Let's see, my last post was super-early Friday morning, detailing a nice Thursday which culminated (oooh $10 words!) in lovely Chinese food, going through my books (which were stored at Carolyn's all this time), and packing the car.
Friday, after a few hours sleep (I always get so restless on vacation - all that planning) I got up and said goodbye to Carolyn as she headed off to work, then finished up the packing and headed out. I got to spend about an hour more with my aunt, which was nice - we really got to see her a lot this trip!
We headed downtown to pick up my sister Lesley and go have lunch and conversation with my dad and his wife Darlene. I forget sometimes how much I hate driving in the city of Chicago, and then I drive there and remember. I also forget how beautiful the city can be, and there's nothing like getting gridlocked to really give you the chance to look around!
There's more of course... check the album!
Lunch was nice, we had an exceedingly odd waiter who I named Frahnk. He had just that accent. We had yummy food, and then it was time to split. We had hoped to get to Lincoln Park Zoo (one of the last free things in Chicago), but my dad wasn't feeling great. It was just as well, since we still had to head west to Westchester, to see my friend Christine.
Her house is so cute. Alas, I didn't take a picture... I was so tired! Actually her whole neighborhood is adorable, all these nice older homes on good-size lots with actual backyards. I got to meet and get yelled at by her dad (I felt like one of the family!), after meeting her lovely and super-nice grandmother. We had excellent Thai food and I attempted to stay up and watch Twilight again, but I was tuckered.
We had a great night's sleep and some breakfast, and then we were off for home at last! One can only take so much vacation.
Saturday
After a nice breakfast, we headed out. The weather looked to be fine for us getting to Kearney, Nebraska, and it was for the most part. It got a little sketchy closer to our destination, but we handled it.
I enjoyed listening to the CD that Kevin made me for the trip while we drove through Iowa; it was a mystery CD, the playlist for which would only be revealed after listening. It was a strange trip, and seriously fun, and ate an hour and a half of the drive without even stopping to sip water.
The hotel was AWESOME. A great end to our vacation. The only problem was our choice of restaurant for dinner - it was bad enough that I asked for one of the meals to be comped, as neither of the two was edible past the side dishes. Even the salad was bad, what's with that?! If you ever find yourself in Kearney, Nebraska, do *not* eat at Skeeter Barnes.
Sunday
After waking up and having some breakfast at the hotel (it was surprisingly delicious), we got the bad news... I80 was CLOSED due to the ice and wind and stuff. Great! It did finally open up at about 12:30 and we headed out.
Right after I threw out my back. Ug. Must have been all that jumping on the bed.
We made it home in one piece, although it was a fight all the way... not only was it horrendously windy, we were also playing dodge-the-semi since all the trucks had been stranded Saturday night and were now in a mad dash for wherever they were headed. Scary!
Alternadad generously took us out for dinner Sunday night (he called us when we were about an hour from home - he must have gotten a psychic wave from my sleep-deprived brain), which was a good thing because I was barely conscious and couldn't have boiled water if you paid me.
And so now we're home.
All in all, it was a very satisfactory vacation. We got to do fun things, see people we'd been missing, eat food we'd been craving, dodge snow storms, spend too much money...
Yay! Vacation!
2 comments:
Hey, my Dad didn't yell at you... he just yelled in your presence. (sorry) I told you so.
Aw don't ruin it for me! I felt like one of the family! ;) Don't appologize, it was hi-larious.
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