So it’s now Wednesday morning and I’m sitting in the Affiliate Council meeting at Indiana Uni (IU). I’ve got two days to catch you up on, but a lot of it was driving.
So after my last post I headed off south towards Peoria. I planned the drive with a stop along the way and made it to my hotel – nothing really interesting to report. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of this hotel room. It was nice, it included a fridge & microwave, although no coffee machine. There was some noise at night but it wasn’t a real problem. The hotel really didn’t need to be much, it was just a place to sleep while in an area where I could catch up with Keith & Sandy.
After checking in to the hotel I headed out to Keith & Sandy’s place in Metamora. It was great to see their house, where Tyler grew up and to meet his sister and nephew’s. It’s your typical smallish mid western town and it reminded my quite a lot of Dalwallinu. After spending some time at their house Keith and I went out for dinner. On the way he drove me round and showed my some of the town and where he used to work. Then we went to Blue Magaritas for dinner – it was yummy Mexican. As is the case with most US meals it was too much, so the leftovers were boxed up to take home. Keith told me I had to try the Dairy Queen experience, so we stopped off on the way home and got Mini Blizzards, they’re similar to McFlurry’s but more American. After that we went back to the house, spent a bit more time there and watched the sunset before I headed back to the hotel to sleep.
(Update- it’s now Sunday afternoon and I’m sitting in Starbucks. I’ve fallen quite a bit behind, but that’s not surprising as IC is busy)
In the morning, I got up, checked out and went to meet Keith & Sandy for a late breakfast / brunch. I had a very yummy omelette, but as usual had left overs. It seems that hash browns are a little different in the US. It came with a side of hash browns which appeared to be cooked (maybe fried) grated potato. It was yummy, jut not the way I’m used to hash browns.
It was really great to see Keith & Sandy, it’s lovely to be able to visit people when you’re travelling so I’m glad I had the time an opportunity to do that. Then it was off to Indiana Uni for IC, the reason I can do this trip! Keith suggested that on the way I stop at Turkey Run State Park as it has some nice scenery and good hiking trails. I didn’t have a lot of time, but long enough that I could spend an hour or so there. After a bit of confusion as to where the entrance was and my phone failing me with no signal I made it. It would have been nice to spend longer there but I had limited time, so I just did a couple of the shorter trails.
They were fun hikes, but it was surprisingly hot and also fairly sticky. I saw one the hikers wearing their bathing suit which felt like would have been more appropriate attire, though sturdy enclosed shoes were definitely necessary. After that I arrived at Indiana Uni and that will be a new post.
But two things I forgot to mention I saw fireflies in real life at Keith & Sandy’s place. Sadly I didn’t think to take any photos but they were cool. What I did take a photo of was one of those tank stand thngy’s because I finally saw them in real life. I’ve seen them in lots of TV shows and it was cool to finally see one in person in the US.
I must confess, I’ve surprised myself. So far I’ve kept the blog up to only a day or two behind. It’s now Monday morning and I’m sitting in Starbucks (I can imagine your shock that my morning once again involves coffee!) So here’s Sunday.
My previous post hinted at these events so this probably won’t be a long one. Sunday morning involved Starbuck too, shocker I know. Coffee and I tried the egg bites I’ve heard a lot about. They were amazing – strongly recommend. While having breakfast I starting making my plans for after the Baseball. I settles on John Hancock tower with a view to doing Navy Pier on Monday morning. I wish I had done better research as it turns out Navy Pier doesn’t open until 11am, meaning I’m probably not going to make it.
The baseball was good – it was a great atmosphere. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, not really being a baseball follower, but I’m glad I went, it was good fun. However, the pillar immediately to my left explains the cheap seats. I had to spend most of the game leaning forward to be able to see the batter.
After that it was back to my AirBnB – because I forgot my wallet – Doh! Then down to John Hancock tower – I was worried that I might miss my time with the detour but it was all good. The views were amazing it was really cool to see all of Chicago and at least I got to see Navy Pier from above! They had a think called Tilt! where part of the building tips out. I think the eerie music and how slowly they did it took a bit away from the effect but it was an interesting feeling to tilt outwards from so high up. Then it was the Sip & View bar which was a great experience.
After I descended and a bit of hunting, I found the Cheesecake factory where I picked up a couple of slices to try – they look yummy, but they’re not cheap! This it was home, pizza via Uber Eats for dinner and time for bed.
This morning was mostly getting myself organised and repacking as I had to be out of the AirBnB by 10am. Then Starbucks, before I head down to visit Keith & Sandy tonight and tomorrow I head across to IU for IC. So you’re up to date for now!
Updates may be less frequent going forward as IC is usually a very busy time so I’m not sure I’ll get a chance to update the blog, but we’ll see…
It’s now Sunday evening, but the blog is up to Saturday. However, I can’t continue without noting where I am sitting currently – or rather I think I’ll show you.
One of the views from Chicago 360, showing a large portion of Lake Michigan.
I’m sitting in the Sip & View Bar part of Chicago 360 at the top of the John Hancock building – and the view is impressive! But more on that when I catch up.
When I got up Saturday morning, after trying to get more sleep in bed – the time difference still isn’t nailed down. I decided I needed to work out what I wanted to do for the few days I had in Chicago. So I used Uber Eat’s (yet again) or order my Starbucks and settled down with my passable latte and bagel with cream cheese to plan, book and spend some money.
I had originally planned to go to a baseball game at Wrigley Field and that still sounded like a good idea so I booked that for Sunday. I spend almost double on the parking that I did on the game but it’s an experience, right?
Something else I was pretty sure I wanted to do was the Museum of Science and Industry, so I booked that too. With that sorted I headed off to the museum. I must say, I don’t love driving in Chicago, particularly in the rain. Maybe it just that it’s the most urban driving I’ve done but there’s a bit too much traffic. There’s also a lot of routes and specific lanes to get into – I’ve missed them more than once.
The museum was great, especially the fact that they had a special 007 exhibit on at the moment. If you know me at all, you’ll know that I really enjoy a bit of ‘Bond, James Bond’. What I didn’t realise about the museum but is that for a few of the exhibits you had to reserve a ticket. I should have done that when I arrived, but not realising I was faced with a long wait (or no times left) so I missed out on seeing some of the exhibits which was disappointing. However, the trains, the plane and 007 were all highlights.
After that it was Target – it’s a shopping trip, you really don’t care. All I want to note is that they were sold out of Umbrella’s. I knew I would forgot to pack something this trip and that’s definitely one thing I forgot.
Then it was home and food. The plan was to have a short nap and maybe do something that evening. It didn’t happen there was just more sleep really.
After leaving the museum I heard from Keith (IYKYK) and he gave me a few tips of things worth doing. Navy Pier, which was already on my list and the John Hancock building (where I am now).
Well that’s Saturday. I’ve probably got time to make a start on Sunday before I finish my red wine and have to relinquish this excellent view!
