This is a very delayed Weekend Highlights post! I’m going to use long format for this one, since we had such a long visit. Get comfortable and settle in!

Me, Gina, Steven, Steve, and Luca (in front)

This is the seventh year we’ve done a Guttenberg, Iowa Trip with Gina, Steve, and Luca!

I love love love this poster Gina and fam made me for my birthday!

This trip has always been a huge highlight of our summer, but with COVID-19, it became the ONLY highlight of the summer. We were all obsessively thinking about it, and trying to stay healthy so the trip could happen. Guttenberg is isolated and quiet, so we weren’t worried about being around people while there, but there was the matter of getting there! To save time (and have more time together!), Gina, Steve, and Luca flew to Midway and we picked them up. Their flight was only about 35% full on the way there and back, and everyone felt good for the whole trip (not that that means much), but we all plan to isolate for two weeks after the trip since Iowa is a COVID-19 hot spot (like most states).

On to the fun stuff!

Wednesday (July 22)

Gina, Steve, and Luca arrived at Midway Wednesday afternoon. We came home, did a garage tour, grilled dinner, and put together a huge pickup order for HyVee the next day. We had planned out all our lunch and dinner meals (including food for my parents and sister and her family) in advance, we looked at the menu to know what to order (along with snacks, drinks, and breakfast foods). In the past we went in to the store and spent time finding all the groceries, but with COVID-19 and wanting to save time, we did a big pick up order and it worked out great.

Thursday (July 23)

We drove from our house to Guttenberg in two cars on Thursday morning. We stopped for donuts in Beloit, and lunch and grocery pickup in Dubuque.

Taco Bell Tailgate! The sun was INTENSE.

We had to take two cars to fit all our stuff and groceries!

Gina and I rode in my car, and Steven, Steve, and Luca rode in his car. It was great to have that one-on-one time with Gina on the way there and the way back. We talked the whole way!

We got to our rental house (the same place we’ve rented on the bluff the two previous years) and unpacked, then headed down to the island to see Christina and Will’s new place. Christina and Will closed (that day!) on a cabin! I’m so excited for them. Now that they live near our hometown, they can go to Guttenberg every weekend if they want! I bet their kids will love going there, like we did as kids, and still do.

We had our traditional first night dinner – pizza from Casey’s. Our first day is usually hectic because we’ve just finished RAGBRAI and get in really late, hence, ordering pizza. This trip was originally synced up with me and Dad riding RAGBRAI on Wednesday then going to Guttenberg on Thursday, but RAGBRAI was canceled this year. We kept the first-night pizza date though!

And… cake! We started to eat the cake I ordered from Pie, Pie My Darling. It was the best cake I’ve ever had. It was delicious. And so rich and filling. We ate it every day until we left, which was amazing!

Oh! And we gave our river gifts! Gina got tumblers for everyone, I got sunglasses, Christina had goodie bags, and Mom gave bandannas.

The tumblers have lids and a straw. I was not so great at taking photos/documenting.

Friday (July 24)

We tried to get in to the “River Time” (not knowing what day it is, eating meals whenever, forgetting work/the news/COVID-19, etc) groove on Thursday but I really started feeling it on Friday. We go in to the trip with ideas of what we want to do (always beach time, boat rides, golf cart rides, etc.) and some excursion ideas, but we don’t plan them out – we want to see what we feel like each day. Which I love. The days feel amazingly long and fun and relaxed and not rushed.

We have amazing sunrise views from our rental!

On Friday we ran while Steven worked, and got to see a crane dropping off a floating barge in the water. The Army Corps is currently dredging sand out of the Mississippi River, so there is a lot of interesting equipment on the water!

Dredging pump

We had lunch (burgers!) at our place then went to the beach.

The beaches on the Mississippi River are technically sandbars, and we usually go to the one we call “Big Hill Beach” and “Sand Hill Beach” – it has so much sand because they’ve dredged it out of the river and left it there. Here’s a rare photo of it with no one on it.

I was worried about getting a spot on the beach and still being able to social distance from other people, but we were able to on both Friday and Saturday.

Dinner was pasta at Christina’s! We stayed up late chatting when we got back to our place.

Saturday (July 25)

We started Saturday with a run. Then we worked fast to get lunch (sandwiches) made to take to the beach and headed out there to get a spot. We were at the beach from 11:30 until after 4:00 pm. It was super hot out (low 90s) but felt great on the beach!

Leo, William, and Luca

My older brother Nick, and his wife Alyssa (and their dog!) came, which was an awesome surprise! We had fun chatting, lounging, eating, and swimming (not all at once, ha).

We had a taco bar at our rental for dinner and stayed up late talking with Nick and Alyssa. I am not used to staying up so late and was tired AF the next day (and the rest of the trip, because we kept staying up late) but it was worth it!

Sunday (July 26)

On Sunday we hiked down the bluff to Kwik Star (to get smoothies!!!) and to Lock & Dam #10. Then we had brats and hot dogs at Christina’s for lunch, and hunted for rocks on the island. Someone started an “Esmann Island Rocks!” Facebook page – people paint and hide rocks around the island. You can hunt for them and keep them, or re-hide them. We found and re-hid 18 of them!

Then we went on our big adventure – the Cassvile Car Ferry ride! This was one of our Christmas presents for Luca – riding the ferry. The nearest bridges to Guttenberg that go across the Mississippi River are in Dubuque, Iowa to the south (40 miles away), and Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin to the north (22 miles away). The Cassvile Car Ferry is in between these two cities, and yes, you can take your car on it to cross the river! Fun!

We all went on this adventure! It starts with calling the ferry over:

Waiting for the ferry!

Then we drove on!

We decided to go later in the day because there was going to be an ice cream truck in Cassville at that time and it worked out great – the weather was a bit cooler, and we got to see the start of a beautiful sunset.

We went to Cassville, got ice cream, then headed back!

On the Wisconsin side

Dinner was pasta again. It was supposed to be lasagna (another form of pasta that takes longer, ha) but we ran out of time, oops. (River Time dinners are late but that would have been REALLY late.)

Did we stay up late talking that night? Oh yeah, with Mom and Dad! Hee hee.

Monday (July 27)

Our big plans for our last day were Steve’s last run of the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee 1000K, breakfast at a restaurant we wandered across during our Sunday walk, and a boat ride.

The run went well for Steve and Gina but I had to quit early. Something is up with my hip and it’s negatively affecting my gait. Hopefully some time off will heal it. I walked in the end of the run and will be walking for a while (which I am fine with!). I am pumped Gina and Steve both did that virtual race and completed it a month early!

After the run we stopped at Big Springs Nature Park,

then packed up a bit at the rental, then met Mom and Dad at the Fish Shack, a restaurant right over the river in downtown Guttenberg.

The service was interesting, and the food was nothing fancy, but we were there for the atmosphere and company. This was my first time eating “inside” (it’s enclosed with screen) since March! And we were the only people there, woot.

We hung around downtown for a bit then went in to Esser’s Clothing Store, where you can make custom screen printed shirts! It surprises me I find these things that I’ve never done before, despite going to Guttenberg all my life (the ferry is similar – I had heard of it but never done it!).

Gina, Steve, Luca, and I all ordered custom shirts! My shirt:

Gina got matching in purple!

Masks required!

After shirts we went on a boat ride!

Some geese hanging out by the jet skis before our ride

Then we helped Dad get the boats and jet skis out of the water, ate leftovers quickly, then cleaned and packed up the rental, and headed back down to the island to say goodbye to Mom and Dad. Sadness!

We had a few fun stops on the way out of town though! We drove by the Field of Dreams in Dyersville because I wanted to see the newly constructed stadium for the White Sox/Cardinals game.

Then we went to Dairy Queen so I could get a vegan Dilly Bar! They’ve had them for months but I haven’t gone! But I kept talking to my snister about it every day… sorry snis. (It was good!)

Then we headed to Dubuque so Gina, Steve, and Luca could experience the candy and nut aisle of Farm & Fleet. It’s amazing! We got candy and I also found some cute cat themed BOBS for Sketchers and some cheap boots for using the snow blower.

Then, we realized it was nearly 8:00 and we hadn’t eaten dinner (because, River Time!). We ended up at Hardee’s, ate dinner in a park and got home at midnight! I was joking with Gina and Steve and my family that we really wanted them to ride with us so they could help us load and unload the car and that was a huge perk when we got back so late! Ha!

Tuesday (July 28)

I slept LATE Tuesday – past 8:00! Which makes sense – I was up until 2:00 am. Gina, Steve, Luca, and I went on a walk at two preserves (one that was new to me!) while Steven worked, then we picked up El Famous for lunch. Then a few of us napped. It was nice to have a chill day after traveling.

Apollo loved all the attention from Luca

We had a productive afternoon – the boys got all the tree sap off our car from the rental house (we’ll have to remember not to park under the pines next year). Gina and I got a car wash, and the boys went to Menards, and got a car wash. Then we played games and Steven made deep dish pizza for dinner! And we stayed up late talking. And I started to feel sad about them leaving.

Wednesday (July 29)

Last day! Wah! On Tuesday Luca and I got the bikes ready so we could bike while Gina and Steve ran on Wednesday but one ended up with a flat and Luca couldn’t ride the other bike, so we walked at a local preserve while they ran there. Then we had our traditional last day breakfast of pancakes and headed to the airport. Sad! But! That morning they booked a trip for October so we can all go back to Guttenberg in the fall and see the leaves and so some hikes. Yay!

This recap makes it sounds like we did a whole lot of nothing, but this trip was exactly what we all needed – time together to laugh and relax and make memories and new inside jokes with our loved ones, after being apart for an entire year! This is the longest we’ve gone without seeing Gina, Steve, and Luca (because of plans canceled due to COVID-19 earlier in the year). Now we’re all exhausted from being together and doing so much after doing NADA during our stay-at-home orders. But, we’re exhausted and content and can’t wait to get together again.