Saturday. We again woke up late. We all went to to Hamburg something, I don't quite remember the name. It's billed as the oldest family owned restaurant in Iowa City, founded 2-3 years after The Airliner. I had some kind of omelette, which was good. Billy also had an omelette which he couldn't eat all of so I finished it for him. I'll miss Billy always getting more than he can eat and giving me the leftovers.

I gave Billy my digital camera so he could take lots of pictures when they go to Tunisia for six months starting January. I'm not into taking lots of pictures, and I'm waiting for a better camera to come along by the time I need it next September. The Filios' will be in Tunisia while Denise does some research. Sal will be home schooled by Billy, who may try his hand at painting. It's totally something I would not want to do, but it should be quite an experience.

So after that we were on the road again. We have been lucky so far, and continued to be lucky, in that we missed any inclement weather along our route. It was always sunny or at best mostly cloudy. On the way to Iowa City we came in after some rain and on the way back we got once again missed some rain. It would have been quite incon- venient to be stuck because we didn't have snow tires.

We were able to stop in Ogallala, Nebraska once again and dine at the steak house where we ate at going to Iowa City. This time I had a steak, forget what kind. I can't really tell the differences between the different cuts of a steer. Sweet had the chicken-fried steak, which is a little different in that it isn't pounded flat before frying like other places prepare it. He really liked it. Pick had steak and shrimp. We listened and watched some country music videos on CMT.

We stopped before Salt Lake City, probably still in Nebraska, I don't remember. Spent the night at a Super 8 motel, where I roomed with Sweet while Pick got a single. I immediately went to the bathroom and when I came out Dave was asleep and had the heater on at it's hottest, although not full blast. I lowered the temp to minimum heat and went to sleep.

We did a lot of talking today, and mostly I just listen to the two Daves talk. There's not much to my life or my opinions so I don't tend to relate any personal anecdotes. Today it was mostly Pick talking about life in Porterville, California, where he grew up. He was in the football team, not a stellar student, but scored great in the SATs and when it really mattered.

Here's something that I've seen on tv and it's kind of stereotyped but I haven't seen much of it personally. And I'm talking about the dumb jock/cheerleader versus the smart geek. When I attended high school the star quaterback also had the best grades. A lot of the cheerleaders were also in the Advanced Placement classes. Beauty, athleticism, outgoingness, and smarts are independent scales. They can all be improved upon with work and determination and the best people do have all those qualities. You'll always find people who'll surprise you, so I try not to assume based on looks.