Iowa Trip, Day Two
I'm up way early, even though it's still 4:00 a.m. West Coast time. I just can't sleep more than seven hours it seems. J.P. swings by a few minutes later, bringing coffee and company.
Later we rent a double-decker pontoon boat and head out onto the lake, which is greenish brown and about five miles long and a few miles wide. It's pleasant -- although the forecast calls for rain. We tool around the lake, looking for a spot out of the wind. When we finally stop I leap from the top railing into the water with a huge splash -- and bounce off the bottom again. I later find out that the deepest part of the lake is only 17 feet deep. Glad I resisted the urge to dive.
By mid afternoon the rest of the crew begins to show. There's quite a few of them and I won't pretend that I learned all their names. They have an sheen of success and are nearly all very interesting to talk to. One was one of the main cattle auctioneers in South Dakota, Jan retired early and he's sailing around the world and just flew in from Valencia where he watched the America's Cup, another is a noted ant biologist from Florida who's dating a National Geographic photographer, still another--one of the younger ones--works at Boston Scientific in Minneapolis, where it seems like quite a few of them live.
They're friendly, some of course more than others. The younger group, the twenty-somethings, are slightly clannish, and it's tough to break in. I guess I'm just some random old guy in their eyes. Christy and I are in a bit of a pickle really, twenty years younger than the parents and about 15 years older than the kids.
We eat pizza on the back lawn of the hotel. Sydney makes friends with the only three kids her age and goes swimming off the dock. The sky begins to cloud as the sun sets, but hardly anyone seems to notice at the time, busy as they are with catching up and recalling family stories. I wander around, camera in hand, and dive into the more interesting conversations.
Hannah, out on the pontoon boat as we circle past "downtown."
Clear Lake is actually greenish brown. Shallow, but pretty.
Downtown Clear Lake from the boat.
Bean, about to get wet.
The water was warm, but the stiff breeze made for a cold couple of minutes when you left the water.
The Ackermans and the Bales file in as the sun goes down.
Photo by Hannah.
Mommie/Daughter time.
Hmm... I wonder what those clouds mean?
Creative marketing at its best.
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