cups of the boiling water and steep 4 bags of green tea. Let this cool.

To the remaining 5 cups of water add the following:

2 cups sugar

1 - 12 oz can frozen orange juice

1 - 12 oz can frozen lemonade

3 cups gin or vodka

Place in freezer for 24 hours.

Scoop slush into a glass and serve with 7-Up or Sprite.

Hold onto your socks because it's gonna be a long night!

Do yourself a favor and whip up a batch. You'll be glad you did... at least until the next morning, when you'll find yourself cursing "SmitHead!" over and over again in your head (another Seinfeldian reference for you Newman fans).

Anyway, I'm told the party was wonderful and a record number of Budweisers were consumed. And it turns out Claire is quite the dance machine, although none of Stew's phone camera pics turned out worth a darn. Apparently the phone camera lens mimics what the person pointing the camera sees, therefore all the pics are blurry. Plus, no faces are visible on any photos that include a woman in the shot (just a bunch of blurry boobs). Regardless, I simply must post at least one pic of Mueller on stage with the band playing his favorite (musical) instrument.
Momma and Claire headed back to the hotel around 8pm, while Stew stayed out with Mueller, SmitHead and a bunch of other pals. Stew eventually left the crew at The Legion Cabin sometime around midnight and wandered by himself to the Ker McGee Truck Stop for a [quote] "big-ass omelet". By 11am the next morning, we were heading back home.

But speaking of The Legion Cabin, Stew was pleasantly surprised to find high school friend, "Reverend" Rob Krogstad, tending bar that night. Sidenote: while living in Alaska, Rob formed his own church via the internet many years ago, thus he's now known by his followers as "Reverend Rob". One of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, it turns out Rob also invented The Paddlepac - an inflatable raft that connects to a kayak with metal poles linked to a belt the kayaker wears. The device can hold coolers, pets, camping gear, bicycles and more.There's a cool article in the Pierre Capital Journal newspaper about Rob and his new business venture. Check it out HERE... and be sure to visit the PaddlePac website HERE. Good luck, Reverend!