This weeks Friday Five.

1. What's the last place you traveled to, outside your own home state/country?

Iowa of course. Before that Alabama, then Iowa three times, then Florida. In the past year.

2. What's the most bizarre/unusual thing that's ever happened to you while traveling?

When I was 18 with a friend of mine, we decided we were going to take 2 weeks and drive to California and see the world. Shit. What a different world from Iowa. The most bizarre thing on that trip happened in Oakland, CA..where we got lost. We were supposed to be going to her aunt's house for the night, but we couldn't even find the right city. We stopped at this gas station, where these two guys were working..all covered with grease and grim. They were foreign..we assumed Mexican. Remember we were from Iowa and didn't know shit. Patti was crying because we were lost in a very very black area. We hadn't showered for 2 days because we had been camping, we stunk, we were tired. Well these guys were closing the station and said we could go home with them and use their shower, and they had room if we wanted to stay. They were very nice guys. Why we ever agreed is beyond me now, but at the time it seemed appropriate. I remember thinking in my ignorance, that these guys were Mexican and probably had 12 people living in a 2 room house. Patti thought the same thing. Well we ended up following these guys to their home...which took quite awhile to get there. Well these guys didn't live in a 2 bedroom house, they lived in a mansion with about 10 bedrooms. They weren't Mexican, they were Iranians. They didn't work at the gas station they owned several. We ended up spending 2 nights there, they wined and dined us, were absolutely perfect gentlemen. Hussein and Gus...no shit. Their father had sent them to America to go to college and work in the family's business. Both were majoring in political science. We stayed in touch for about a year after til they left to go home. I moved..and we lost contact. I've always wondered what became of them.

3. If you could take off to anywhere, money and time being no object, where would you go?

Alaska

4. Do you prefer traveling by plane, train or car?

I'd prefer that Scotty beamed me up. If I have a lot of time, I'd prefer to drive.

5. What's the next place on your list to visit?

Iowa...in 7 days.