On The Road! Iowa to Indy!

We set off for our first big road trip at 9am. Typically we like to start earlier but John had to put some work hours in. To avoid backtracking and getting going as soon as possible, I got up with him. At 3 am!

This is quite early for a girl that normally gets up at five. 

We decided to just pack up road snacks.  John started planning for this weeks ago. We have road trip favorites. Snack mix like Gardettos or Chex Mix. Something sweet like chocolates. We loaded our cooler with sodas and waters. 

Then John decided we needed sandwiches so we didn't need to stop for lunch the first day. 

There is a local chain grocery store that used to make sandwiches. They'd be piled up and you had to pick through them to get the kind you wanted.  

The store made them on little loaves of bread. A whole tiny loaf! It was really adorable. Then they buttered the bread and added meat and cheese. 

My friend Lance & I used to get these sandwiches and eat them on the way to the track... Ak-sar-ben racetrack in Omaha back in the mid-80's. Great memories of eating the ham & Swiss sandwiches and drinking Mt. Dew, heading to the track! And these sandwiches tasted just like those used to!

So John got bakery buns, ham and Swiss cheese to recreate them. Sadly I didn't take photos of him making them. So just imagine a kid on Christmas morning.  

Somewhere past Kickapoo we broke out the sammies and John was in heaven. 

 

Kickapoo....tee-hee!

For dinner we met our Indy friends at Aurelio's. It's a Chicago pizza chain that recently opened. Just a tip, if more than two people want salad, get a large dinner salad. Five people shared one and didn't finish half. 

Then came the pizza. 

It was also huge. We got half sausage and mushroom, half pepperoni and mushroom. The pepperoni was good, but nothing special. The sausage was great. Spicy and soft. Good flavor. 

The crust wasn't like any I've had before. The bottom was cracker crisp. They served it on a rack so it didn't get soggy. 

The top was pillowy and soft. Very satisfying. John likes the rack in theory but hates losing toppings in it!

Pizza was great!

Afterward we walked across the street for ice cream.  It was a great evening with friends, food and stories that started "You were so drunk..."

Those stories were mostly about the other people!