My Cross Country Trip, part 4
Friday, July 23rd
Carolyn was the first up. She announced that she was going to use the bathroom first and let me sleep in. Cool. Then, the next thing I know, she opens her set of curtains over her bed and there was DAYLIGHT.... I was now awake. :>)
We went to Chicago's Cultural Center and admired the artwork. Well, most of it. We saw the largest piece of Tiffany work - a ceiling, sculptures made of HAIR, furnature, and other little artworks. There are conference/banquet rooms for the businesses. I thought that'd be an interesting place to have a meeting. Very ornate. The building is old and full of mosaics/tile work that is beautiful. I tried to take a picture in the entrance we used, but I doubt it'll show up. It was beautiful, colorful, and quite sparkly with the gold tiles.
Next, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago's Museum. We didn't see the feature exhibit of Toulouse-Lautrec and others like him. It was Carolyn's drive to go to this particular museum, but she didn't want to pay the extra cost to see the exhibit. Instead, we just paid our $7 for the normal, student priced, admission. We looked at a lot of art; half was paintings and half was other stuff like boxes, furnature, cups, vases, plates, etc. I found the paintings that were showcased in the movie "Ferris Beuler's Day Off". This made my morning b/ I was happy to be right about thinking that the movie was filmed (or made to look that way) there.
Lunch was at the Russian Tea House. Pretty fancy, but b/ we went in for lunch, I didn't feel too underdressed in my shorts and carrying a backpack. Good food. Bread was served outright. Very good b/ we were hungry. It was basically black. Tough, chewy crust, soft center, and kinda nutty. Not sure of the herb/flavor used, but it was good. Different, most definitely. We had a pumpkin filled dumpling. It was good with one of the sauces provided and alone. It was served with a side of carrot salad. Sweet carrots in a vingarette or pickled-like dressing. For lunch, Carolyn got a Ceasar salad. It was one of those real gormet ones - like the kind you get at a fish house. She didn't like the anchovies that garnished or the strong flavor of the dressing. bummer. I enjoyed my salmon sandwich, though. Instead of mustard and mayo, it had a cream cheese and herb spread and a bunch of veggies. My meal was also served with the carrot salad. Had it not been in Chicago, I'd like to go back one day and try one of the more traditional meals for dinner. You'd definitely have to dress up for this place then. We'd walked by the night before and it was all pretty and fancy with fancily dressed peoples....
We then went to Navy Pier. Well, it took a little while. We got on the right bus, but in the wrong direction. In hindsight, we should have joined the mob at the free shuttle bus stop that went that way, but.... At Navy Pier, there is a lot of shopping and eating. You can go on boat tours/rides or even a dinner cruise (as we saw one ship being supplied for such an event). There are rides and mini golf. We went on the Ferris Wheel and got some good pictures, hopefully, of Chicago's skyline. Inside the pier was a stained glass exhibit/museum. It was beautiful. I loved being in there. There was a room or two of just Tiffany work with descriptions on technique and making of the windows. I appreciate the Tiffany name more. The glass isn't just painted, it's made. The only painting that's done is on faces and hands of people. Carolyn and I agree that it kinds clashes, but when done correctly, it the two forms of glass art mingle well.
Looking for time to kill, Carolyn wanted to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on the IMAX screen. I still didn't want to see it (hence the compromise with "Bewitched" earlier in the week). Aside from shopping in the stuffy mall area, I agreed to pay the $15 (which was about the cost of the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit, I must point out) and we went inside. Refusing to sit in the first row of the theater and them not allowing a refund, Carolyn found some unused seats higher up. The movie was OK, I guess. I'm just not that into it. Someone gave me a copy on DVD and I've watched it once, never to watch it again. I liked it when I was younger, but I guess I've outgrown it. Besides, Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka was quite scary. He reminded me of Michael Jackson and he talked in an irritatingly high voice. The rest of the movie felt forced. The version that I have with Gene Wilder is waaay better. I wasn't too upset when we had to walk out during the movie. No refund b/ we watched about half, but we had to leave so we could catch the play we'd planned to see at 8pm. I don't think that Carolyn did the time calculations when we bought our tickets. I thought that she wanted to see this instead of our $5 play...
After some not-too-great "mall food", we headed northward. As we got onto the subway, I was almost pick-pocketed. There was this lady with crutches in front of me, who wasn't using them, I'd noticed on the platform. She was mostly carrying them around. Well, she got on the train in front of me and just kept getting in my way so I couldn't fully get on the train. I was ready to push her out of the way when she finally picked a place to hobble to and sat down. There was a guy, really close, behind me and I had a creepy feeling about that. When I sat down next to Carolyn, I found that my backpack was opened. Both front pockets. I made a big fuss. Everyone was looking at me and I was eye-ing the man that got on behind me. Caught. I checked for my wallet, and I still had it and my money. Both the man and the lady, nonchalantly, got off at the next exit, looking for another tourist to rob. I had heard my backpack being opened, but I wasn't sure it was that or from elsewhere on the train... My wallet, if I carry it at all when I go out looking like a tourist and lost, I keep under all my crap in the big pocket and keep the zippers down so it is harder to open. In the middle pocket was my gum and cards and my cell phone. Thankfully that wasn't taken. It's so new, I don't know how to use all the features yet. But, as Carolyn pointed out, all they were after was my wallet. In the small pocket is feminine products, chapstick, and hair clippies - stuff I'm sure that the guy didn't want. I normally take off my backpack when entering a train or elevator or even a mob on the street. I don't know why I didn't that time. Anyway, as we rode to our stop, I did the best I could to burgler-proof my backpack. I took off all keychains and alternated zippers at the bottom of my bag.
The play, "By the Book", was at a little community theater not on our tourist maps. We looked, hard, for the street name and I was annoyed by the lack of street index from my AAA map. Anyway, we found it. We thought we had to take the train and then a bus about ten blocks towards the water. Well, when we got off the train, we noticed that there were two streets named N. Sheridan. Which one? The train lady said to take a certain bus. We decided to not wait for the bus and to take a taxi. The guy was nice and explained the confusion to us based on the address of the theater. The street starts off north, next to Lincoln Park, and then it heads westward (name change to W. Sheridan) and then it goes north again and becomes N. Sheridan once again. Why???? Why would you do that? Some city planner screwed up. The theater was at the corner of W. Sheridan and N. Sheridan. Thank you, taxi driver. He got a tip, but probably not a nice one b/ we didn't have the money to. The play was very good. I can't remember when the last time it was that I liked something in community theater. There were no sets, though. Just two benches they'd move around. We were inches from the stage (yea front row!) and I had to be careful the actors didn't trip on me. It was very interesting and the story carried the show, as it should be. The actors handed out glasses of champagne and those yummy Gheradelli chocolate squares with the various fillings before the show. It turned out to be a good night. I enjoyed myself.
Saturday, July 24th
We got up early and checked out by 10am. The parking guys were nice and took us up the car elevator so we could put our bags in the car. They said we wouldn't be charged for an extra day if we came back for my car by 2pm. Notta problem. We went in search of breakfast. Ended up at Arby's of all places. I ordered one of the "market fresh sandwiches". It was pretty good, great, soft bread, and I could only eat half b/ it was so large.
We then tried to souvineer shop. I ended up getting some pretty magnets from the Art Institute. Nothing else really caught my eye.
I then tried to get Carolyn to Midway Airport. Tried. We were headed north instead of south. I turned around and we were happily in the right direction w/ no O'Hare Airport signs. My only complaint about the Midway Airport was the lack of signage off the freeway. An itsy-bitsy piece of metal with a picture of a plane isn't sufficient when it is attached to the stoplight and you're in the wrong lane, stuck in traffic on the offramp. I illegally parked in a handicapped spot and quickly helped Carolyn to unload her stuff and said good-bye. Nothing tearful or long b/ I had to get moving. Airport security guys are the same everywhere.
Driving down to Indiana wasn't too bad, though it was odd to be alone. Carolyn was missed already....
Lots of construction, though. I didn't realize I had crossed the border until I saw exit #3. It was right after I drove over this bridge. No river down there, just a huge-ass rock quarry (and, yes that's right. i just looked it up). It looked like it should have been a riverbed or something. I just can't describe how huge it was.
Indiana drivers like to speed outside of the construction zones. It was refreshing b/ it was like home, but they're real asses. They'll speed up behind you and then ride your tail so close that they might as well be in your backseat. Every single person did that to me when I was in the fast lane! Everyone! I was going a good ten mph over the limit and passing someone, but that didn't matter. This is not a way to earn brownie points with me.
There is nothing distinctive about IN scenery. Farmland and cornfields. It all started looking the same somewhere after Des Moines. Indianapolis was interesting in that there was farming in the middle of the city. I was in the state capitol and there was open land and crops.
Tim, one of Aunt Lynne's children, says that isn't too uncommon b/of the rich farming belt that the city sits in. It's supposed to be the most fertile land in the WORLD. Lots of profits and product. Very interesting.
When I entered Ohio, I slowed down and took a picture of the arch and welcome sign. (I tried to do that with the rest of the states I traveled into w/o Carolyn. That, and I'd hold the camera on top of my steering wheel and snap one. I can't wait to see how those turn out!) Anyway, there's stil a lot of farms and corn and soybean. More information from my OH relatives tells me that the corn sucks up all the nutrients from the land and basically makes the next crop hard to grow. The soybean rotation in between other crops helps to replace everything, and more, back into the soil.
Dayton, OH. Major city, annoying freeway. There is not only a ton of left exits, but entrances as well! Who designed that? It's awful. I discovered the one lane in the middle of the freeway marked "thru 75" and stayed there. The rest of the lanes were starting and ending all over the place. Tim, my local highway professor, says that the area is known as "Malfunction Junction". No kidding. That is very true. To fix this, he tells me that they're building another freeway along the border of the city and guesses that it'll turn into a "beltway" just like the circle freeway that goes around Columbus.
Made it to Aunt Lynne's safely. Met Carmen, her neighbor. We both had a late-dinner snack and talked. I kept her up late. Anyone surprised? :>) I also started my laundry pile I'd been carrying around since before I left San Leandro.
Sunday, July 25th
Got up late. Aunt Lynne took me to the local CVS to get my film developed. Went back home and set up munchies for the impending arrival of family. We looked at old family pictures and she gave me one of Grandma Nancy as a child. Cute picture. Also, the picture I have of KT on my cell phone does look like it could be their mother. Family genes are mysterious, aren't they? I showed off my New Zealand pictures and found out that her daughter Amy had been there the last time the volcano exploded. Talk about excitement!
When the family began to arrive, I was able to meet and re-meet people. I was introduced to Grandma Nancy's other two siblings, Babsy and Ed, and their spouses. I saw 4/6 of Aunt Lynne's children (Katie, Amy, Beth, and Tim), her two youngest grandchildren, and Tim's wife. After I picked up my pictures at the pharmacy, I showed off pictures of the girls and a few other odd ones. (this may be an ad for a digital camera...) Who was in control of the camera the day of my family good-bye dinner? I have one of Tracy w/ her eyes closed, one of people standing around talking, but at a distance, but none of mom or Gma Nancy, and, of course, none of Eric, Norma, or Gabriel b/ they weren't there.....
Carolyn was the first up. She announced that she was going to use the bathroom first and let me sleep in. Cool. Then, the next thing I know, she opens her set of curtains over her bed and there was DAYLIGHT.... I was now awake. :>)
We went to Chicago's Cultural Center and admired the artwork. Well, most of it. We saw the largest piece of Tiffany work - a ceiling, sculptures made of HAIR, furnature, and other little artworks. There are conference/banquet rooms for the businesses. I thought that'd be an interesting place to have a meeting. Very ornate. The building is old and full of mosaics/tile work that is beautiful. I tried to take a picture in the entrance we used, but I doubt it'll show up. It was beautiful, colorful, and quite sparkly with the gold tiles.
Next, we went to the Art Institute of Chicago's Museum. We didn't see the feature exhibit of Toulouse-Lautrec and others like him. It was Carolyn's drive to go to this particular museum, but she didn't want to pay the extra cost to see the exhibit. Instead, we just paid our $7 for the normal, student priced, admission. We looked at a lot of art; half was paintings and half was other stuff like boxes, furnature, cups, vases, plates, etc. I found the paintings that were showcased in the movie "Ferris Beuler's Day Off". This made my morning b/ I was happy to be right about thinking that the movie was filmed (or made to look that way) there.
Lunch was at the Russian Tea House. Pretty fancy, but b/ we went in for lunch, I didn't feel too underdressed in my shorts and carrying a backpack. Good food. Bread was served outright. Very good b/ we were hungry. It was basically black. Tough, chewy crust, soft center, and kinda nutty. Not sure of the herb/flavor used, but it was good. Different, most definitely. We had a pumpkin filled dumpling. It was good with one of the sauces provided and alone. It was served with a side of carrot salad. Sweet carrots in a vingarette or pickled-like dressing. For lunch, Carolyn got a Ceasar salad. It was one of those real gormet ones - like the kind you get at a fish house. She didn't like the anchovies that garnished or the strong flavor of the dressing. bummer. I enjoyed my salmon sandwich, though. Instead of mustard and mayo, it had a cream cheese and herb spread and a bunch of veggies. My meal was also served with the carrot salad. Had it not been in Chicago, I'd like to go back one day and try one of the more traditional meals for dinner. You'd definitely have to dress up for this place then. We'd walked by the night before and it was all pretty and fancy with fancily dressed peoples....
We then went to Navy Pier. Well, it took a little while. We got on the right bus, but in the wrong direction. In hindsight, we should have joined the mob at the free shuttle bus stop that went that way, but.... At Navy Pier, there is a lot of shopping and eating. You can go on boat tours/rides or even a dinner cruise (as we saw one ship being supplied for such an event). There are rides and mini golf. We went on the Ferris Wheel and got some good pictures, hopefully, of Chicago's skyline. Inside the pier was a stained glass exhibit/museum. It was beautiful. I loved being in there. There was a room or two of just Tiffany work with descriptions on technique and making of the windows. I appreciate the Tiffany name more. The glass isn't just painted, it's made. The only painting that's done is on faces and hands of people. Carolyn and I agree that it kinds clashes, but when done correctly, it the two forms of glass art mingle well.
Looking for time to kill, Carolyn wanted to see "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" on the IMAX screen. I still didn't want to see it (hence the compromise with "Bewitched" earlier in the week). Aside from shopping in the stuffy mall area, I agreed to pay the $15 (which was about the cost of the Toulouse-Lautrec exhibit, I must point out) and we went inside. Refusing to sit in the first row of the theater and them not allowing a refund, Carolyn found some unused seats higher up. The movie was OK, I guess. I'm just not that into it. Someone gave me a copy on DVD and I've watched it once, never to watch it again. I liked it when I was younger, but I guess I've outgrown it. Besides, Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka was quite scary. He reminded me of Michael Jackson and he talked in an irritatingly high voice. The rest of the movie felt forced. The version that I have with Gene Wilder is waaay better. I wasn't too upset when we had to walk out during the movie. No refund b/ we watched about half, but we had to leave so we could catch the play we'd planned to see at 8pm. I don't think that Carolyn did the time calculations when we bought our tickets. I thought that she wanted to see this instead of our $5 play...
After some not-too-great "mall food", we headed northward. As we got onto the subway, I was almost pick-pocketed. There was this lady with crutches in front of me, who wasn't using them, I'd noticed on the platform. She was mostly carrying them around. Well, she got on the train in front of me and just kept getting in my way so I couldn't fully get on the train. I was ready to push her out of the way when she finally picked a place to hobble to and sat down. There was a guy, really close, behind me and I had a creepy feeling about that. When I sat down next to Carolyn, I found that my backpack was opened. Both front pockets. I made a big fuss. Everyone was looking at me and I was eye-ing the man that got on behind me. Caught. I checked for my wallet, and I still had it and my money. Both the man and the lady, nonchalantly, got off at the next exit, looking for another tourist to rob. I had heard my backpack being opened, but I wasn't sure it was that or from elsewhere on the train... My wallet, if I carry it at all when I go out looking like a tourist and lost, I keep under all my crap in the big pocket and keep the zippers down so it is harder to open. In the middle pocket was my gum and cards and my cell phone. Thankfully that wasn't taken. It's so new, I don't know how to use all the features yet. But, as Carolyn pointed out, all they were after was my wallet. In the small pocket is feminine products, chapstick, and hair clippies - stuff I'm sure that the guy didn't want. I normally take off my backpack when entering a train or elevator or even a mob on the street. I don't know why I didn't that time. Anyway, as we rode to our stop, I did the best I could to burgler-proof my backpack. I took off all keychains and alternated zippers at the bottom of my bag.
The play, "By the Book", was at a little community theater not on our tourist maps. We looked, hard, for the street name and I was annoyed by the lack of street index from my AAA map. Anyway, we found it. We thought we had to take the train and then a bus about ten blocks towards the water. Well, when we got off the train, we noticed that there were two streets named N. Sheridan. Which one? The train lady said to take a certain bus. We decided to not wait for the bus and to take a taxi. The guy was nice and explained the confusion to us based on the address of the theater. The street starts off north, next to Lincoln Park, and then it heads westward (name change to W. Sheridan) and then it goes north again and becomes N. Sheridan once again. Why???? Why would you do that? Some city planner screwed up. The theater was at the corner of W. Sheridan and N. Sheridan. Thank you, taxi driver. He got a tip, but probably not a nice one b/ we didn't have the money to. The play was very good. I can't remember when the last time it was that I liked something in community theater. There were no sets, though. Just two benches they'd move around. We were inches from the stage (yea front row!) and I had to be careful the actors didn't trip on me. It was very interesting and the story carried the show, as it should be. The actors handed out glasses of champagne and those yummy Gheradelli chocolate squares with the various fillings before the show. It turned out to be a good night. I enjoyed myself.
Saturday, July 24th
We got up early and checked out by 10am. The parking guys were nice and took us up the car elevator so we could put our bags in the car. They said we wouldn't be charged for an extra day if we came back for my car by 2pm. Notta problem. We went in search of breakfast. Ended up at Arby's of all places. I ordered one of the "market fresh sandwiches". It was pretty good, great, soft bread, and I could only eat half b/ it was so large.
We then tried to souvineer shop. I ended up getting some pretty magnets from the Art Institute. Nothing else really caught my eye.
I then tried to get Carolyn to Midway Airport. Tried. We were headed north instead of south. I turned around and we were happily in the right direction w/ no O'Hare Airport signs. My only complaint about the Midway Airport was the lack of signage off the freeway. An itsy-bitsy piece of metal with a picture of a plane isn't sufficient when it is attached to the stoplight and you're in the wrong lane, stuck in traffic on the offramp. I illegally parked in a handicapped spot and quickly helped Carolyn to unload her stuff and said good-bye. Nothing tearful or long b/ I had to get moving. Airport security guys are the same everywhere.
Driving down to Indiana wasn't too bad, though it was odd to be alone. Carolyn was missed already....
Lots of construction, though. I didn't realize I had crossed the border until I saw exit #3. It was right after I drove over this bridge. No river down there, just a huge-ass rock quarry (and, yes that's right. i just looked it up). It looked like it should have been a riverbed or something. I just can't describe how huge it was.
Indiana drivers like to speed outside of the construction zones. It was refreshing b/ it was like home, but they're real asses. They'll speed up behind you and then ride your tail so close that they might as well be in your backseat. Every single person did that to me when I was in the fast lane! Everyone! I was going a good ten mph over the limit and passing someone, but that didn't matter. This is not a way to earn brownie points with me.
There is nothing distinctive about IN scenery. Farmland and cornfields. It all started looking the same somewhere after Des Moines. Indianapolis was interesting in that there was farming in the middle of the city. I was in the state capitol and there was open land and crops.
Tim, one of Aunt Lynne's children, says that isn't too uncommon b/of the rich farming belt that the city sits in. It's supposed to be the most fertile land in the WORLD. Lots of profits and product. Very interesting.
When I entered Ohio, I slowed down and took a picture of the arch and welcome sign. (I tried to do that with the rest of the states I traveled into w/o Carolyn. That, and I'd hold the camera on top of my steering wheel and snap one. I can't wait to see how those turn out!) Anyway, there's stil a lot of farms and corn and soybean. More information from my OH relatives tells me that the corn sucks up all the nutrients from the land and basically makes the next crop hard to grow. The soybean rotation in between other crops helps to replace everything, and more, back into the soil.
Dayton, OH. Major city, annoying freeway. There is not only a ton of left exits, but entrances as well! Who designed that? It's awful. I discovered the one lane in the middle of the freeway marked "thru 75" and stayed there. The rest of the lanes were starting and ending all over the place. Tim, my local highway professor, says that the area is known as "Malfunction Junction". No kidding. That is very true. To fix this, he tells me that they're building another freeway along the border of the city and guesses that it'll turn into a "beltway" just like the circle freeway that goes around Columbus.
Made it to Aunt Lynne's safely. Met Carmen, her neighbor. We both had a late-dinner snack and talked. I kept her up late. Anyone surprised? :>) I also started my laundry pile I'd been carrying around since before I left San Leandro.
Sunday, July 25th
Got up late. Aunt Lynne took me to the local CVS to get my film developed. Went back home and set up munchies for the impending arrival of family. We looked at old family pictures and she gave me one of Grandma Nancy as a child. Cute picture. Also, the picture I have of KT on my cell phone does look like it could be their mother. Family genes are mysterious, aren't they? I showed off my New Zealand pictures and found out that her daughter Amy had been there the last time the volcano exploded. Talk about excitement!
When the family began to arrive, I was able to meet and re-meet people. I was introduced to Grandma Nancy's other two siblings, Babsy and Ed, and their spouses. I saw 4/6 of Aunt Lynne's children (Katie, Amy, Beth, and Tim), her two youngest grandchildren, and Tim's wife. After I picked up my pictures at the pharmacy, I showed off pictures of the girls and a few other odd ones. (this may be an ad for a digital camera...) Who was in control of the camera the day of my family good-bye dinner? I have one of Tracy w/ her eyes closed, one of people standing around talking, but at a distance, but none of mom or Gma Nancy, and, of course, none of Eric, Norma, or Gabriel b/ they weren't there.....
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