Monday, December 31, 2012

Rottenchester with Travalon

I am back now from Rottenchester, where I ventured with Travalon so he could meet Ma and Pa Hat. It seemed to go very well: my mother made us a lovely dinner on Saturday night and delicious blueberry pancakes on Sunday morning, and the two of them gave Travalon some wine for Christmas. What did I get? Smiley face potholders, Pigorian chant (that they had actually mailed to me), and a scented lantern. From my brother and nephews, chocolate. Hard to go wrong there. I wasn't sure what to get teenage boys, so I played it safe with gift certificates and cold, hard cash. Unfortunately I did not get to see my niece, who is about to give birth any moment, but it was really good to see the boys. I gave Ma and Pa Hat some New Glarus beer (cherry and raspberry) and my brother a book about Chuck Norris which my one nephew loved. Shopping for people you see once a year is quite a challenge! I think my brother liked the book too...  Travalon brought stollen and sparkling pear cider for my parents. Everyone seemed to get along very well, so it was a successful trip.

Yesterday Travalon and I went to Mass in Rottenchester, then we stopped in La Crosse to go to a tavern from Bottoms Up called The Casino, but it was closed, so we watched part of the Packer game at a nearby place called Cheap Shots. We felt like we were invading a private party, since everyone else there seemed to know each other, and they were all in their early 20's. Every time the game went to ads, they put on hip hop music, which I liked and Travalon didn't. He's a classic rock guy. Then we drove as far as the Dells, listening to the game in the car, and watched the final quarter at Damon's Sports Bar. Unfortunately the Vikings beat us with a field goal in the last few seconds of the game, but Travalon had to work really, really early this morning, so maybe it's just as well they didn't go into overtime.

Famous Hat


3 comments:

Travalon said...

Nice weekend ! it all went very well on my end. Sorry hip-hop fans-it's just not my thing, yes I am an old school classic rock fanatic.

Is Rochester, MN. really that awful of a place to warrant being called Rottenchester? maybe its' not too exciting, but it seems clean and well kept, enough stores and restaurants around too- To put it into perspective I think it would really beat being from Austin MN. hometown of Spam. Same bitter cold harsh winter and flat prairie terrain around it- but even more isolated, farther away from the scenic rolling hills around the Mississippi River. plus that Hormel plant smell lingering throughout the city, which I understand is a real dump! There's always a place that could be worse.

Anonymous said...

Hmm. Hometown of SPAM or spam? Please clarify. (Hey. Forgive me. I'm an editor. The scourge of the Internet! mwahahahaha)

I am really enjoying your posts mostly because of the intriguing attempt to disguise everybody's name -- I have not idea who the hell they are anyway. I should take a page from your book and use fake names rather than be "somebody else" using ... well ... not real names either, lol
Luv ya, girl. Keep your posts going!

Famous Hat said...

Sorry, I meant to call it Rooster, not Rottenchester. As I have always said, if Worchester is pronounced "Wooster" and Leicester is pronounced "Lester," then it only stands to reason that Rochester would be pronounced "Rooster."