We were off to sunny Lake Zurich, IL, to visit my friend A.J. and his family over the weekend. It was a nice trip. We went to the Brookfield Zoo with the kids on Saturday. Ava was afraid of the merry-go-round and the dolphin show, but she loved looking at the baboons. On the drive home yesterday Ava spiked a fever, but Leah got on it pretty quickly and was able to keep it fairly low overnight.
The new Subaru got 27.6 mpg on the way over to IL, which isn’t so bad. Now that we’re selling the Volvo, I’m finding that a lot of people pay very close attention to what a car gets for gas mileage. I’ve never paid any attention with the Volvo, for two reasons. First, the Volvo had a number of things to recommend it when we began car shopping, and fuel efficiency wasn’t at the top of our list. If you want an AWD wagon loaded with the Volvo’s safety features, you’re not going to get 34 mpg on the highway. Second, I’m not a gratuitous driver. If I can just as easily get somewhere on my bike, I take my bike. If I absolutely have to drive, then I drive. And if I have to drive, what’s the point of tallying my mpg?
I have to vote tomorrow. As near as I can tell, we’re two of the maybe four people in Iowa City who’re voting for Nick Maybanks for County Attorney.  Ah well. He’s young. There’s plenty of time for him to make his mark in the world. My mother-in-law is a Fallon supporter, which guarantees that he won’t prevail. Still, I caught his TV ad the other night and was impressed by it. What, this guy’s going to every county in Iowa twice? That’s a lot of handshakes and diner pie. I like his style.