Field of Dreams!

Well, today started out a lot better than yesterday ended! Got packed in the car again, but the car has still not recovered from my destroying it last night looking for my card and neither have my broken fingernails...

We drove over to the property from the movie Field of Dreams, which was really cool. The diamond is actually smaller than it looks in the movie (in my opinion) but it was still awesome to be sitting there in the bleachers, watching the field, hoping to get a 'glimpse' of someone or something. I tried to take Fletch for a walk but the wind was so bad (and cold) he did not like it at all. And then I was wearing shorts ; - 0.  I bought some postcards and a t-shirt for Sammy. This movie was a big thing for us when he was small. We used to lie on the floor in front of the TV, cuddled together with pillows and a blanket and watch this movie endlessly, along with Angels in the Outfield. We know almost every scene and line from AitO by heart. Ryan wasn't really into baseball or the movie as much, so it ended up being a Sam&Mom thing. The only thing missing this morning was Sam...

That's me sitting in the stands, watching a game!

I enjoyed the trip today; there were a lot of the 'Americana' neighborhoods and farm houses along the way - the ones that remind you of John Mellencamp songs or "heartland" commercials. The kinds of scenes that make you smile a little because of happy memories from your childhood, even if you've never actually been on a farm before. It also reminded of Bill Bryson trying to find the "amalgam" small town & farm land scene that people dream of and imagine themselves in a movie from the 50s or 60s. My favorite old movie memory like that is The Music Man, from Gary, Indiana. There were several places like that from yesterday and today, like Dubuque, that I tried to picture myself living in...

We left Dyersville for Indiana to see another high school buddy, Linda. We haven't seen each other in 28 years! I love that moment when you really see each other for the first time - it's so cool.

When I was entering Fayetteville, there was this incredible double rainbow that looked like it held the entire town in its arms. I don't think I have ever seen a double rainbow before today. See for yourself:

This was the start of noticing something approaching.

That's when I realized that it was a double!

This was the other end of it (but something funky happened with the photo because the car was moving).

Later, Linda and I went to this fabulous restaurant in downtown Fayetteville, called the Bluefin. Linda had NEVER eaten a raw oyster, so I got her to try a couple:

We talked and talked, shared photos & stories, solved the worlds' problems; you know, the usual! Dinner was incredible and I tried this 'eel sauce' on my steak and giant scallops which were grilled perfectly. Thank you Linda for a wonderful dinner and a perfect ending to a really good day of traveling!

Fletch is REALLY happy to be out of the car, too, and has made himself comfortable among the fru-fru pillows on the fluffy bed we get in a pretty, fru-fru room of our own for the next few days. Tough life, I tell you...