Goodbye footloosefounders.wordpress.com

We now have our own site!

http://footloosefounders.com is now online and ready for your browsing pleasure.  All the old stuff is there as well, in case you are feeling nostalgic.

All our new content will be published only to the new site.  If you are a subscriber to this old footloosefounders.wordpress.com site, you are automatically subscribed to the new site.  (How many more times can I say the word “site” before it loses all meaning???)

We haven’t been posting much lately, but that’s not because of a lack of interesting news. Instead, we have been traveling like crazy and have tons of fun stuff to share!

If you are a past subscriber, thanks for your continued interest in our ramblings. If you aren’t following us yet, please consider doing so! We are still on the road, still exploring, and plan to share our experiences here on this new site.

Stay tuned for new posts (including lots of pictures), coming soon to an internet near you!

Back to Denver

We made it back to Denver just in time for the annual SAME Cafe Gala fundraiser. This event is the largest fundraising night of the year for SAME, and we try not to miss it! Once again, Libby and I made a dish that we served as we visited with those who attended. This year that number climbed to well over 400! There was a lot of excitement this year around the launch of the SAME Cafe Food Truck, and the Gala night was its official unveiling.After the Gala, we settled into our friends’ Lakewood condo and tried our best to keep smiling through all the snowstorms that Denver decided to throw at us throughout March and April. There were a few normal storms, but then there was something new that forecasters coined a “Bomb Cyclone“, which is apparently when tornadoes happen during blizzard conditions. Fun Stuff!In order to keep from getting too stir crazy from a lack of driving our normal 100+ miles each day, we involved ourselves in lots of projects. Despite the snow, we had the chance to catch up and assist in projects along with several of our Denver area friends and family members. While we were in town we helped build a couple of tiny houses, painted a full-sized house, installed a dishwasher, laid a bamboo floor, and changed out several light fixtures. We are building up quite the odd-jobs portfolio!Besides all the work, we found time to hit up a couple of Escape Rooms with our friends Mary, Kim & Matt. After 7 rooms we still have a perfect record! Easter fell during our Denver time and we had visits from several members of the Birky family over the holiday weekend. The weather was much more cooperative at this point!

One of the major reasons that we stuck around Denver for so long was the opportunity to join several of our fellow Beanstalk Foundation leaders for a first-ever retreat. Over a long weekend, 10 of us came together at the Colorado Springs Glen Eyrie retreat center. We laughed and cried together, shared some of the best and worst moments of our organizations, and generally helped each other to recharge and focus. It was an amazing experience that went beyond what we had hoped for, and we came away truly inspired.

Denver

It was so great to be in town for SAME’s 12 anniversary party. It is hard to believe that it has been 12 years. We got to reconnect with lots of regular customers and supporters. Mulberries Cake Shop donated a delicious chocolate cake and Tish made the most amazing appetizers. It was a very proud evening for us. A year ago, we knew we hired the right people to ensure SAME’s future. It was awesome to celebrate with them. Xavier, our nephew, was able to attend the evening with us. I love that Phil is photobombing in this photo!

Both of us were able to vote and participate in jury selections while in Denver – civic duty done for the year! Thanks to Angie and Ian (Brad’s sister and new BIL) and Mary and Shadan for allowing us to use your homes as a base camp while we were in town. It was weird to have a shower and laundry available at any time of day! We spent most of the week bike riding, visiting friends, celebrating new babies and birthdays, pumpkin carving, running and eating at SAME Cafe. It was a great week!

While in Denver, Aly and Parker’s professional wedding photos came back. Here are a few of our favorites:

Conference during a hurricane!

Sunday and Monday were predicted to be the worst days in Boone due to Hurricane Florence. The first regional conference was scheduled for the exact same time. Knowing that most of the participants were still interested in coming, the conference was held as planned.

Folks from four different areas attended this conference even though it was pouring rain. They came from Shelby, NC, Wythville, VA Elizabethton, TN and TCU. It was an interesting mix of cafes stages as well. Some groups were in the research and planning stages, some were doing pop-ups and one is planning to open late October. Most of our conversations were around how to successfully open and operate a community cafe.

Our favorite parts of the training days were the hands-on experiences of participants and our in depth conversations about why they want to do this work. Because F.A.R.M. Cafe was open for regular business on Monday (even though the college cancelled classes again Monday and Tuesday) all the participants got to see a cafe in action and help out. They were able to see the concept come to life. They washed dishes, spoke with customers, served, and prepared food. It was a day in the life of a cafe. This kind of experience is invaluable.

The most moving part was hearing the stories of each participant about why they wanted to be a part of a community cafe. Often times, our gatherings are so focused on the nitty gritty of running a cafe that we forget to honor the spirit behind each of these amazing spaces. It really boils down to being human. These spaces are places of radical inclusion. It’s where we can practice taking care of each other and valuing the dignity of human beings. They are what we wish the rest of the world looked like.

We talk a lot about food access and food insecurity in each of these cafes but our real purpose is to build community – food is just our vehicle.

#timmermannstietheknot

Our time in IL has come to an end. Aly and Parker’s wedding was a beautiful celebration of love. It’s hard to believe it is over already!

We started our time in IL visiting with the Birky’s for the weekend and trying to avoid the heat and humidity that has finally found us. On Monday night, we visited with the Steinkoenig’s (friends of our from our IL days) and adding another brewery to our list. Obed & Isaac’s microbrewery is located in an old historic church not that far from the hospital where Aly had her heart surgery when she was a little one. That seems like such a long time ago and an interesting way to start our week of celebrating. We sat and visited for such a long time. It was great to catch up with them.

The rest of the week was filled with wedding preparations. Aly directed us in the art of floral arranging and we helped as best we could. This might be the one wedding that had a higher floral budget than anything else!

We even got to hear our favorite local singer, Dan Hubbard. It was like he planned to perform a special concert just for Aly’s wedding week.

The girls did get a chance to hang out with just the sisters a bit before the big day. This is the location where the older sisters spent a lot of time as youngsters. Our Uncle Bill used to run a bar in this location. It was sentimental to have dinner together here before the big day. We hadn’t really planned it but it worked out perfectly.

The rehearsal and wedding were perfect! Aly was focusing on the memories and trying not to freak out about it being perfect (which she did a great job!) but it turned out perfect anyway! Here are a few of the highlights from the day. The girls started the day with a yoga instructor coming to lead us. We walked over to the tennis courts because it was dry to practice. It was a great way to begin the day. The boys were getting ready at the Timmermann’s house.

Next, the girls got hair and make-up done and enjoyed breakfast together. Pictures were outside – thankfully it wasn’t the hottest day we had experienced in IL. Although – it was still VERY warm.

The ceremony itself was very special. Aly created her bouquet by receiving individual stems of flowers from important people in her life as she walked down the aisle. She and my parents assembled the bouquet by wrapping the arrangement with a wrap made by the sisters from sections of our wedding dresses. Fr. Bart (a family friend from college) celebrated the mass and gave a beautiful homily specific to Aly ad Parker.

Family and friends from all over celebrated with us. The music played late into the night and we danced the night away. Our nephew Joey was the Man of Honor. He gave a great toast explaining his attire and reminded Aly that due to a bet they had made when they were children, she was going to have to wear a bikini to his wedding, because he held up his end of the bargain- which was wearing a pink tux to her wedding. The three older sisters made a golf themed toast which was heartfelt and challenging but they got through it.

We were honored to celebrate this gorgeous bride and groom! Cheers Team Timmermann!

Door County

We recently visited our 100th brewery! That isn’t only from this trip but we have been trying to compile all the breweries we’ve ever tried.  We’ve added Door Co. Brewing Co. in Baileys Harbor, Angry Minnow in Hayward, and Starboard in Sturgeon Bay.

Since leaving Denver in May for the second part of this road trip, we have seen numerous free range chickens, a snake, guinea fowl, wild turkeys, too many deer to count, at least two bald eagles, a LARGE snapping turtle crossing the highway, and a man with a parrot cage attached to the front of his BICYCLE – no we didn’t get a picture.  We were biking, too.  This doesn’t include the crazy animals we saw on the Wilderness Walk with Alisa and Jason or the baby goats and chickens that lived at our KOA in Oakdale with Tina and Molly which drove Leo and Gem nuts! We were supposed to keep an eye out for goats on the roofs in Door County but we didn’t spot any. We did see grass growing on roofs but no goats.

After leaving the KOA in Oakdale we stopped in Madison to pick up some packages that we had shipped to Alisa and Jason’s house.  We hung with them for the night, then drove up to Door County.

We weren’t really sure what to expect but it’s a very quiet collection of beach front towns.  It might be quiet because it is during the week; we heard it can get crazy during the weekends.  We’ve enjoyed stopping in each little town.  We decided not to head to Washington Island as it would require another ferry ride and to be honest – they aren’t that great.

Our first full day here was spent in Pennisula State Park where we went for a long hike to Sven’s Bluff and then did a bike ride around the park.  The weather here has been great for outdoor activities.  It gets really warm during the day – bordering on hot – but then it cools off especially near the shoreline where we tend to spend most of our time.

We’ve had a picnic at the beach twice and swam in Lake Michigan. We even jumped off the cliffs at Cave Point Park. It was thrilling but also terrifying!

We found a labyrinth and walked it in the hot sun. After hanging out and checking out a few more things and watching the throngs of people poor in from the South (it was Friday) we decided to head out of the area and go south.

We spent the next couple of days on and around Green Bay, WI. We felt a little like traitors, being Bears fans, but a lot of the fun we had was at TitleTown. It’s right next to Lambeau Field and celebrates everything Packers. We hate the Packers but enjoyed the activities there. We spent the afternoon in a park and at a public pool. Then finished with a drive-in movie theater we found in Chilton.

Kettle Moraine State Park was our hiking destination the following day. We climbed a lookout tower and spent a lot of time with mosquitoes. The hike was much more challenging that we expected but it was good.  There were lots of tree roots and steps to keep us on our toes.  The dogs are exhausted from all these adventures.

Next, we headed to Milwaukee to spend a nice day visiting with Erik and Shannon and their adorable girls – we had so much fun we forgot to take many pictures but if you’ve been following our blog you might remember this family from our previous stops. They are the ones with the HUGE Great Dane. All Loki wanted to do was play with Leo and Gemini and neither of them were having any of it.

After a great night sleep in their driveway, we went for a run down by the river and then headed to Gurnee to spend the day with Dean, Mai Chi and their four girls. We were so excited to get to go to Six Flags Great America.

Our next adventure was to return to fish camp with Libby’s dad.  A long time ago, he was voted in to The Big 25 – a hunting and fishing club outside of Victoria, IL.  We spent two days on the water, catching bass, bluegill, and crappie.  This place has been very special to our family as we love to fish.  We have only been able to go to fish camp a couple times but we always have a great time. The last time we were here was in June on this trip but before that, we hadn’t been to fish camp but a couple of other times – one of those was to celebrate Libby’s dad’s retirement.  We fished out of sunscreen, bait, and beer!

With the wedding coming up so quickly, we thought we should get in one more stop before heading to Bloomington for wedding preparations.  We wanted to spend some time at Starved Rock State Park.  We have camped there before but it has been a long time – at least since we moved to Denver.  Libby’s mom’s family used to go to Starved Rock for family vacation. The hiking there is unbelievable!  We went on a couple of runs and then hiked many of the 13 miles of trails.  The weather was perfect until the very last day when the humidity hit – just in time for the wedding!

This next week will be crazy busy with wedding preparations!  We can’t believe that the big day is almost here.  This is going to be so fun!

Humidity!

After spending time in Three Lakes area we headed through Washburn and added another brewery to our list – South Shore Brewery.  This is was a nice little spot to hang out for a few hours while it rained.  It is so hot and humid in these parts of the world.  You would think the rain would cool things down a bit but it just makes it more sticky.  We can’t get any farther North and still be in the US at this point.  We might have to head back to Canada.

We had been told by many people that the Apostle Islands were a stop we needed to make on the this journey and we were insured it wouldn’t be as hot or humid as the rest of the Midwest. Ugh!  Bayfield, WI became our home base for the next few days.  This is a charming little town full of old Victorian homes, small gift shops, cafes, and beach front.  It was hot and humid but at least the nights cooled off.  The first evening in town, it poured down rain. Our hope was explore the area but all we managed to get in was a small hike because it was wet.

The next day we found the Meyers Beach side of the Apostle Island Shoreline. When we arrived at the beach there was tons of fog and the park ranger did not recommend we take the kayak out.  We took a long hike out to view the sea caves instead which are amazing!  Watching the kayaks and paddle boards out on the clear calm water convinced us that we could now put our blow up kayak in the water so we hustled back to the beach area only to find that the thick dense fog was rolling back in again.  The decision was made to have a picnic on the sandy beach instead of putting our kayak in the water.  We made a stop at Copper Crow Distillery on the way home and dinner that night was a local pizza take-out.  We used our new dining table for the first time and ate in our van!

Our last day in the Apostle Islands area was spent exploring Madeline Island.  We took the ferry over for the day and were able to put our kayak in a lagoon there.  The island is fairly small so we explored by bike.  We ate the best ice cream of our lives!!  Cedar Crest Pirates Bounty will forever be Libby’s favorite flavor!  The evening ended with a hike to the point and a sunset ferry ride back to Bayfield.

The next day was Libby’s birthday!  It started with some amazing donuts from Mannypenny Bistro – we may take a trip back to Bayfield just for those donuts!  A little yoga by the lake and a trip to the fish hatchery were the main events for the day.  After heading in to Ashland for a hike by the lake (which we do not recommend as Ashland is a Superfund site – not such a pretty hike after all) we got some groceries and made our way to Hayward to meet our good friends Alisa and Jason for a camping adventure with their family.  We celebrated with dinner at the Angry Minnow Brewery.

Alisa and Jason had already been in the Northwoods to spend time at a lake and it worked out perfectly that we were kind of in the neighborhood.  We stayed with their family at the KOA in Hayward where we had a ton of fun.  The kids were able to run and play at the bounce house and park area and the adults hung out by the cabins.  The second day of our Hayward adventure included the Wilderness Walk and the Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame.

Eau Claire, WI was our pit stop for the next night in between friend adventures.  We moved on  to Oakdale KOA to meet Tina, Molly, Cora and Micah.  KOAs really do a nice job of making camping fun for kids.  There was a pool and a bounce place at this one as well.  We took a bicycle adventure and ended with lunch in Wisconsin Dells.  What fun!

Reconnecting with family and friends has been such a bonus of this adventure. For the last decade our lives have been so preoccupied with running the every day business of SAME that we felt we neglected our personal relationships.  We missed out on lots of milestone things that we wished we could have attended – births, graduations, weddings, etc. In some cases, we even let friendships go completely dormant.  The magic of this trip has been in the rebooting of those connections.  There is something special about face-to-face time with people you love and who love you.

 

Bachelorette & Bachelor parties & Labor Day Reunion – not on Labor Day!

When we finally arrived in IL there were lots of things to do to get ready for the weekend adventures.  Brad’s mom was able to stop by for a quick visit before we both got back in the cars to head our separate ways for the bachelor and bachelorette weekends.  The ladies headed to Chicago and the fellas went to Lake of the Ozarks .  Both groups had tons of good clean fun!  Aly’s celebration included both her mother-in-law to be and mom.  Parker’s weekend was full of golf with all the Whalen boys including dad. Aly’s weekend included breakfast with David Ross – famous Cubs catcher and Parker’s included a trip to jail.

It just so happened that the Monday after the big weekend’s Katie and Rich were to begin moving to TX.  This is Libby’s older sister and the one who did most of the planning for the bachelorette weekend, so saying she has been busy is an understatement.  We were glad that we were able to hang with family and help a little bit with  Katie and Rich’s move. On Monday, the boxes were packed and last minute items were given away or moved to mom and dad’s garage.  Then on Tuesday the movers came to pack the truck.  We found time to head to Minier to hang out with Brad’s family too.  They agreed to watch Leo and Gemini for the weekend while we headed to Louisville, KY for our college reunion get together.  This event usually happens on Labor Day but due to other events (see above) the hosts for this year’s event graciously agreed to move the weekend date.  It didn’t hurt that they aren’t available on Labor Day either.

Somehow, we had it in our heads that the weekend events started on Friday.  So Thursday, we headed south planning to stay at Nellie’s house in Shelbyville, KY.  It wasn’t until we were about 3 hours into the drive that we discovered the events were starting on Thursday.  A quick change of plans and we headed straight to Louisville.  This tradition of getting together every year has been happening for 21 years!  Each couple takes turns planning the weekend, picking a location and the events, playing host and hostess.  There are even by-laws for this group!  We take this very seriously.

Louisville was a great location selection for us as we love Louisville.  Ever since Libby’s sister moved to Shelbyville, we have had fun in this city.  Part of the weekend’s events included a tour of Angel’s Envy, which we have done before but were happy to do again.  It is a great distillery tour if you ever get a chance, you should go.  We also got to tour Churchill Downs and see Millionaire’s Row, where Libby’s mom and dad have had the privilege to watch the Derby before (there is a good story that goes along with that, if you are ever interested.)  The tour included lots of behind the scenes areas which were cool.  It was great to catch up with these old friends – we are getting old!  In the early days of these reunions we would stay up all hours of the night and this time, I don’t think any of us made it past midnight.

Nel, Caelin, and Lib’s mom met us for brunch on Sunday and we went to the Speed Art Museum.  There was live opera singing to accompany our walk around the space.  We did get to see a Picasso and  Monet in their collection.  The basement has a hands-on, kid focused area that was really entertaining for us.  After looking at a few houses for sale in the area (Nel has recently got her real estate license) we hit the road.  Leo and Gemini were happy to see us!  John and Gay took really good care of them over the weekend.

Back on the road

On Monday, we had planned to do some minor work on the van and hit the road but as usual, our plans took a little longer than we expected.  John and Gay were able to meet us for lunch in Bloomington and we got all of our projects completed.  On Tuesday morning, we stopped to see Uncle Bill at home.  The last time we saw him, he was at Rush Hospital in Chicago and not doing so great.  This time, he was awesome!  We were happy to have lunch with him on his back patio and visit.

From there, we headed to Fennville, MI to spend the evening with our friends Chris and J.  They lived in Denver for many of the years we were there, and we have missed them since their move to be closer to family.  J made us dinner and we got to see the beautiful work they have done remodeling their most recent house. J and Chris helped us with many projects over the years.  They taught us how to tile and gave us the beautiful stained-glass windows that were in our house.  The two of them can really work magic on indoor and outdoor spaces.  No matter where they live, their home perfectly reflects who they are in such a classy way. Catching up with them was so heartwarming. The blueberries in this area are incredible – and the blueberry pie!  Libby is not a huge fan of pie and loved this one! 

The next stop on our adventure was Cadillac, MI where we had lunch at Clam Lake Beer Co. (another one to add to the list).  We tasted some great beers and had awesome food.  We followed that with a walk by the lake and a stop at the grocery store.  After a long nap in the rain, we found a beautiful road-side park to have dinner and decided to stay the night there.  Tomorrow we are planning to head to another pay-what-you-can café.

It rained most of the night, and we had a hard time sleeping in the park.  Especially since there was a small army of mosquitoes that kept attacking our faces throughout the night, even though we had screens over both of the front windows that we have to keep cracked for ventilation.  Once awake, we headed straight for Ellsworth, MI to visit the Front Porch Café.  They are open for breakfast and lunch Monday-Saturday, which worked great for our schedule since we wanted to make it to Mackinaw City around mid-day.

There were quite a few people inside when we arrived and we found a booth in the corner where we could watch all the action.  It was a cute little café spot that had two separate dining areas along with a typical diner style counter.  Toasters of every shape and size lined a shelf that ran the entire perimeter of the room.  Our orders of biscuits and gravy and a fresh made cinnamon roll (the last one in the house!) arrived almost immediately. The food was great, and the coffee was plentiful.

After breakfast we hit the road and made our way to Mackinaw City where we would be able to catch a ferry over to Mackinac (pronounced the same but spelled differently) Island.  The round trip fares were $24 each if we purchased them online, so we found a Starbucks with free wifi so we could obtain our tickets. Dogs are no extra charge, but bikes would be $11 each so we left them behind.  The boat ride over to the island is 15 minutes long and pretty smooth.  The dogs were a hit with many of the other passengers, especially with a family who had a child named Leo.

We disembarked at the ferry terminal and made our way into the main street full of typical touristy style fudge, souvenir and clothing shops.  Really, the only thing that makes Mackinac different than a typical tourist town is the fact that there are no cars allowed on the island whatsoever.  Bikes and horses are the only way to get around other than your own feet.  There is an 8.2 mile roadway that encircles the island, and other than the main street section by the docks, it is pretty uncongested.  We stayed for several hours, just walking around with the dogs and exploring.  There is the Grand Hotel which is visible from the shore as you approach Mackinac that boasts having the largest porch in the (WORLD? US?) that can be entered for an additional $10, but we decided to skip that fee and just walk the grounds.

After hours of walking we found ourselves pretty parched, so we attempted to find a place that we could grab a beer and sit outside with the dogs.  This was harder than you would think – apparently the health department in Michigan is quite strict about keeping dogs out of restaurant spaces – even patios.   We finally found a BBQ place that was friendly enough and we grabbed a table.  We sampled a few Michigan brews and devoured an order of corn fritters before we decided to make our way back to the docks so we could return to the city.

Our next destination city was Eagle River, WI – still almost 5 hours away from Mackinaw City.  There was a casino about 90 minutes into the drive and we decided to make that our goal for the evening. The casino was hopping when we got there – the free electric camping spots were all taken, but we were able to find a spot to park in the regular lot and got Mo all buttoned down for the night.  The parking lot was right off the highway so we did have quite a bit of traffic noise throughout the night, but we managed to tune it out after a while and got some good rest.

In the morning we debated whether or not to go inside and try our luck at the tables, but the idea of gambling before breakfast just seems wrong somehow.  Instead, we headed a bit down the road until we found yet another beautiful roadside park right on the lake where we were able to grab a picnic table and set up all our coffee making gear. Libby walked the boys and got some good yoga stretches in while I brewed the coffees. Nothing beats a good cuppa joe while watching the waves crash on the shoreline!

Eagle River (and the close by town of Three Lakes) was chosen because it was a place that Brad’s family used to come on vacation back in the 80s.  The winters up there were great for snowmobiling and occasionally skiing, and the summers were awesome times to come up to go fishing and relax.  Both towns have changed quite a bit over the past 30 years, but there were still enough remnants of what it used to look like to trigger old memories.  After driving around a bit and searching out old haunts, we stopped at the visitor’s center and grabbed a trail map.  We hit the ice cream store on the way – Brad was treated to a rhubarb strawberry cobbler ice cream – yum!  The other flavor we tried was Cow Jolt – strange name for a delicious sweet cream, brownie and caramel delight!  Our hike involved about 1,000 of our closets mosquito friends so we only did 2+ miles.  Even with bug spray on, they were excited to bite us!  Our next stop was DejaBrew for wifi and an afternoon decaf breve – Libby’s new favorite drink!  It is like a hot coffee milk shake.  We spent the evening out of the rain at Pike’s Pine Isle Lodge eating walleye and haddock.

Finally!

We haven’t blogged in a while because we took a bit of a detour from the road.  As our Instagram hashtag put it, “van life on pause”.  After the beautiful National Parks we visited, we had planned to make our way across the country slowly to IL traveling through Denver with a quick stop to take care of mail and such.  As you probably know, Libby’s sister Aly is getting married on Sept 1.  The reason we were heading back to the Midwest AGAIN was to attend another pre-wedding celebration.  While our plan was to meander across the country slowly, we hit the desert heat and decided to just keep driving.  That did allow us to hang out in Denver a few extra days.

On driving into Denver traffic, Brad’s phone rang.  It was his sister-in-law from Missouri telling us to look out our window.  We looked to the left and didn’t see anything and then she said, “other window”, and we looked out that window and there she was with Megan and Nikki our nieces.  We joined them for a late lunch at one of our favorite spots in Denver.  They are in town to celebrate Nikki’s 16th birthday!

Libby got to spend time with Marisa from Washington D.C. too, along with many other friends.  We got to check in on baby Poppy and see how much she has grown since we left.  Mary hosted us at her condo in Golden and we had a fun night of games with friends there too!  It was a busy weekend but perfectly timed.  We even got to have a delicious lunch at SAME!  What a treat to see it thriving and touch base with everyone there.

We headed out for IL with a stop over in Omaha, NE.  This is about the halfway point for us when we are making the drive to IL in two days.  Our usual limit of driving is 5 hours but for this part of the trip we decided to power through.  Brad’s cousin’s Chad and Alicia and their children live in Omaha so their street was the perfect stopping point for the night after 8 hours of driving.  The dogs got to play in their enormous backyard – which they loved.  Gemi even caught a bird – yikes.  We took the group downtown to Table Grace to have lunch before we continued the journey.

Table Grace has been open since 2011 as a pay-what-you-can café. When it first opened, we helped Matt with many questions and they have visited SAME many times over the years.  We have always intended to stop in and see it, especially since we have family in Omaha but have never been able to make the timing work.  Most times we are driving through Omaha at night and just catching a few hours sleep before we have to hit the road again to be home in time for some holiday celebration.  Our time off while at SAME was  limited.  We were just so happy to finally make it happen.

When we walked in, we found a couple of customers dining at the few tables.  They had a menu board hanging about a counter where we were to order.  Alicia was joining us from her work so we wanted to wait for her to order so we looked the menu over.  The menu had two soups, two salads, two pizzas very similar to SAME.  This day’s offering included a lettuce salad with berries and nuts or a spicy pesto pasta salad.  The choices for pizza included a spicy sausage or veggie.  The soups were tomato basil and a pork stew.  Once Alicia arrived we all ordered.  They even provided a gluten free pizza for Alicia.  There was a donation box on the counter where we dropped our donation into the box and helped ourselves to silverware and drinks.  A volunteer offered us cinnamon rolls for dessert.  It was awesome to be there and see it in operation.  Matt was not there that day, sadly, but this won’t be the last time we stop.

Iowa City was a quick stop.  It just so happened to be our friend Susan’s birthday!  What great timing!