River Run 2009

Wow can the River Rats party or what!!? We had a blast hanging out with Family and Friends this last weekend on the Mississippi River.
It was Gregs first year on the River Run but we can proudly say he is no longer a River Run virgin:)
All of the River pirates gathered at Teenie and Al's for Teenies famous spicy bloody marys. Id say we had roughly 40-45 pirates traveling the dark seas.
Mad Sam Rackham (AKA Jay McCool) showed off his fine pirate gear as we were going thru the lock and dam. I have to say the tat on the bum was a nice touch. Dirty Thom Flint did a mighty fine job not crashing the boat from being blinded by the silver thong;)
We traditionally stop at a couple sand bars and mingle. We were lucky to have such beautiful weather so the sandbars were a little packed. We managed to find a spot and threw our anchors down. There were some good attempts at sand sliding. Next year we need new slides though;) I think Im still finding sand particles in my mouth. We enjoyed many of the drink concoctions and watched Cassie and Austin walk the plank (Party boat diving board).
We docked a little later than usual but it was only because we were having so much fun. We stayed at the Best Western Midway hotel in Lacrosse. After we freshened up, since Pirates do get a little stinky we headed out for dinner at Buzzard Billys. My best friend/maid of honor Tessa and her husband Aaron came up from Waterloo to enjoy dinner and paint the town red with us. Luckily they fit right in with the crew;)
We relaxed in the lounge above Buzzard Billys before dinner and Pruddy and Dirty Thom (AKA my parents) danced to a sweet love song, so cute.
After Greg violated a statue of a crane we headed out to enjoy the bar scene in Lacrosse. Of course there were soooo many spots to choose from and so little time. Our first stop was Bodega's, with 400 beers on tap you can not go wrong there. Then we headed to a grunge bar called Yesterdays. This bar had an interesting choice for wallpaper. Lets just say no one had any clothes on in the drawings. Tons of fun though, tvs in the ceiling and great music!
The next morning was spent slowly heading out for breakfast and packing our gear to head back to Prarie Du Chein. We fed the ducks, dealt with the killswitch and set sail.
The weather wasnt as favorable this day but we managed. We found some stowaways but figured we would keep them around and put them to work (aka Lana and Al). Captain Dirty Ethel kept the boat a float and we found our way to land.
We stopped at the Tiki Lounge in Lansing. I have to say this is one of my favorite memories. We were all together in one small confined area sharing stories, drinking and laughing so hard we were crying. The entertainment was priceless. It ranged from buttdarts to blowing up condoms with your nostrils. Lana had a great idea to buy a t-shirt and I think within 20 minutes the coozies were sold out and the T-shirts were close to being gonners. Teenie and I choose a color that could be seen for miles;) Very obnoxious and fun, just like us:)
It was awesome visiting with everyone and we look forward to our future adventures together!
There were only a couple items from our vessel that were surrendered to the river gods. Greg and Lana's bandanna. Tessa lost her camera somewhere at buzzard billys. So let those items rest in peace. Greg finally was able to get his rub on tattoo's to come off!
Our drive back to Des Moines to catch our flight was interesting. We missed the hail but we listened to constant sever weather storm/tornado warnings in the area. It really was awesome to witness it though.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures and keep safe!!!