Four week update… and Kool-Aid Days… and great news!

Thursday 8/16/2012

Hastings Campground

Hastings, NE

Well it’s been four weeks since our last post, except for the previous two posts which were about car shows and races. Obviously we’ve gotten a bit slack with our blogging. Terri continues with her rehab with three visits per week for physical therapy. Her physical therapist, Scott, is very happy with her progress. She’s been working very diligently with her home exercising and workout. The results of her hard work are beginning to payoff with some very noticeable improvement. Scott feels that her dedication to her home exercising and workout has definitely sped up the rehab.

Besides car shows and races (see previous two posts), we’ve been keeping ourselves busy.  We try to take a 35-minute walk at least five times per week, and of course we go to physical therapy three times a week.  I said “we” because I've accompanied Terri to all of her p/t sessions.  We think it’s been beneficial with me being there, and we've developed a great relationship with Scott.

We did go to another movie here in town.  On Wednesday, 7/25, we went to see The Amazing Spider-Man in 3D.

The movie was very entertaining.  It was interesting to watch Sally Field and Martin Sheen in a super-hero movie.  This was our first 3D movie.  We weren’t that impressed with the 3D effect or the extra cost of admission.

We've been out to eat three times.  As mentioned in the last post about car shows (but I’ll mention it again here in case you skipped that post), on 7/21 we went to Skeeter Barnes BBQ while in Kearney for the car show.

It was recommended by Scott, and the food was delicious.  Terri had the ribs with green beans, and I had the chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and gravy.

On Thursday, 8/2, Terri and I went out for lunch at the King Buffet in Hastings. It was very delicious, and we definitely got our fill of Chinese food.

Then on Saturday, 8/11, we went to lunch with a former co-worker of Terri’s.  Todd was in town with his family visiting his mother-in-law, Pat.  Todd and Pat joined us for lunch at the Back Alley Bakery.  I had a sandwich called The Prairie Fire which was thinly sliced ham with habanero-peach preserves, cream cheese and provolone.  It had sweet, spicy, tangy flavors all melded into a great tasting sandwich.  Terri had the Blueberry Verde Entrée Salad which was sliced roast chicken breast over Spring greens with dried blueberries, candied walnuts, and goat cheese.  The food was really delicious, and it was really nice spending some time with Todd and his MIL Pat.

On Sunday, 8/5, we went to an arts and crafts show in Libs Park here in Hastings. There were quite a few vendors… we bought nothing.

There were some very cute “get-along sticks” for sale…

including a little boot and a wooden shoe…

and a shifter knob from a car.

There were also a couple of food vendors too.

It was still pretty early in the day, so we decided not to partake in any ice cream or weenies.

This past weekend, 8/10-12, was Kool-Aid Days here in Hastings. This celebration is a very big deal here.  Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings in 1927. Every year on the second weekend in August, Hastings celebrates the invention of Kool-Aid. There are many events planned around the festival each year.  On Saturday we went downtown to watch the parade.  We watched for awhile, but the parade seemed to be mostly local businesses handing out candy and trying to drum up business and politicians trying to get our vote.  There were many, many, MANY kids there with their parents.

We decided to bail out and beat the ensuing after the parade traffic jam.  We did see a big Kool-Aid Man inflatable…

and the “World’s Largest Kool-Aid Stand.”

There were food vendors, but again we didn’t partake in any of the offerings.

When we first arrived in Hastings back in April, I did some research about the town and discovered Kool-Aid Days.  At that time I figured we would be long gone from here by then and miss it… wrong again!

     

And now some great news…

On Monday, 8/13, Terri got back on her bike for the first time since her biking accident and went for a ride with me at Lake Hastings Park!!!  We rode for about 30 minutes without incident.  Then on Tuesday we went riding again at Lake Hastings for almost 45 minutes!!!  We went again on Wednesday and today for another 30-35 minutes each day!!!  She was a little nervous at first but did just fine.