Straight Down I-35

This past weekend I drove down to Des Moines for my annual state fair trip. Each year my college girlfriends and I get together for lunch and playtime with the kiddos. It's great fun to see all the kids in one place, and see how much they've grown. We missed Dana and her family this year (her kids were sick), but will hopefully see them soon.

Part of this whole reunion is, of course, a trip to the Iowa State Fair on Saturday night. Just the ladies. We drink, we eat, we talk, we walk through a few buildings, we people watch, and we seek out some kind of free entertainment. This year was no exception. Highlights were the "Hillbilly Homebrew;" pork chop on a stick and a delicious frozen banana treat called a Monkey Tail; conversations about giving birth spurned by a walk through an animal building where a mama cow was doing just that very thing; outstanding mullet and crazy t-shirt sightings; and then came the main attraction...lucky (?) for us...one of the free concerts that night was 1980s sensation Loverboy.

It started out kind of rough, we didn't know any of the songs. As my friend Amy A. said, "well, at least we're still too young for something!" But soon we began to recognize some of the songs, maybe when they hit the late 80s repertoire? "Hot Girls in Love" had us singing along (it may not sound familiar right away, but you probably know it). By "Turn Me Loose" we were standing on the bleachers and feeling the Loverboy love. Whether it was the music or the 32oz. margarita, no one can be sure. Regardless, they closed out the show with "Workin' for the Weekend," and we felt satisfied. An encore including "Lovin' Every Minute of It" (which I had no idea was their song) capped it off. Surprisingly, the lead singer, despite "looking like a punchline waiting to happen" (thanks Amy V.) could still really sing. It was an experience.

Sunday before heading home I did some shopping and had lunch with my little bro, Justin. I also stopped by his new apartment and met his pretty new cat, Paisley. It was a very nice end to the trip. But really, it's pretty hard to top Loverboy.