H.A. Larson's Blog, page 14

Why do I give up so easily sometimes?

 

I don't know why, but sometimes I give up too easily and it needs to stop. It's nothing more than an act of self-sabotage that gets me with my second, third, or even last option....for everything. As an example, it's no secret that I am obsessed with Europe, a fact that only got more pronounced after my trip to Ireland back in 2014. My plan for the past three years has been to retire early to Dublin. Lately, though, I've started making excuses why I should pick another option here in the States. Sure, it's a good option but it's not my first option. It's almost like I find the negatives and hold on for dear life. 
But, it's not just my early retirement plans to Europe that I tried to give up on. I've been on a journey of health for a long time now. During that time I've yo-yo'd and gone through ups and downs. Every time I fall off the wagon, I tend to just want to give up, and then I'm stuck in fail mode for months! It's so exasperating.
While I made so much progress in my life by reaching a lot of goals over the past couple of years, I've also had some setbacks. While my successes outweigh my failures, I focus on the failures and just wallow in them. I had a moment of awareness recently that made me realize just what I was doing to myself and I understand that I have to do something to reverse this mode of thinking. 
I'm not giving up! I'm going to move forward, one step at a time, and for every step, I will concentrate on one or two goals at a time.

Wish me luck!

The Past Few Weeks: A Picture Story

 

I'm not going to lie, the past few weeks have been pretty great. I've gotten out and done more things during this time than I have in literal months. Of course, I've taken plenty of photos, so why not share a picture story?

It all started three weeks ago when I bought a brand new car. It hurt to have to go into debt again, but it was a necessary purchase. My old car wasn't road-worthy anymore, except to get me around town, which is fine except that winter is coming and my wanderlust was getting the better of me. Luckily, I had done plenty of research so I scored a great deal. Now that I have good, reliable transportation...it's time to be the adventurer I am again. To that end, I didn't waste any time!



That Saturday, I hit the trails early for a short hike at my favorite spot: Neale Woods. 



It was just as lovely as always.



Early that afternoon, my daughter and I drove over to Lincoln, NE, to spend a quick overnight visit with my son who attends UNL. On Sunday, we made our way over to the Sunken Gardens, a real gem in Lincoln. This was my second time visiting there.









Our next stop was the Nebraska State Capitol building.



You can take the elevator to the 14th floor and stand out on the viewing deck. While I've been to the Capitol building before, I'd never been up top, so it was a first for me. What a view!



We were hungry after our sightseeing, so we went to Rutabaga's, a fully vegan restaurant. We ordered onion rings for an appetizer which tasted just as amazing as they look.



The kids both got the nachos.



I got the mac 'n cheese.



Monday after work was warm and typically quiet, so I drove down to Fontanelle Forest for a short but leisurely meander around the boardwalk. I tore the meniscus in my right knee during my move in May, so I've been carefully rebuilding up my hiking prowess.



Much like Neale Woods, you can spy the Omaha skyline from a vantage point within the park.



For the first time ever, I got a closeup, personal view of a deer mama and fawn.



That Friday, after work, my daughter and I packed the car and made the three-hour drive North to my Dad's house. His tree-covered driveway was lovingly created by him when he moved in over 30 years ago and I absolutely adore it.



Dad and I took a walk down the road from his house to the creek.



It's been so dry that the water level is low enough to expose and create little islands.



That Saturday morning, Dad and I took off for some hiking.






Once upon a time, this was a hill for inner tubing in the winter.



The small shack behind my dad was the pulley that moved along the thick wire that people would hold onto to bring them and their inner tubes up the hill.



The view up here was gorgeous.



Later that day, Dad, myself, my stepmom, and my daughter drove up to the Iowa Great Lakes. We first stopped at Big Spirit Lake.






If you go around to the north side of Big Spirit Lake, you're right on the border of Minnesota. Hi there Minnesota!
After that, we went to Arnold's Park on Lake Okoboji to watch a free concert.



The following Friday, my friend Rebecca and I went out for a couple of drinks. We ended up at her house where we were fortunate enough to catch some fireworks from her patio.



It was a pleasant surprise.




Saturday, I did some county highpointing up in Washington County Nebraska. Most county highpoints, at least the ones I've been to, are all on private property so there's not much to see. On my way back home, I made a pit stop at Beaver Creek for a short little walk.










Sunday morning was quite cool, so I hit up Schramm State Park. 






I've seen this view hundreds of times, yet I never grow weary of it.


The past few weeks have been a nice return to a life of travel and adventure that I've missed. I have so many things to look forward to that are coming up soon or not far in the future and I'm quite excited. I have lots of plans, none of which include slowing down.
Have a great week!

My FIRE Journey: I Stopped Using my Debit Card

Last year, I started credit card churning when I learned of it and have been paying all of the bills that I can, using points credit cards, ever since. A couple of months ago, I was looking through all my points cards (credit cards that give me rewards points) to plan out a trip for later this year when I was struck by a revelation: why am I using my debit card for anything? I mean, when I think about it, I get nothing for using the card other than the privilege of not having to carry cash. Well, my credit cards accomplish the same thing, only I get rewarded for using them.
This revelation literally blew my mind, and I haven't used my debit card since. Every purchase I make gets put on my points credit card of choice. Even though I pay for things strictly using a credit card, I have some self-imposed rules that make this work.
1. Just like I would with my debit card, I only spend money on my points credit cards according to the balance in my bank account. I pay my bills, I buy groceries, I purchase household supplies, and whatever else I spend my paycheck on. 
2. While I haven't written a check in years, I have always used a checkbook register to log all of my debit card purchases and withdrawals from my account. This way, I know exactly how much money I have to work with at all times. So, while I use points credit cards now instead of my debit card, I still deduct each purchase I make on my checkbook register.
3. Last, but not least, I pay off my points cards before the bill is due so I don't incur any interest fees. Now, this is what I was doing anyway, but it's still a hard and fast rule.
I continue to apply all of my thrifty ways so I can save as much money as possible on my road to FIRE. In other words, I still keep my spending to a minimum, but now I use my points credit cards instead of my debit card. It's just another way that I make my money work for me.




 

Nothing but Blue Skies

I was hiking the other day when I snapped this lovely photo and I thought about how beautiful it was. It was slightly overcast but the clouds couldn't hide how blue and bright the sky looked, and I thought about how it was the perfect metaphor for my life right now. Indeed, after over two years of hard work - as well as changes that were sometimes difficult - I've finally arrived. 
The final piece of the puzzle fell into place once I purchased my brand new car recently. You all know that I'm a wanderer, adventurer, and traveler at heart...it's a big part of what makes me, me. My adventures had become farther between over the past few years as I rebuilt my life and dealt with an old car that wasn't road-worthy enough to leave town anymore. It sucked not being able to go and do the things that bring me happiness, peace, and greater meaning, but I did what I needed to do to get where I needed to be. Part of that was saving up for a down payment on a new car and, after doing a good few months of careful searching, I was able to buy the exact car I wanted at the price I wanted to pay. 
You haven't been able to stop me since. I've already gone out to my favorite hiking places nearby that I couldn't drive out to anymore, I picked up my usual park passes, I spent the first weekend visiting my son an hour away, and next weekend I'll be up in northwest Iowa visiting my dad. 
I've regained the last part of me that's been missing and it gives me a sense of peace that I don't think I've ever felt. I feel like I've been completely reborn and that my life can truly begin again. There are a lot of adventures on the horizon and I can't wait to experience them all. 
Have a great week, friends. 
 

Coffee Talk: The Latest

Good morning! The mornings are still cool, even if the afternoons are heating up, so I'm sitting here at my desk with my cup of coffee and a light, cool breeze. Have you got a cup of coffee, too? Well, let's have a chat.
Back in May, when I was moving out of my old house, I woke up one Monday morning after a particularly hard weekend with a sore knee. I didn't think much of it because muscle strain happens, so I figured it would get better after a couple of weeks. A couple of weeks turned into a month and my knee only seemed to get a bit more swollen and a bit stiffer daily. In late June, I woke up one morning and my knee was so swollen and so painful, that I could barely walk on it.  I took the day off from work and employed the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation) method and it was a bit better the next day so I went back to work. About a week later, it was feeling pretty good, so I took a long hike followed by a long walk the next day. 
That was a mistake. That evening my pain and swelling, which never fully went away, were back with a vengeance. I knew that I had to go to the doctor, so I made an appointment for that coming Monday. She sent me to the orthopedic doctor on Wednesday and they confirmed what she had suspected: I had torn the meniscus around my knee. They gave me a cortisone shot and said to gradually build up my exercise level. 
It's nearly 90% now (which they told me would be the best I can hope for after an injury like this) but I spent a good three weeks in total being completely laid up in my house. Guys, I was so bored that I was beside myself. Fortunately, I remembered a tv show my dad had recommended called Alone and I started watching that. I've now binge-watched three seasons and it's my new favorite thing! If you've never seen it, it's where they take 10 contestants, let them choose 10 items besides their clothes, and drop them in the wilderness with a bunch of camera gear. Whoever survives out there the longest wins $500,000. It's fascinating to see just how hard it is to make it in harsh conditions. If the physical part doesn't get you, the mental will.
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I started getting back into reading in earnest. I walk by a little library every day on my way to work, so I stopped by to see what was in it on my way home one day recently. I found a few cool books that I want to read. One is about the Crusades and the other is a fictional piece about the Viking Era. These are both topics I'm quite interested in, so I'm looking forward to reading them. I have a couple of books I could cull from my collection, so I'll be dropping a few off at the same little library soon in exchange.
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I do have some big news: I bought a NEW car! Odin knows it was about time! My old 2008 Kia Sportage has seen better days. The shocks are shot making it bounce everywhere, the a/c compressor died a few years ago so no a/c, the bearings in the front driver's side tire needed to be replaced so it made a loud, dull sound when driving, the driver door handle broke a few months ago on the outside so you can only open it from the inside, my visors no longer stayed up, and my hood latch broke so it's chained down. HAHAHA You know what, though, the motor was still solid so it got me around (town). 
Why on earth did I not repair those things? Simply put, it would have cost me a small fortune. I've known for a few years now that I wanted to get a new one and since it was paid off, I knew my money was better spent saving it aside for a down payment on a new car. So, that's exactly what I did. Now I have a car that only has 16 miles on it, comes with a nice long warranty, and will be road-worthy for years to come.
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I'm looking forward to getting out and doing many of the things I enjoy again now that my knee has healed and I have a reliable vehicle. And, with Fall coming, that's a great thing.

Have a great rest of your week!








 

Healthy Life Update: July 2021

It's been a while since I last posted one of these, so I figured it was overdue. Bearing that in mind, where do I even begin? Well, I guess we can start with the fact that I recently have had to start over from scratch...once again. While I've been in this exact same position before - a few times in fact - it doesn't change the fact that it's a frustrating thing to deal with. A couple of things have happened that have put me back to square one.
First, like many people, I gained weight over the pandemic. There were definitely a few things related to the pandemic, combined with my personal life, that contributed to this. And, I was so busy that I didn't have the time to really stop and see what was happening. When I finally stepped on a scale, I was mortified to see just how far I had fallen off the wagon. 
Second, I was so busy working two jobs and dealing with a car that was only good for getting around town that my activity level tapered off to a trickle. Combine that with a brutal winter, and I found myself barely walking and never hiking.
Third, I tore the meniscus in my right knee, finding myself unable to do any kind of activity. Since I wanted to avoid any further damage that might require surgery, I really had to take the time to let it heal. It still has a ways to go to be in hiking shape again and I'm smart enough to know this. 
Now, I'm not coming into this conversation with a vow to start over again. Truth is, I already made that vow a handful of weeks ago. Much like I did when I first moved towards a healthy life when I weighed my heaviest, I told myself that I could either cry about it or do something about it. I chose the latter.
I've had to lecture myself, I've had to do a lot of soul-searching, and I've had to face some tough realities. During all these years of trying to achieve a healthy life, I've fallen off the wagon a few times, but one thing is certain: I've always climbed back on it. This time is no different, but I resolve to make the permanent changes that will help me live happy and healthy for the rest of my life.
So...have I made progress? The answer is yes. While I'm not going to divulge the details right now, I've definitely made progress over these past few weeks. Rest assured, however, that I will tell you all about it soon.
Until then, have a great day and a great week coming up!

Weekend Trip to Des Moines

The first weekend of May, Mother's Day weekend, I took a break from all the chaos that was moving to spend a fun couple of days in Des Moines. The goal was to attend the Des Moines Renaissance Faire with my friend Audrey and have a good time. Both were accomplished with some other things thrown in for good measure.
The Des Moines Ren Faire is typically held in the Fall while their newer event, Ren Faire After Dark  (an adults-only event), happens in the Spring. This year they decided to combine these two events for a new event called Spring Fling. Basically, it's regular Ren Faire during the day and RFAD in the evening - although you had to pay extra for the evening event. I've been to the RFAD before with my ex-husband, and it was a blast, so I was eager to do the combo. Audrey is my fellow Ren Faire Fanatic (RFF) so she was down to go as well. So, we headed out early from my house on a Saturday morning.



As is my custom, as soon as we arrived I ordered a glass of mead. They were selling it by the bottle so I figured it would be more economical to buy a whole bottle as opposed to a handful of glasses, and it was. Hey, think smarter not harder, amirite? Besides, we needed the booze to help keep us warm because it was a terribly cold day. 



While it's neat to peruse all the shoppes and see what fun wares can be purchased for a few pieces of silver (well, not really, you use actual dollars, but I am an RFF so I like to keep things authentic), the entertainment is what really makes the Ren Faire so much fun. My favorite RF activity? Why, the Joust, of course. A RF without a joust isn't one I want to go to.



Every Joust starts with the combatants trying to knock each other off their horses...



...and ends with some hand-to-hand combat. Huzzah!



I'd say my next favorite bit of RF entertainment would be anything related to fire. I've seen Norsefyre at the Potter Faire in Omaha last year, so it was nice to see them at the RF. They also provided some risque, adult entertainment for the RAD event later that evening. They're an amazing fire troupe that I highly recommend seeing if you get a chance. Check out another photo below.






Like I mentioned earlier, we bought the extra tickets to stay for the RenFaire After Dark event. This is a 21+ event which is nice on a few levels. One, no screaming kids, and two, adult entertainment. After a fun show by Tom Mason and the Blue Buccaneers and a smoker (an event for adults only where all the "blue" humor is performed), we were treated to a great performance by Logan Jimenez. He's a contortionist and fire eater who performs a lot of dangerous stunts. It was fantastic!


Audrey and I got tired a wee bit early, I'm sure all the booze had something to do with that, so we left about 30 minutes early. It was cool to see the Village lit up at night...I've only ever seen a Faire Village during the day.
We stayed at a hotel about a mile away (using my hotel reward points, yay!) where I promptly fell asleep. We woke up the next morning and decided to find some free entertainment before we headed back home.



We started off by walking around the Pappjohn Sculpture Park, located downtown on the riverfront. There are brochures at the entrance that explains each piece in detail so we grabbed one to help us on our little tour.















A view of the inside of this large, interesting piece. Looking upwards towards the sky, you can see out the mouth of the sculpture.



To learn more about each individual sculpture, click on this link.



After our walk through the sculpture park, we headed over to the Des Moines Art Center. Built in 1948, it boasts free admission and I was pleasantly surprised at it's exhibits and it's architecture.



I think my favorite collection at the Center was that of Judith Schaechter's. Housed in the original wing, and made of stained glass, her pieces evoked feelings of the macabre and had interesting subject matter.






For more about this piece, you can read her blog post about it.



While the original wing of the Center was built using Art Deco and Art Nouveau styles, the second wing, built in 1968, used a Modernist approach. Many windows let lots of natural light in.









My favorite piece in the second wing was this large, Gothic-style mirror.



A view from the side makes it appear to be composed of several mirrors layered upon each other. The piece is called "Iago's Mirror" and is the work of Fred Wilson. According to the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston's website, it tells the tragic story of Shakepeare's Othello.

You can read more about the Center's collection here.

After this, we ended our trip at Zombie Burger, a place that Audrey wanted to have lunch before we left town. It's a place I've been to before - and talked about on this blog - that serves burgers and shakes that are themed on zombies in popular culture. We left with full bellies and returned home, happy to have spent a fun weekend together. It was Mother's Day weekend after all, and sometimes us moms just need a chance to get away.

I'll be back mid-week, but until then, have a great week!









 

Unwind and Relax

Not long after I moved into my own place, I was sitting on the couch after a long day and I noticed something: my body was tense and my mind was racing a mile a minute. And you know what? It took me a good ten minutes to force myself to relax my body and clear my thoughts. I melted into my big, comfy couch, closed my eyes, and practiced some meditative breathing. After a while, I felt a peace and calm that I hadn't felt in forever. Better yet, my body was relaxed and my mind was quiet. It was an eye-opener.
I came out of that ten-minute experience with the realization that I just don't ever relax. Not that I can't, but rather that I won't. Most of my muscles, if I'm being honest, are always tensed up. It should come as no surprise that this isn't healthy. Not for me, nor for anyone else either. 
But, how? How did I reach a state in my life where I was nothing but a ball of tense muscles at all times? I can only imagine that I had just kept myself busy, working, and moving for so long, in an attempt to not have time to stop and think about my unhappiness, that it was my "resting" state.
Well, not anymore. I've made it a point to spend a least a few minutes each day making my body relax. I've even learned a technique for whole-body relaxing, called Jacobson's Relaxation. I will do this once a week as I'm lying in bed before falling asleep and it works incredibly well if you find your whole body is tense and you're unable to relax. I'll combine it with some meditative music and, man, does it help me fall asleep afterward...and I sleep well!
That's not all though, for sure. I've been practicing some things to help me live a more stress-free life. For instance:

1. Talking quieter and slower
Talking more quietly and slowly feels more relaxing. A plus side is that I'm finding myself being more intentional with the things I say. I think it's that whole "slowing down" aspect that makes such a difference.

2. Letting go of little things
Being in a toxic relationship can really make someone hold onto the little things for dear life. Now that that isn't my reality every day, I find that the little things just aren't as important. Not that this is a general rule...there are exceptions, but my point is: don't hold anger time over something that, at the end of the day, just isn't that important.

3. Setting aside time each day to fully relax
I've gone over this already, but I've found that just a mere 10 minutes a day of pure relaxation does wonders for me, both mentally and physically.

4. Getting rid of toxic people
This should come as no surprise, but toxic people in your life cause stress. Over the past decade of my life, I've cut all toxic people out of my life and I'm a lot happier, and calmer, because of it!

5. Avoiding stressful situations if at all possible
Now, we can't avoid all stressful situations, but we do have control over many stressful situations that come our way. While some are self-imposed, others come from those around us. There's nothing wrong with removing yourself from these incidents, especially if they're only going to cause you a bunch of unnecessary stress.

It's amazing to see how much relaxing - and the stress-removing techniques I'm working on - has done for me. Instead of this perpetual state of stress and tension, I feel happier and calmer. This has a domino effect on my life, and I can see the long-term value of relaxing.
Have a great rest of your week...and, hey, try and relax.





 

Knock it off 2021

 

Anytime now, 2021 can just slow down a bit. I mean, we got past Winter, barely had a Spring, shot off some fireworks, and in looking at the calendar, school starts back up next month. What the hell? Take a chill pill, Father Time, geesh.
Seriously, though, this year seems to be flying by. I feel like I'm just getting into the swing of this year and it's already half over. Go figure. I guess this just means I'm going to have to put my nose to the grindstone.
Not that I've been slacking, far from it. Like I said, I'm in the swing of things and I have plenty on my plate to keep me busy...in a good way. I have some draft blog posts that I just need to edit photos and put together; I am working on a new editorial for a monthly newsletter I contribute to; and I'm hard at work on my latest book. On top of that, I'm still working full-time and it's been keeping me busy as of late - well, busier than usual, that is.
Besides all the writing and work stuff, I'm happily enjoying and relishing in my new life as a single mom in my own, carefully curated space. In fact, I probably spent a bit too much time just soaking it all in for a handful of weeks, but it was well-earned and deserved. I worked hard to get where I am, and that deserves some props.
I also have a bunch of fun and exciting plans for the rest of the year that, I'm sure, will continue to make 2021 a quick-moving year. But, as this year winds down, I have faith that my life will settle into a new normal and I can look forward to time pacing itself a bit more. In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away at the things that are bringing my life back around to where I want it to be.
I hope you enjoyed your long weekend if you had one, and that you're looking forward to a productive and happy week.

Wine and Art in Nebraska...Mostly Wine

A few weeks ago one of my best friends, Libby, had a birthday. To mark the occasion, and because she has a rambunctious five-year-old at home, she really wanted to get out for a day of girl time. Having children that either don't live at home or who are old enough to be home by themselves, I was more than willing to oblige. It's no secret that I love a good drink - whether it be a cold brew or a nice glass of wine - as do my friends so the logical choice was to visit a few wineries with some other activities thrown in for good measure.



This past December, my friend Jayne and I were out staving off the cold with some wine at a local winery when we, quite literally, stumbled across the Nebraska Wine Passport. Looking this free booklet over, we discovered that you could visit participating wineries and have them stamp it for you before you leave. Depending on the number of winery stamps you acquire, you are eligible for prizes from a free t-shirt to an entry in the grand prize drawing that includes free tickets to the annual Toast Nebraska Wine Festival. 
What we failed to notice at the time, was that the passport runs through the calendar year so we were about 12 months behind...I blame it on the wine. Winos or no, when we hit up our first winery of 2021, we grabbed new passports and made a vow to hit them all. I've now gotten a few of my other friends into the whole idea, including Libby. 




While I've been to Glacier Till Cider House & Tasting Room in Ashland many times, Libby has not. Since it's close to Omaha and opens earlier than most of the other wineries around, we decided to start there. It's the tasting room for Glacial Till Vineyards which makes wine but is most known for the wide array of fabulous ciders they produce in the countryside near Palmyra, NE.



Libby had a glass of the Hibiscus Ginger while I had the Strawberry Rhubarb - both are favorites of mine. The Tasting Room also has a nice, small selection of good food so I bought us a charcuterie board to share. You can purchase growlers (much like breweries) for home as well. A new one will cost $14 but you can bring it back each visit and get a refill for $7. This time I took home their Honey Lavender, a delicious seasonal variety.



Our next stop was a new one for both of us: Deer Springs Winery. South of Glacial Till and a bit east of Lincoln, this quiet winery sits amongst a grove of trees overlooking the neighboring farmer's fields.



There were only a handful of other people at the quaint, low-key vineyard, and we enjoyed our glass of semi-sweet white out on the patio overlooking the pristine grounds.



Our last winery stop of the day was another new one for us both: Capitol View Winery & Vineyards. A short drive south of Lincoln, we assumed that we might get a glimpse of the capitol building in Lincoln. We think we may have, but we're not sure. At any rate, this winery was fantastic. With large indoor & outdoor spaces, as well as an equally large three-season porch, there are no shortage of tables to find yourself a quiet nook. 



We sat out in the three-season porch first and it gives you a breathtaking view of the rolling hills that are indicative of the Dissected Till Plains of eastern Nebraska (this is where Glacial Till derives it's name from). We started off with a semi-sweet red (ignore my lipstick-stained glass).



Since the weather was solidly in the mid-90s, we took our second glass amidst the air-conditioned tables inside, positioning ourselves next to the racks of wine bottles for sale. I'm always on the lookout for unique wines so when I noticed an "ice-style" white listed for sale, I asked the man working, who also happened to be the owner, about it. Apparently, one time in Italy, some white grapes weren't harvested in time and were frozen. Undeterred, the frozen grapes were fermented anyway, creating a crisp, sweet, white wine that packs a punch - 20% to be exact! The owner told me that his was only one of three (I believe he said) wineries in the country that make this kind. It was a bit spendy, for sure, but I brought a bottle home anyway for a girl's evening in the future.



Having consumed all the wine, with plenty of water in between, we needed, we made the short drive north into Lincoln to check out the Lincoln Arts Festival.



Exactly the same as the Omaha Summer Arts Festival, but slightly smaller, we walked around admiring the works of art in various stalls and talking to some of the artists who made them.



It had been a few years since I had been to an art festival of any kind, so it was nice strolling around. Besides, it was strategically located in the Haymarket District which is the Lincoln version of Omaha's Old Market District.





Our plan, even before heading out for the day, was to have dinner at Hopcat, also located in the Haymarket. I've been there before and my UNL-attending son works there, so it was a logical choice.



The restaurant itself serves large, fancier versions of typical grill & pub food with a decidedly 20th Century Music decor. The ambience is great because of it, and so is the food. And, we got to see my son, so that made it even better.

What a fun and relaxing day we had exploring Nebraska scenery and wineries. The passport is a fun way to spend time with friends and family while learning about Nebraska grapes and wines. Sure, this isn't a state known for it's wines, but we do have good wine here so overlooking them is a pity. If you're ever in Nebraska, check out some of what the state has to offer, and, if you live here and haven't started your passport yet, well, it's not too late.
Besides, you can't beat the view.