River Trip 2018
I’ve been visiting Guttenberg, Iowa, on the Mississippi River, since birth. It’s where my family goes to relax – to boat, go to the beach, and to eat entirely too much food. This is the fifth year in a row that la otra familia – Gina, Steve, and Luca – have joined us for vacation there!
Our annual river trip with la otra familia trip flew by! We arrived in Guttenberg last Saturday night, and left Wednesday afternoon.
FRIDAY!
Steven and I headed out of town around 1:00 pm on Friday, and made our way to Davenport, where Gina and fam were meeting us so that we could leave our car there and ride back to (near) Iowa City with them. Yay, RAGBRAI logistics! We had an easy drive in, and kind of wished we were spending more time in Davenport – it looked like a neat city!
We drove by the finish line for the Bix 7 (a popular 7-mile race) and it dawned on me that RAGBRAI finished in Davenport on the same morning as the Bix 7. Whoa, logistics nightmare much? I knew we’d be arriving there well after the race was over though, ha.
We rode back to Iowa City and got some Mediterranean food, then went back to our hotel to meal plan and make a (huge) shopping list for the week.
SATURDAY!
Dad, Gina, Steven, and I rode RAGBRAI, while Steven, Mom and Luca had some adventures of their own! After dropping us off, they stopped at Hurts Donuts (the home of Steven’s favorite glazed donut) in Iowa City,
then dropped Gina and Steve’s car off in Davenport, then went out to lunch in Dubuque, then picked up all our groceries for the next 3.5 days. It was Steven’s idea for the three of them to drop the car then go get groceries, and that REALLY helped the overall schedule. I had planned on grocery shopping after the ride, but Steven hypothesized I wouldn’t feel like it, and he was right! It was such a help to have them do that!
They drove on to Guttenberg and checked in to Gina and Steve’s rental and dropped off all the groceries then hung out until we got there. We all had pizza together that night and shared stories from our day with each other. It was fun to hear what they were up to!
SUNDAY!
Sunday was a typical river day. Gina and I did a long-ish run in the morning with Dad (on his bike) then we packed all our food and gear up for a trip to the beach!
Running up the hill to meet Gina!
I gave Gina a unicorn floatie for her birthday, and we had a blast trying to get on and off it, and seeing how many adults we could fit on it. I think (I know, actually, because someone said something) the people on the beach enjoyed watching us fall off, and all the little girls were making home alone faces and saying “Look! A unicorn!”
Matching hats from Gina!
After beach time, we had dinner at Gina and Steve’s rental. The owner of the rental left some sweet corn from his farm and it was amazing! The rest of dinner was too, but the corn stole the show. Hashtag Iowa.
MONDAY!
Steve and I ran a bit with Dad Monday morning, then Steven and Steve did some work, while Gina, Luca and I hiked the trail behind their rental. The rental house was on the bluff overlooking town, and the trail went straight in to town. I was expecting single track, but it was actually groomed with grass, then dirt, then rocks. It was an easy hike.
While in town we went to the aquarium and lock and dam (where we watched part of a barge go through!). We saw a large sign for things to do in Clayton County at the aquarium, and Spook Cave caught our interest. Then we heard a raving review for it from a 3 and 5-year-old at the lock and dam, so we knew we had to go! After lunch, we headed there!
Bones – one of the cats who lives at the cave/campground!
I wish I could give you the history of the cave, but I didn’t retain much of it (by my own fault – our tour guide was great). What I thought was cool was that you tour the cave on a boat, and have to duck a lot to avoid hitting your head on the cave walls. And we all enjoyed that it was 47° in there!
We checked out the town of McGregor for a bit after our tour. Unfortunately, a lot of the shops were closed (we got there too late), but we still had fun!
We all had dinner together at Gina and Steve’s again, and yes, the sweet corn stole the show. AGAIN. (But I tried red sauce enchiladas for the first time and liked them! We always do green sauce at home!)
TUESDAY!
Tuesday was my thirty-fourth birthday. All I wanted to do was run and go to the beach. And not do any dishes.
And I got my wish (minus a few dishes)! I ran with Dad up to Gina’s place, then ran with her a bit, then we all went to the beach and had it all to ourselves for a few hours, which is a treat!
I made sure to eat really crappy junky food for my birthday – a macaroni and cheese burger for lunch and nachos for dinner (which makes it sound like a love cheese, but that is not the case, ha).
My mom made me a coconut pineapple cake for my birthday, which we ate at Grandma’s. I opened gifts there too.
WEDNESDAY!
Wednesday was our last day. We made our traditional big breakfast (the other days we did quick stuff like cereal, pop-tarts, bars, and fruit), took our family photos,
packed up, and headed out!
Ha. It totally sounds like we did nothing on this trip, but we were hanging out all day, not taking naps, often cooking and cleaning, and packing things up and unpacking, and helping with the water toys where we could … we were super tired each night! But in a good way. It was a lot of fun! I felt like I got to relax and unplug and shut off from the world for a few days, which I needed. I was feeling pretty stabby and agitated about work before I left, so it was good to take a break. Then come back to chaos. But oh well!
And I say this every year but I LOVE how our families mesh so well together. Gina is like a sister to me, and she and Steve and Luca treat my parents like they’re their parents/grandparents. I recognize what a rare thing that is to have such a big group get along and want to spend days on days together and I’m grateful for it. I love sharing my childhood vacation spot with them, and love that they want to spend two days driving to it (and back home, eek), and look forward to it all year like I do! Love love love!!! Can’t wait for River Trip 2019!
Themocracy
Happy Birthday! This sounds like such a nice vacation: friends, family, and food,all my favorite things!
Thank you! It really was! I wish I was still there!!!
OK, obviously I’m reading backwards in my blog catch up, but again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! What a great vacation; it’s great that you all enjoy spending time together and doing all kinds of fun activities. That unicorn float with all the adults on it just cracked me up. And that cave tour sounded really cool (and literally cool, nice).
I like hearing it again, so thanks! 🙂
I think so too. Gina and I were talking about how cool it would be if we were actual sisters or she was married in to our family or something!!
OMG, we fell off SO MANY TIMES. HA!!!!
This sounds like the PERFECT summer vacation. Reading it really made me want some sweet corn and warm summer days (and to go swimming with that unicorn floatie). What a fun and relaxing trip!
You maybe explained this: So Gina and fam stayed in a rental, but where did you stay? Your family has a place, right?
Happy belated birthday! And looking forward to hearing about RAGBRAI in another post. (I’m catching up finally!)
Oh, I forgot: You have an IMPRESSIVE shorts tan! <3
I hope you get your warm summer days! In September, right?
I didn’t explain – my parents stayed in their cabin, and we stayed in their extra cabin on the “island.”
Thank you!
Ha, I know. It’s so bad.
sounds like a lovely trip. glad you made sure to make the most of your birthday too!
Thanks!
Happy belated birthday! That’s fun that you got to spend it with your family on the river! Does it always work out that way every year?
The unicorn floatie is so fabulous. When I was out on Lake Michigan for the bachelorette party I went to a few weeks ago, floatie spotting was my favorite pastime, haha. There are some truly insane ones out there as far as size and design goes! I remember being excited to just have a plain old tube when I was a kid, haha.
Thank you! Yes, it does! There’s only one or two years I’ve actually spent my birthday in Chicagoland as an adult. Otherwise I am at the river with my family!
Ooo! What did you see? We saw a flamingo. And have you seen the bull?!?!
What a fun birthday week – even better that you could leave work craziness behind for awhile. I’m sure that was super helpful for your mental health.
That unicorn floatie is the BEST. Love it!
It was! Then I immediately came back to craziness and more new projects. I need to talk to my boss about my workload. I don’t think I can keep up and do well (maybe they don’t want me to?!).
It was so fun! I wish I was on it right now (and not in an airport with a delayed flight, ha!).