I've never liked the term...

...hunting widow.  Have you ever heard it?  Basically it refers to me.  Right now.  Matt has been gone since Wednesday for his Colorado elk hunting trip.  When he's gone I probably hear from him two, maybe three times.  That is fine by me, that trip takes a LOT of planning, it is a ton of hard work, and it's not cheap!  So if not feeling as if he has to call home just to hear me ramble on about the opossum Lexa was barking at last night frees his brain up to focus on the next day's hunt, I'm totally cool with that.  He gets back on Sunday, the 25th.  That means Lexa and I get a solid week of girl bonding time.  Yesterday we went for a lovely 6 mile run on the bike path.  I can't remember the last time we went on a run that long together.  Over the summer she just isn't into long runs on warmer days so I do those solo.  But last night, you could really tell how happy and energetic she was in those low 50's.  At the end of our run we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

 

I get the question often...do the guys fly out to Colorado?  No.  They drive.  And they don't stop!  They take turns driving and sleep in shifts.  With all the gear they take out, and firearms, and (hopefully!!!) returning with several large coolers full of meat, it is truly the only way to go.  It was kind of funny though...the day after they left, I left for an exercise in St Louis.  And check it out...they drove through St Louis too!  I joked that they should have just dropped me off and saved the government a one way air fare.  :-) 

The exercise in St Louis was pretty awesome.  It was an earthquake exercise during which individual volunteers used their training to determine if a structure was safe to inhabit after sustaining damage from an earthquake.  This also happens to be the same mission our teams can be deployed by FEMA to assist with following a disaster.  Making this exercise an excellent opportunity to meet local and state emergency management managers in some of the mid-west states and get some of our Corps folks out into the field testing their skills and training as well.  It had been a long time since I had to dig out a red shirt, hard hat and steel toes! 

Check it out my rental car in St Louis.  What are the chances??  I take this as a good luck sign for the guys hunting in Colorado this week.  :-D

I took a picture of my dinner on Friday night in St Louis, but it isn't that great of a photo so you'll just have to take my word for it...the food was DELICIOUS!  We asked around some of the locals and learned of a place called the Shaved Duck that was once featured on the Food Network's Diners Drive-Ins and Dives.  Well, we had to go!  This place has a no reservation/call ahead policy.  First come first served.  And we were a group of six.  The Shaved Duck is tucked away in a very residential area.  You wouldn't expect to find a restaurant there among the homes.  But as we turned our way through the streets we found it.  And there were already people waiting outside.  Sigh.  We got our party on the list and were told an hour and a half wait.  Since we could grab a few beers and enjoy them outside at the tables we decided to wait.  Leave it to our teammate from the Alaska District to make instant friends with some of the folks waiting for tables as well.  Herschel is probably one of the friendliest, easiest to approach guys you'll ever meet (and he told me that Matt can visit him anytime and he'll take him moose hunting...in Alaska!!!!).  We all enjoyed  making new friends and the time waiting for the table flew by.  It's possible our wait was a little closer to 2 hours but I was enjoying a few locally brewed Schlafly T.I.P.A.s and didn't notice the time at all.  Upon the waitress' suggestion I ordered some brown sugar and walnut bacon for an appetizer and the slow smoked duck with Brussels sprouts for dinner.  And yes...pecan pie for dessert!  (Did I mention I ran yesterday??  Think I need to run a few more times to account for that meal!)  If you're ever in the St Louis area and looking for a place to eat, I highly recommend the Shaved Duck.  You might want to avoid a Friday night at 6:30pm though.  Unless you're cool with not getting back to your hotel until 10:45pm. 

The next day at the exercise I was given a tour of the I-BEAM tent city.  I-BEAM is the Indiana Building Emergency Assessment and Monitoring Team.  And wow...they have some REALLY cool toys.  Without getting into too much detail, they are self sustaining following a disaster, capable of generating their own electricity and communications. 

Those wind turbines on top were generating more electricity than they needed to run their communications that day.  And inside that trailer you could feel the rocking from how fast they were spinning.  I'm impressed.  And it's always so cool to learn what capabilities each state brings to the table to assist with disaster response and recovery. 

It was a VERY worthwhile trip for me and a few members of our team. 

Sunday morning I woke up early to drive to Holland to retrieve my pup who had been enjoying a few days with my in-laws.  There is no cooler feeling than the love and excitement that emanates from your dog after you've been gone for a few days and they spot you.  Lexa spotted me through the window in the door and started running full bore towards me.  Her tail was wagging so hard her whole back end was wagging too.  She made me feel like the most awesome person in the world.  I was happy to squat down and get some puppy love while scratching her ears and bum. What made me even more happy though, was taking her to dinner at my folks' later that evening.  My 93 year old poppop (mom's dad) LOVES dogs.  And Lexa...well...he just can't get enough of her.  After dinner he gave her some treats and she lay down at his feet in the living room.  It made his day to have her give him that type of attention, not just waiting for a treat, but lying there by him.  He told my mom a few times to look at her lying there.   (Admittedly...lay, lie, laid, laying, lying....AHHH!!!  Yes. I Googled it and I'm 99% sure the versions of those words I just used are correct though I really wanted to type, "she laid down at his feet...")

I feel like it's Sunday already.  I have so much planned between now and when Matt and the guys get home that I feel like the time is going to fly so fast it's already here!  Tonight I'm hanging with my friend Jen (and though she doesn't know this yet...I plan on bringing my workout clothes so we can do one of her DVDs together), tomorrow I have yard work to do (mow the lawn and start cutting back some of my perennials), Thursday I am keeping my fingers crossed that I drag my butt to yoga (I know I know...I've been a total yoga slacker because I find it hard to focus on running AND yoga but I'm attempting to turn over a new leaf that makes me believe I can do both), Friday I have a dinner reservation with my mom at the Buffalo Chophouse for Local Restaurant Week, Saturday is a chili party and then they're home on Sunday.  Busy, busy, busy! 

I'm curious...has anyone else visited a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives location?  If so, what did you think?  Did it live up to the hype?