On The Road - Christmas Edition

so ive been on the road a lot since the christmas trip to iowa started this winter break. since my dad decided to move away from relative infested iowa to take up a job in chicago we have been making up that seperation by going there on every major break. its been good.

we started off driving 10 and a half hours to Souix City. thats the longest it has ever taken us. usually its around 8 but one of our freakin car top carries decided to say "screw you, im going to mess things up" by popping open while we are going 80 and throwing around everything that was in it on to the highway. oh yea.

we turned around in those U-turn places for "authorized vehicles only" (yea i know, bad ass) and looked around at all this trash that was sometimes our possessions. turns out we saved a digital camera, so it was worth coming back. but the real dilemma was trying to find some bungie cords to hold the car top carrier down with. took us a few stops and we got the job done.
-side note- the gas station "QT" is the most legit gas station ive ever seen.

christmas was fun. we spent the 24th in souix city with my dads side and had some gift exchanges there. then we had the annual christmas party at my dads brothers wifes parents house talking to people i dont know that i will most definately not see until next year and will try to act like i know them next time the party comes around. but i did talk to a high school algebra teacher of 30 years who likes to read. told me to read "Moby Dick". he said he's started reading it about 10 times and has never finished it. ill probably never read it.

after that went to my aunts house (aunt kim) and unpacked there. its been getting pretty rediculous with this whole pack the car, unpack the car, use some stuff, pack the car, unpack the car, use some stuff thing. living out of a suitcase blows. but i digress.

went to my OTHER aunts house (aunt carol) on my moms side and had christmas with a bunch of relatives. owned in monopoly. ate the best food ever. ate some more food. got my gift stolen about 5 times in the grab bag. ended up with a duck carving kit, a brand of cognac hat, and a retro elk wall decoration for the white elephant. ate some more food. and accidently opened my gift to my godfather, thinking that my mom was giving me a gift. my mom never told me that it was his!
anyways
that was in Sibley, Iowa
and it was snowing the whole time. i couldnt stop complimenting on how sweet it was that it was snowing on christmas day. there are so many xmas's that i have had that there was absolutely no snow. this time, we were getting dumped on. i think it was 5 inches of snow through out the day. it never stopped the whole time i was in Sibley. there were your really small kind. your snowflakes the size of quarters kind. it was just a perk that i really liked, especially for today.

so we woke up late today at my aunt kims house. went to goodwill and aunt kim said that we had to spend 35 cents. it was tough because there wasnt a lot of good stuff even though i looked extensively in the sports jacket section. but i found a nice beerstein to use for next year. i think im going to have too many house cups. i need to whittle it down to one. but after that we headed out of aunt kims. said goodbye and everything. and then headed up here to minneapolis where my cousin lives. shes of an older generation and had kids which one is almost my age. tomorrow we will be snowboarding on this newly fallen, natural, not icey, snow. im excited.

oh yea and i got a new bike for christmas. im excited for it.