Rice Lake-Where's The Rice? Day 1

Where are you going on vacation?

They asked as we got our

Starbucks coffee, midday,

on the way out of town.

They could see our car packed and

my trusty Starbucks Thermos

at the ready.

So..WHERE did you say you were going?

Hmmm...We DIDN'T really say..

Cuz...We're not really sure yet.

was the reply.
Aren't you leaving now?

Yep! Right from here.

Huh? Leaving here and going where?

Yeah...well, therein lies the problem...

We are just gonna drive..

and stop..

drive-

and-

stop-

The girl at the window looks at me

like I have grown a third head.

She should be used to the

other two by now.

Well, I ask MyHero, as we
pull out of the drive..

Where ARE we going?

North, South, East, West?

Let's head West! No..wait...

Let's head North!

I compromise..

because as you remember..

I drive...he rides....

I drive NorthWest.

Late afternoon finds us

in the sweet little town

of Rice Lake.

Rice Lake has the well-known

Midwestern medical facility~

Marshfield Clinic.

A wonderful hospital

that performs many miracles.

But...listen to the words..

MARSH FIELD

RICE LAKE

Do you think of swamps and

rice fields? Huh?

Yeah-me too!

Guess what?

There are none-

Neither marshes nor rices...

yes..I know the plural of rice

is rice.

Thanks for asking....

Rice Lake-sure is pretty~

We drove all the way around the lake.

Then found a motel

and a restaurant.
We like to eat.

We like to sleep.

I like to watch

late night TV.

MyHero likes

to grumble

about late night

TV too.

Next time I am getting my own room:>) We asked the motel lady..

Where do you like to eat?
She said~ Drag's

I'll have you know I did NOT

make ONE joke about the name.

No. I. Did. Not~!

I could have-but I didn't..We dragged ourselves to Drag's...

Okay-maybe just ONE teeny little joke.

By this time I was dragging butt (TWO)

Because I had dragged the mop (THREE)

all over my house before we left so

I could drag (FOUR) myself back to a clean house.

Okay-I quit now~ I promise~

Well, when I saw the sign that said

Italian Restaurant AND

Roman Lounge

I told MyHero to

take his clothes off and they would give him

a toga to wear...

He refused because he thought I might be joking.

We hesitantly entered thinking we

might see old naked men in togas...

or worse.

Surprise!

Well, what a cute little place.

They had Halloween decorations up

the yazoo...Y'all know what THAT is, right?

The owner must have DRAGGED out

box after box of decorations.Even the lights were cleverly disguised as

hmmm...baskets of flowers and leaves..

Pretty funky lights...It was just charming...

All lit up and cutsified*...

*new word..feel free to use it...As soon as I whipped my camera out

My Hero started flinching...

and frothing at the mouth

Don't take any more pictures..he grumbled.
I won't- I promised.

But wait...here comes the

Spaghetti.....OH SO GOOD!Can I just take one picture of you eating? I asked

ever so sweetly~

Here, he said, Talk to the hand!Now~ If you are very good and promise

not to use recycled toilet paper

tomorrow I will tell you about

Murder and Mayhem.

Try to DRAG yourself back here tomorrow, will you?