We Left Her.

Kerry had asked a few weeks ago if it would be okay if he planned a little getaway or retreat of sorts.  My first thought was, "Yesssss!"  My second thought was, "What about our little girl?"  After securing the grandparents as sitters and many mommy deep breaths, we packed a little bag and dropped Ona off first thing Saturday morning.

Admittedly, we were kind of sad to leave her.  Ona, on the other hand, wanted down as soon as we arrived, ran super crawled to Grandma's stash of toys, and promptly waved good-bye.  Tear.  She was fine and off we went on a little adventure.  Kerry did a super job planning.  First stop was for a "nice coffee."  I am typically an $.89 reusable cup at the gas station kind of gal.  However, he insisted on an actual mocha (decaf for the preggers) for the beginning of the drive.  It was delish.  We took all back roads through rural Wisconsin and arrived a bit over three hours later to McGregor, IA.

Our accommodations for our adventure was the The American House Inn.

Built in 1854, the inn sets about three hundred feet from the Mississippi with views across to Wisconsin and steps to the historic downtown McGregor.
After arriving around lunchtime we walked the downtown, stooping into little antique and eclectic shops.

I mean, as much of those little babies cried out to us, we resisted the temptation to bring them home.  In fact, the only thing we did snag was a sweet paper lantern for Ona's big girl room.  We settled on a Mexican restaurant for lunch.  The food was really good and Kerry's burrito was huuuuge.

After lunch we changed and headed to Pikes Peak State Park for a long hike.  Chocked full of hills and bluffs, Pikes Peak was a blast to tread through.  It typically has a few waterfalls, but many of them are outrageously dry due to this summer's drought.

For being a smidge of an inside hermit this summer due to the heat, my fifteen week pregnant self kept up pretty well.  Kerry did pull me up a few of the hills, but who's counting.

It was well past dinnertime by the time we finished.  So after a quick clean up, we headed back downtown McGregor to Old Man River Brewery for dinner.  Kerry said it was the best steak he's had in a long time, and my Sierra Mist was delish if you were wondering.  Yes, local breweries make our hearts go pitter patter, so being pregnant squelches a bit of the excitement, but Kerry thought his Gold Coin Helles was good.  He looked pretty handsome if I do say so myself.

One highlight of McGregor is the Lady Luck Casino, a three story gambling boat that floats on the Mississippi.  Kerry had this deep yearning to go check it out.  So after dinner, off we went.  Oh.my.goodness, what a hilarious experience!  I doubt we saw more than twenty people that were not bald or white haired.  Instead of alcohol, the choice of drink was decaf coffee in styrofoam cups and everyone was walking around with vanilla ice cream cones.  I sat down for a moment and overheard two men discussing colonoscopies.  Seriously, hilarious.  We went hog wild and spent $9 on mainly penny and nickle slots.  We cashed out at $5.06.  So, at $3.94 for an hours worth of fun, we'd say it was a pretty cheap date.  Here's us making our way off the boat.

This rainy morning we had a long breakfast at the Blue Gill Cafe and snagged a couple of handmade chocolates before heading home. 

It was such a random, relaxed, and so needed respite from life.  It was an intentional time spent with God and each other.  I arrived home feeling refreshed (especially after unpacking) and head-over-heels in love with my husband.  Thanks for a great weekend babe!

p.s. McGregor was a cute little town, but even only being there twenty-four hours, we conquered most of it.  We left loving our visit, but probably not some place we'd run back to year-after-year.