Life of Wry

A airporty travel day… made more fun by the mid-transcontinental meet-up with Mutt the Butt in Phoenix…

…where we would then board the same plane bound for Des Moines. Late departures from both Long Beach (Matt) and Sac (me) seemed to doom our connecting flight to DM, but for the mechanical problems of our DM-bound plane. Instead of missing our flight, we sat for hours (and hours) in Phoenix. Hilariously, we almost missed that flight, as we’d been oblivious to a gate change along the way (thank goodness for big sisters who check these sorts of things). Our constant text updates to Karla in Grinnell kept everyone apprised, as our dinner reservation at the Prairie Canary kept shifting… but, eventually we met up.

They kept the restaurant open for us, which was great. What a surprise it was to walk in and see not only Aunt Bonnie, Kevin and Karla, but also Kyle, who’d driven up from Hernando, Mississippi to join us for the weekend!

After dinner, cards and presents, we went over to Bonnie’s house on Turnberry. Sat around and talked, while keeping an eye on the women’s college basketball conference tournament (was it the championship game? It might have been..). Iowans really cheer for Iowan teams. Caitlyn Clark (now pro, but who played for U of Iowa) was in the building, which was pretty exciting for everyone. She’s a genuine local super star. Eyes transfixed:

Matt and I then dragged our tired selves to the Hotel Grinnell… which, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, is considered an Historic Hotel of America, mostly because it’s housed in a former (huge, brick/concrete) high school. Its hallways are wide, its ceilings high, its windows stretch to those high ceilings. The rooms are cavernous.. and charmingly appointed with school-related things like chalkboards and hall passes. I love the place. Matt’s less enamored (I think he prefers a higher degree of service and comfort). Aunt Bonnie’s dad — Kenny Starbuck — used to teach there (and coach football, basketball and track), and she used to run the halls. I believe they moved before she was school aged, so she never attended Grinnell High School.

Fun Fact: Kenny Starbuck was recently inducted into the Grinnell (something) Hall of Fame. I’ll talk about that in a subsequent post.