Broomball and Couches in Iowa - April 16-18

Last weekend we took a road trip to Des Moines, Iowa for a broomball tournament. The team was a combination of people with a good majority made up of Barons (Jason's men's team). Megan played with us too even though it was a men's division. We won our two pool play games and the semi final game on Saturday. The final on Sunday was a rematch against the Whiskey Sticks, a team from Rochester put together by another Baron. It turned out to be a fast paced, high scoring thriller that ended 5-4. We had successfully defended our title from last year.

The other highlight from the weekend was our foray into CouchSurfing. Basically it is an online community that connects you with people who are willing to let you crash on their couch. We met Nathan and Erica who hosted us for three days. On Friday, we took a canoe down the North River which turned into a grand adventure! Plenty of wildlife including eagles, owls, floating muskrats, geese, ducks, deer, and a mink. But the memories mostly came from dumped canoes. The first was a failed attempt to sneak under a log. Luckily the water was only waist deep so it was easy to empty the canoe afterward. The second was due to an overzealous landing which resulted in a thorough drenching of another paddler. Besides the paddle, we also enjoyed chatting and a potluck with other couch surfers. It was a great first experience with Couch Surfing. -J