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What a great overnight stay we had. The hotel was beautiful!
It had recently been remodeled and the best way I can describe it is a modern art deco. Funky with some art deco influences.
Look at this carpeting. I wouldn’t have wanted to be drinking and try and walk on it.
and if the carpeting in the lobby wasn’t enough for your vertigo, step into the bath in your room. Check out that wallpaper. We wanted to color it in like a paint by number but thought better of it. :)
My traveling companions Joyce & Shelly. Joyce was our navigator and a darn good one at that.
I enjoyed learning (from Joyce) how to navigate the many forms of transportation.
We rode in from Elburn on Metra (the only way to go – just sayin’…),
then walked 6 blocks up to Millers Pub for lunch,
boarded a CTA bus to our hotel,
took the subway to dinner and back again.
We used the subway again Saturday morning but I, for one, was extremely glad it was the last time. Something about barreling down a dark tunnel in a train that’s rocking back and forth and feels like it’s about to launch off the tracks just isn’t my thing.
(don’t ask me why the above lines are showing up as a link – don’t know what I did and am tired of trying to figure it out)
All over the city were planters filled with mums and flowering kale. Gorgeous! This one was in front of the art museum.
We were blessed with an outstanding weekend for our little adventure with warm temps and bright blue skies. I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Ready or not…Chicago here we come!
A couple of friends from church and I are getting away overnight tomorrow night.
Oh yeah! Time for a lil’ R&R.
Can’t wait…
taking Metra into the city --
no parking hassles – gotta love that :)…
wandering…
good food -- Millers Pub and Weber Grill…
wandering more…
learning to use the subway and/or el..…
getting lost learning new routes….
enjoying a free night’s hotel stay – 
thank you Sage Hospitality…
more wandering still…
These two ladies are a hoot so it should be a fun 32 hours. I’ll tell you all about it when we get back.
DH called me outside late yesterday afternoon to see the rainbow. Not that a rainbow is such an unusual sight for us but it wasn’t raining nor had it rained all day.
Our sermon church this weekend was called “Amazed” and were asked when was the last time God amazed us. This rainbow really brought it home. A rainbow and no rain! Amazing!
When were you last amazed and totally blown away by God? Was it something in His world? Was it an experience or event? or one of those “God coincidences”?
It’s trick or treat time!
Not many rings here at our door. We live in the country and don’t usually have trick or treaters but the grandkids did stop by earlier in their costumes.
Stinkin’ cute, I say!
Quite literally as Ava was skunk.
Owen was a monkey.
Did you trick or treat when you were young? We did up until about age 10 then we were “too old”. What did you dress up as? We never bought costumes. But then when I was growing up, the costumes you could buy in the store were pretty cheezy anyway. We always came up with our own out of things around the house. I can remember many Halloweens being a hobo and wearing one of those really hot and stuffy rubber masks. Once, I was a clown but only once. Clowns kind of creep me out. How about you? The one I remember the most though was a “go-go dancer”. Can you tell what era I grew up in?
We let the boys pick what they wanted to be as they were growing up and I usually made their costumes. Son, Jon always came up with the most difficult ones. One year he wanted to be Cousin It from the Addams Family. Off to the fabric store we went to buy lots of fur. I couldn’t find a picture of that costume thought, darn it. Another year he wanted to be a can of Coca-Cola. Now where does a kid come up with an idea like that? It took us a little while to plan that one out.
I dug around a bit and found some pictures of Halloween’s past. They sure bring back memories. Now that I have grandkids, I wish I wouldn’t have sold them on garage sales. It would have been fun to let them play with them.
We got lots of miles out of the very first costume I ever made….a mouse suit. It started out on our oldest when he was a year and half, then the twins, nieces and nephews and friends children.
This year Joe was a cat, Jon as the mouse and Luke as a box of crayons.
Here’s that mouse suit again, only on nephew Nathan this time. Luke as a “Top Gun” pilot (again, can you guess the era?), Jon as the infamous can of Coca Cola (he fell down alot that year as he couldn’t see his feet and where he was walking), mouse Nathan and Joe as a ghost with extremely crooked eyes!
This year, Jon was a prisoner, Nathan in an indian suit that Luke had worn a previous year, Joe as an old farmer with one of those nasty hot masks and niece Amanda as a princess.
There was usually a group of us Moms that would take the kids out, then come back to our house for a bowl of chili or some kind of “hot food” as Halloween always seemed to fall on a cold, windy night. The Dads rarely joined us in taking the kids around town as most of them were farmers and in the field combining. However, they always seemed to make it in time for supper. Go figure. Do you think they might have planed it that way?
What Halloween traditions do you have?
Thinking and remembering…
Harriet Anna Gesin
October 29, 1929 – November 4, 1983
Miss you Mom!
A foggy day pretty much all the way around today.
Fog meteorogically(is that a word?) and in my head. :{
The silos you see in the first picture are across the field from where we live now on the farm I grew up on.
It doesn’t matter how old we get, sometimes it’s just plain fun to play hooky!
I love riding motorcycle in autumn but we’ve have had a very wet & cool October so our fall riding has been limited. It seems like the best days weather-wise have been during the week when we’re working.
This past Wednesday was forecasted to be another cold, rainy day. However, in the morning, I had to run an errand across campus and it was a beautifully warm and sunny indian summer kind of day. The weather man sure missed this one!
I was thinking to myself how great it would be if we could just go for a ride but knew Dan was busy with a bunch of different projects. Not sure if it was mental telepathy or the fact that we’ve been married long enough to think alike, but lo and behold, as I came back in my office there was a message waiting for me saying “Take the afternoon off and let’s go riding.” Wow, twist my arm!
Now, before you think I’m somekind of slacker, I didn’t actually play hooky. I was all legal-like and submitted my absence request for what is called a “personal day” which can be taken anytime on a moments notice. I couldn’t think of a better reason to take a half of one than what was probably going to be the last warm bike ride of the season.
We headed northwest to JoDaviess County. The trees were at their peak. The ride did not disappoint, the views were stunning.
You want to see pictures? Why, of course I’ll share them with you. I thought you’d never ask.
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