Saturday in the Park (part duex)

     Disclaimer: Parks were visited in the making of this post. For all who were disappointed by the lack of parks in last Saturday's post, you can stop complaining now.

     But first, some catch-up. Thursday I arrived, checked in, and crashed. In basically that order. I was tired after almost about twenty-four hours of traveling and needed sleep. It was a really good hotel room. I felt like I was swimming in the bed. It could have fit three of me on it.

     Friday was the big day for the surprise. I woke up early, had some breakfast and then waited for my brother outside. As said in the previous post, my brother bought me the ticket so I could be there as a surprise for my parents. It was, to say the least. I'm glad my mom is in such good health. Otherwise, when I stepped out of the car, she might have had a heart-attack. She was speechless for about ten seconds before she could manage to say something. 

A "Smasher." Bacon, ham, tater-tots, cheese, gravy, eggs, and sausage.

     Once my dad got over the shock, he wasn't sure whether to kick me or hug me first. Needless to say, the surprise was really good. Multiple times over the weekend, I was asked if I was really there. Since they'd had an early morning (leaving for the airport at 2AM that day) when they arrived, it was time for some breakfast. Perkins was the closest and best option. It was good to have a real American breakfast again.
     From there, my brother the chauffeur drove us south to a little town called Kalona. It's more of a tourist trap with antiques, a general store,  restaurants and craft stores. But compared to where I've been living the last seven months, it felt like just the kind of change I needed. I had the second best burger I've had since last July. I got to see some very interesting antiques. And my mom found Pennsylvania-made apple-butter in a central-Iowa town.
     The rest of Friday was time to relax. We went back and dropped my parents off at their hotel. I had ordered a new camera and needed to pick it up from my brother's apartment. And thus came about, the partial fulfillment of this post's title. We had planned to go out for dinner, but weren't ready yet. So my brother drove us to a park where I could play a little with my camera and we could get some fresh air. Then we stopped by a mall for another walk before going to Olive Garden for dinner.
     So, Saturday. It was a good day. We didn't have anything planned for the day-time (due to the surprise). So we winged (wung?) it. This day we actually did visit a park. In the morning, after some dithering and debating, my mom found a park about thirty minutes from Cedar Rapids. It was quiet, clean, and mostly empty. We had the big playground to ourselves for about twenty minutes.

An "Irish Car Bomb" cupcake.

     There were plans for the evening but we still had a few hours to kill. So we stopped in at a military surplus store before going to lunch. This was where I had the best burger in the last seven months. A place called Zeppelins just west of highway 380 in Cedar Rapids. They also had Parmesan cheese fries that were amazing. I couldn't finish the whole burger at lunch but was able to finish it off at dinner. The rest of the afternoon was just time wasting until the evening's plans needed to be seen to. The Newbo Market, cupcakes from That One Cupcake Place (mine was an "Irish Car Bomb"), shopping at BestBuy and finally a photography store.

     After all that, my parents and brother left for their evening appointment. But not before dropping me off at a salon to get a haircut. I really needed it. I was getting pretty shaggy. From there, I walked over to Walmart to do some shopping. Several people had asked me to bring back some things from the States including peanut butter, Altoids, and a game called Spot-It. I got most of it there, including a few things for myself.

My parents always bring the snow.

     The rest of the evening was quiet mostly. After a snowy walk back to the hotel, I had dinner by myself and caught up on some Youtube videos. After my parents returned to the hotel (we were at the same one), we had a long conversation until about 11:30 PM.
     Sunday was normal I guess. Other than my brother and parents going to a different church than I did. Like I said in the last post, there are some things I'd rather not get into over the internet. But after church, I met up with them and we went to lunch. There's a great place in Cedar Rapids called HuHot. It's an all-you-can-eat place with an Asian flair. They call it Mongolian. Basically, you choose the ingredients and they fry it up like stir fry. Highly recommended if you're ever in the area. But be warned, it is expensive.
     After lunch, I had a hunting mission to do. Just finding a game I didn't get at Walmart the night before. We succeeded after visiting two different Target stores. From there, we went to a part of Cedar Rapids called "the Czech Village." It's just an old part of the city with antique shops, bars, bakeries, and restaurants. A tourist trap.  We spent about thirty minutes there before needing to go to the airport. That's another "adventure" that I'll put into another post. While I'm writing this one, I'm still living the "adventure" and don't want to make myself even more angry about it.
     Through all of it, it was good to be back in the States again. I remarked once or twice that even though Detroit and Iowa aren't home, I felt like I was home. Many people have been telling me that I should take a vacation. I fully intend to later in the year. But this was a good chance to be in the States again for the first time in over seven months. That's the longest amount of time I've ever been away from the States. Or home for that matter. Even in college, I got to come home for Christmas and New Years.
     I also realized that being in Ukraine has turned me into something of an extrovert. At least, it did when I'm around English-speakers. I found that I could easily ask for directions, help or even hold a conversation without and of the normal trepidation I used to feel. My mom said several times this weekend that Ukraine has been good for me.
     Well, I think my flight is finally here. We should start boarding soon. Also, my battery is about to die on my computer. I have more to say but that'll wait until Tuesday at least. I'll leave you here and return with the harrowing tale of trying to fly through Paris while it's in the middle of an air traffic controller strike.