If It's Wednesday It Must Be Our Day to Ourselves!

For the last two nights, Diana and I have been staying at her sister’s along with her parents. Whew, imagine such a crowded little Japanese apartment! I’ve been sleeping in a kitchen cabinet, while Diana’s been holed up under the couch cushions. But that all ends tonight! Everyone else has left for Matsuyama on the island of Shokiku, where the actual wedding itself takes place. We’ve got all of Tokyo and Yokahama to ourselves! Except for the other several million people who live there, but…

Once, when I was a kid (I’m talking like 4, give or take a year or two), my whole family and my Aunt Dorothy (who was really my Great Aunt) took a trip to Davenport, Iowa and stayed at Jumers Castle Lodge, which I guess is technically in Bettendorf. How cool is that? We stayed in a freakin’ castle! I mean that’s cool as an adult, think of how mind blowing it was to my 4 year old self.

The rooms had huge cabinets that my sister’s and I could fit in! We called it “The House with the Big Beds” and in the years that passed that trip became the stuff of legend around our household. (“Remember going to The House with the Big Beds?” “Oh, yeah!”) What’s more awesome is that it’s still there. My sister has brought her kids there. I’m sure the beds and the cabinets all seem normal size to us adults, but they were pretty gigantic when we were kids.

This is the only good photo of the Jumers in Iowa I could find online and it’s from some random person’s vacation photo’s. If they want me to, I’ll take it down, but it seriously is the only one I could find. Jumers has become a bit of a local chain, and I could find great photos of some of their other locations, just not this one: