Lincoln, NE to St. Paul, MN
500 miles
6 hours in the car

Quick breakfast with a-ron, then on the road at 8. Went via Omaha, Sioux City, then diagonally up to the Twin Cities. This route took me within 1/4 mile of the Iowa state highpoint. This was a total coincidence, I swear. And the car swerved off the road and I was ejected and landed right on the highest point. Otherwise I never would have gone there, I promsie. No really.

Actually the lady who owns the highpoint was really nice and came out to talk to me for awhile. 4 people had been there the previous day, one of which was doing his 49th state (only WY left). I was the first today.

From there, I stopped by the town of Grogan, MN, but couldn't find a sign to photograph. Then on to my parents house in St. Paul. Hung out with my mom for a bit then went to visit dad in the hospital. "He's more machine than man, now." He's doing really well and looks like he's recovering pretty fast. I gather that the surgery was less extensive than they were anticipating it would be, which is great news. I left him a Richard Rhodes book to read.

When we got back home, we made dinner (salsa chicken and green salad) then I went off to a bowling alley in St. Louis Park to roll with Brent. Got two simultaneous multiballs on Simpsons pinball while waiting for him, then rolled a 107, 123, 85 series. When we were done, we found a *6* pound ball and decided we had to play a game with it (note that regulation pins are 4 pounds each). The holes on the ball (made for kids) were so close that they were unusuable, so we had to palm it. It was pretty silly.

The sad part is that we both scored a 76. While this is dramatically worse than Brent's 183 average, it was not all that far behind my 81 game from yesterday. What the hell. How can I suck so much? Yes, it is impressive, I know. :)

Tomorrow: Arcade games at Brent's. Woo!