Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa
for reasons they can't even fathom.
Terence Mann, Field of Dreams

Well, we now reside in Iowa!

We've reached the point in the move where a bit of the excitement has worn off and we're swearing that we'll never move again. My legs hurt and Bella has just now joined us from behind the toilet but everything is good! I was able to get the downstairs area of our new place in living condition and will tackle upstairs today.

The pirated wi-fi is spotty, we have no cable and I ate scrambled eggs for dinner last night but it is great to finally be here and get started on our new plans.

A dog is one of the remaining reasons why some

people can be persuaded to go for a walk.
O.A. Battista

As one last St. Louis "hoorah" we took Winnie down to the Soulard Beggin' Dog Parade. The yearly event, in coordination with the big Mardi Gras bash, is generally expected to have about 8,000 dogs and 80,000 people. Wow!

"The Raging Bull" - also known as Pearl the Basset Hound

Cute picture taken by Angie - nonsense all around!

It really was, as Nick put it, a zoo.

But it was so fun! We ate pizza, dog and people watched, met up with friends and then walked through Soulard throwing beads with Winnie.

Our view from the parade out into the crowd.

Walking down Russell with the parade.

The picture Angie took of us walking in the parade.
This was right before Winnie sputtered out.

We seriously drained the "Beagle Juice" because after four hours of walking around, eating snacks and socializing she was done. She stopped dead in her tracks near the end of the parade and Nick actually had to carry her back to the car. It was good for her to get worn out and fun for us in the midst of the moving and packing.

Picture taken by Jen at Molly's

Rabbit, rabbit!