Pacific Northwest Adventures 2016 (Part 2)

4/24/16 (continued)

Oh man, talk about waiting a long time to revisit this! It’s October now! I hope I can do this trip justice!

To recap, my mom and I had just completed our week-long cruise up the Columbia and Snake Rivers, and Nathan, Karla, and the kiddo drove up to meet us for the second half of our adventure. We start here in Clarkston, WA, on the banks of the Snake River.

Once we left the American Empress, we were able to track Karla down. She drove us over the river and to the hotel at which they stayed the night before. Hyla and Nate were still sleeping, but started getting up as soon as we got there. I didn’t realize up until now that Hyla was suffering from an awful case of croup, and her cough was terrible! I felt so awful for my little kid. They said she was worse in the mornings and improved as the day wore on. I really hoped so! She wasn’t very happy to see us, either, and wanted nothing to do with me at all. She cried and I couldn’t console her. Poor kiddo. She just needed a day of rest, which wasn’t going to happen for a while. I hoped that she could at least relax a bit in the car.

Everyone got dressed and ready, and we packed the van. Then we headed back over the river to points west! The drive was very pretty: rolling green hills stretched as far as the eye could see. We timed it just right, as the green season is very brief, and all the hills would turn brown in just about 6 weeks. Trees were also very sparse. It turns out there are no native trees between Clarkston and The Dalles, so any we did see were transplants. We eventually made it to Kennewick and headed to the Gesa Carousel of Dreams. Located by the Southridge Sports Complex park, the carousel started its life in 1910 at Silver Beach Amusement Park in St. Joseph, Michigan. A handcrafted masterpiece, the carousel thrilled riders at Silver Beach for 62 years before being purchased by a collector in Roswell, NM. It sat there, unused, until 2002 when the city of Kennewick bought it and once again made it available to the public. We were excited to ride it, as this is one of the few remaining carousels with a ring machine – you can grab rings as you ride by, with hopes of catching the brass ring which allows you another ride. Nathan and I did quite well at ring-grabbing, and I never missed a single one! During our rides, I got 2 brass rings, and Nate got 1! Hyla loved holding onto the rings as we rode around. She was so enamored by this ride that she still asks to go back today. If only it weren’t a two-day drive away!

We broke up the time on the carousel with a visit to the adjacent playground. Nate found a geocache while Hyla enjoyed the slides and other activities. Then we headed off to find lunch at Ice Harbor Brewing Company. The food was delicious – I had a French dip sandwich and shared a beer sampler with Nate. Hyla had desperately been wanting ice cream, so we were able to fulfill her wish here, and she was thrilled. She was also quite tired, and it was starting to show. Once we left, she was able to take a nap in the car until we arrived at Maryhill Stonehenge: a replica of the original Stonehenge, located high above the Columbia River. Dedicated in 1918 and completed in 1929, it serves as a WWI memorial. We enjoyed the amazing views before continuing down the road.

We headed on toward The Dalles, noting just how far from civilization we seemed to be. There really isn’t much between the Tri Cities (Kennewick, Richland, and Pasco) and The Dalles, though the views of the Columbia River prevent it from being too monotonous. Once we reached The Dalles, we thought a stop at a park would be perfect for everyone, so we made our way to a high point in town and parked at Sorosis Park. We all got quite a kick out of that unfortunate name. Hoping to find a geocache, we were amazed that such a huge park didn’t have any for us to find. Instead, we took Hyla to the playground for a bit, until she was spooked by all the boisterous kids. Then we hiked around the perimeter trail, getting some exercise and enjoying the cool air. The views from this height were astounding! What a great park!

After this, we continued on to Hood River, where we had a hotel reservation. The rest of the evening was trying and stressful for me, but we got through it. We ordered a pizza, swam, gave the kiddo a bath, and went to bed exhausted.

4/25/16

Karla’s birthday! We celebrated a bit in the room before striking out on our way again. We visited Bonneville Dam again, this time from the Oregon side. Nate and I had visited this side years ago, and I thought it was better than the Washington side. Upon seeing it again, I concur. There was just so much more to see and do here. We strolled the grounds, visited the museum which had a large field trip going on, observed some more fish ladders which were still as empty as a few days prior, and my mom got Hyla a stuffed pika. You don’t see those every day!

Then we explored the fish hatchery and ponds for a while. It’s always so neat to see these fish up close. They had some enormous sturgeon on display – I’m sure they were big enough to ride. So fascinating. We fed the fish and ducks for a while before continuing on again.

Our next stop was Multnomah Falls. Nate and I also visited here on our last trip, and we thought it was incredible enough to take our moms to see. We all went up to the viewpoint, taking in the immense power and beauty of the Falls. Karla, Nate, Hyla and I then went up to the bridge viewpoint. Karla took Hyla back down with her while Nate and I continued up to the upper viewpoint. It was a great hike, and it was easy going despite the steepness. Being down near sea level does wonders for one’s stamina. The view from above the waterfall was incredible. We tried to spot our moms and Hyla from up there, sadly to no avail. The Columbia River was just beyond the trees. The air was cool, the breeze was comforting, and the setting was serene. We didn’t stay too long, as we figured everyone would wonder where we were, so we hurried back down the path. On the way, I noticed a group of people in front of us sporting Illini jackets. I asked if they went to U of I, and they DID! What a small world.

Once at the bottom, we met up with our family and hit the gift shop. Karla bought Hyla an orange bouncy clownfish that lit up, and it was all the rage. In fact, months later, when Hyla popped the light ball out and it became a choking hazard and mysteriously disappeared, all she could do was obsess over her “yoyo fish,” and ask us to get her another one. Poor kid. Luckily, several months after that, Karla bought a case of yoyo fish – a different style, but 6 colors of bouncing, light-up fish. Hyla was complete again.

We continued on toward Portland, making our way to the Portland Children’s Museum. Despite being tired, we tried to get the most out of it. The museum was quite large, and I wish we’d have had more time to really explore, but we did at least see everything. There was a crocodile whose teeth you could brush, a whole town with interactive shops, a water discovery zone, lots of arts and crafts opportunities, a hollow tree to explore, and an outdoor area with a stick maze and lots of amazing trees you could climb.

Ready for supper, we determined there was a kid-friendly brew pub nearby: the Laurelwood Public House and Brewery. So we plugged it into our Garmin and headed there. It took an eternity to get there, thanks to the crazy traffic. We parked about 2 blocks away and got settled, glad to stop for a bit. We found that “kid-friendly” was an understatement. Kid-infested seemed more accurate! The food was good – I had the nachos. I can’t speak for the beer because I was so dehydrated, beer was the last thing I wanted. Instead I enjoyed a lovely strawberry lemonade. Honestly, I was so tired at this point, I really don’t remember many details, but it was nice enough.

We were excited to get to our hotel and relax for the evening. Pulling into the lot, we were all so relieved and ready to be done with travel. Nate went to check in, but he was out really quickly. It turned out the Garmin brought us to the wrong hotel. We still had several miles to go before we could rest. Luckily the next place was correct, and we spent the next hour or so shuttling our belongings up to our room, finding milk (the breakfast milk stores were locked, but the desk clerk went on a mission to find the key for us – he really went out of his way, and we were grateful to not have to trudge out again to find a convenience store), exploring the hotel, getting the internet code, and finding the elusive hot chocolate that was apparently free for guests. Phew! I was so glad to settle in and get some sleep at last. It had been quite a journey.

4/26/16

We woke up and took it relatively easy. Hyla got to swim before we had to pack the car to head off. Our first stop was the Portland Airport. Karla was flying back today, but luckily we had time to have lunch with her before she took off. When we parked, I was excited to see that each space had a green or red light above it, allowing you to see if a space was empty from a distance. Since the lot was so crowded, it was a huge help! Once in the building, we found a section of the airport outside security that featured a number of faux food trucks showcasing numerous cuisines. I opted for pad Thai, and everyone else had gyros. Again, I was struck by how nice this airport is! The interior is just so clean and welcoming. Once we finished eating, we said goodbye to Karla and headed off to continue our adventures.

We headed over to the Portland Zoo, which happened to be off the same parking lot as the Children’s Museum from yesterday. We paid our meter and headed inside. What a nice zoo! There were a lot of little sections, we were worried we might miss something, but I think we managed to see it all. Hyla got to ride on another carousel, and Nate and I grabbed two geocaches within the zoo itself! I almost considered not actually grabbing the first one, even though we found it, because it was behind a barrier. We returned to the site later during our visit, and since no one was around, I jumped the barrier (only a few feet from the cache) and frantically opened it and signed the log. Once I finished, there were about 5 families nearby. Eek! Luckily, I used to work at a zoo, and Nate said that I looked pretty official about the whole thing, as though I actually worked there. So go me! (Not that I advocate jumping barriers, mind you…) The second cache was near a train stop on our way out. There was a lot of construction, but the cache was present and accessible. Yay! We spent a lot more time at the zoo than I realized, and I panicked when I noticed we were there one and a half hours more than our meter allowed! I bolted back to the car, but luckily no one was enforcing the meters that day. Phew! At this point, we decided it was time to move on.

We headed north over the Columbia River, eager to get into Washington and away from the crazy traffic in Portland. We even drove right through Vancouver, WA and spotted the hotel at which my mom and I stayed our first night! Once we broke past the metro area, we were treated to lush green forests, dotted with ponds. It was a dream! We continued north along the Columbia River and eventually stopped for the night in Kelso where we’d secured a room at the Best Western Aladdin Inn. A perfect stop, since one of Hyla’s favorite movies at the time was “Aladdin and the King of Thieves,” which she talked about a lot on the trip (not that there was any theming at the hotel or anything). We asked the desk clerk for restaurant recommendations, hoping for something seafood related, being near the coast and all. He highly recommended Freddy’s Just for the Halibut, not far up the road. It was outstanding! We had a sampler platter and clam chowder, and it was all delicious! Hyla even got a surprise complimentary ice cream! We even talked to the owner for a while – it had an extremely “ma and pa” atmosphere. This was easily one of the best restaurants of our trip.

We made it back to the room and took the kiddo swimming. Then we had a good night’s sleep. It had been another eventful day!

4/27/16

Now’s where it gets tricky – I didn’t take any notes for the rest of the trip! Eep! Let’s see what I can remember…

Once we were packed, we headed out toward Mt. St. Helens. We were aware the upper visitor centers were closed for the season, but the lowest one, Seaquest, was open, so we stopped there, perusing the exhibits, watching the film (well, as much as the kiddo would let us), and taking a stroll along the beautiful boardwalk.

Then we continued up toward the volcano itself. It was a misty, drizzly kind of day, so we never quite got a good look at Mt. St. Helens, but the views of the surrounding country were amazing! We had to turn around due to a road closure right around the point when it started to snow, so we doubled back to an overlook and looked with wonder upon the green valley below. We knew the volcano lurked just beyond the clouds in front of us, and we waited, hoping the clouds would clear, but they never did. Once we returned home, we heard there had been an earthquake swarm right when we were there! Of course they were too small to feel, but that’s still exciting!

Then we headed north toward Leavenworth, an incredible Alpine town I thought my mom might enjoy. I’m not sure if we ever stopped for lunch this day, but I think we grabbed snacks at a gas station or two. I remember stopping at one station and getting Hyla a book on insects, and the lady at the checkout counter seemed repulsed at the idea that anyone should be interested in such things. Ah, people.

We drove through rain and wintery mix conditions, and eventually we made it to Leavenworth. We admired the architecture and design in this European-themed town. We knew we wanted German food for dinner, and we opted for a place that turned out only to have outside seating: The Munchen Haus. Unfortunately, they really only specialized in brats and beer, but we still enjoyed what we had! They certainly had a variety of both, and all sorts of specialty mustards to choose from. You could also help yourself to unlimited apple cider sauerkraut. It was a little chilly, but the food was good, at least. We wound up talking to a couple from Clarkston who had no idea that cruise ships visited their town and wanted to learn more. What fun. Once we were done eating, I ran down to grab a geocache, passing some familiar places from the last visit: Andreas Keller Restaurant, where we ate last time, and the Australian shop – an odd establishment for a European town! As for the geocache, it was on private hotel property, so after nosing around, I cheated and asked the desk clerk about its whereabouts, as I don’t like looking suspicious. It was an easy find after that! Nate also looked for one, but it appeared to be missing, so we called it a day and headed back to the car.

Evening was approaching, so we hurried off toward Spokane. We had a reservation for a two-bedroom suite near the airport. It would be a welcome place to settle for the night after another long adventure. I was able to write out my postcards (which took weeks to get anywhere – I was worried they were lost at the hotel!), and we prepared for the next leg of our journey.

4/28/16

Once packed, we hit the road again, heading east to Coeur D’Alene, ID. I remembered really enjoying this town when Nate and I traveled through here last time – we had spent time at Silverwood Amusement Park and stayed at a hotel with an indoor waterpark. This time would be a bit more low-key. We stopped at McEuen Park, a large park right along the waterfront, and did some hiking and geocaching. Hyla got to enjoy the playground for a while, too. Nate and I had visited here last time, as well, so it was fun to see a familiar spot. The lake views from atop the hillside are gorgeous, and it’s definitely worth a visit.

From here, we grabbed lunch at Paragon Brewing. I recall the menu was a bit limited, and the beers were good, but nothing special. We had a lot of driving ahead of us, so we didn’t really drink very much. Overall, I wasn’t all that impressed, but it was good to be nourished. Once full, we hit the road again, heading east on I-90. We stopped in Missoula, a lovely college town, and spent about an hour at Dragon Hollow Playground, right on the riverfront. A clever and unique castle play structure, I almost lost Hyla at the bottom of an enormous twisty slide. I let her slide first, and by the time I made it down, she had run off! Yikes! Nate and I took turns wandering off to try and find our first Montana geocache, but it was a bust. We observed kayakers battling the frigid currents right in the center of town. How exciting! I wish we’d have had more time to explore Missoula, but it was getting late, and we had a schedule to keep.

We decided to spend the night in Deer Lodge, part-way between Missoula and Butte. We secured a room at the Travelodge, against my better judgment (I’ve stayed in some disgusting Travelodges). It actually wasn’t too bad, luckily. My mom and Hyla stayed in the room while Nate and I went out to explore the town. It was almost completely dark, but we attempted to find a geocache until we just couldn’t see anymore. Then we drove down to look at the historic prison, which would have probably been neat to tour. Maybe one day. Finally, we swung back and grabbed some McDonalds to take back to the room, since it was about the only thing open. I was fascinated by the older people in the restaurant, wondering what their lives were like, living in this small town. So interesting. Anyway, we brought the food back and had another relaxing evening.

4/29/16

We had a lot of ground to cover today and plans to visit with friends in the evening, so we had to book it. Our first stop was the Berkeley Pit in Butte, MT. Compared to Missoula, Butte wasn’t exactly an inviting town. A bit rough around the edges, it felt very industrial. We made our way over to the Pit, which is considered one of the worst toxic waste sites in the world. This former copper mine is highly acidic and has given rise to new species of extremophile bacteria. Supposedly the water color changes frequently, but the reflectivity was so high that we couldn't really even tell what color it was. We walked to the lookout shelter and watched a foolish bird swimming peacefully in this toxic water. Beyond that, there wasn’t much else to do but answer a few geocache questions and continue on our way.

We grabbed another geocache in town, so we could say we’d found a physical one, and we dropped off our travel bug. Then we hit the road, catching I-15 and heading south toward Utah.

This portion of our trip was mostly uneventful. We stopped at a few rest areas for some more geocaches, and we marveled at the beautiful scenery. Eventually we crossed back into Idaho and decided to stop in Idaho Falls for some lunch. Nate and I had visited here back in 2008, while I was working in Utah. We decided to see if the brew pub we’d enjoyed was still around, and it was! I’m not sure if the name was the same, but Snow Eagle Brewing and Grill was certainly in the same location. In addition to pub fare, they also featured sushi now! It was a little weird eating that in front of the glowfish tetra and black molly in their aquarium, though. We also found some time to walk along the beautiful riverfront, admire the falls (which are odd in that they run parallel to the river, instead of the typical perpendicular falls), and grab some geocaches. A lovely time in a lovely town was had by all.

We got back on I-15 and continued on into Utah. I got such a kick out of driving between the border and Salt Lake City, as this was one of my major stomping grounds back in 2008. I was sad that I blinked and missed Smith and Edwards, the massive military surplus store where we bought our dragon lamp. I would have liked to have visited it again.

Once we hit Ogden, we decided to see if we could find my old residence – the Ogden Bay Wildlife Management Area. I was able to stay rent-free in a creaky old metal trailer while I did my flying squirrel and pika fieldwork. Well, it took longer than we anticipated to find it, traveling through miles of farmland and salt marshes, but eventually there it was! It appeared my trailer was either no longer there or turned at a weird angle, and more structures seemed to have been built, but there was no mistaking my old home! We parked and hiked out along one of the marsh roads, hoping to grab another geocache, and enjoying the beauty of the marshlands. Waterfowl were abundant, and the views of the distant Wasatch Range were stunning. We were at a far point when I realized how late we were for meeting our friends! Yikes! We ran back to the car as quickly as Hyla would let us and snaked our way back to the expressway for our mostly straight shot down to Salt Lake City.

I think we made it to my friends’ house about a half hour late. The traffic from Ogden to Provo (a good 80 miles) is awful, and Salt Lake City is in the center of that mess. It was so good to see my old friends again – Trish and I go way back to the days when we were both members of the American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association (AFRMA). She’d been my pen pal since I was a kid, and she, her husband Rob, and her kids have always welcomed me every time I was in the area. Seeing them was the highlight of the two research stints I had in Utah. We hung out at their house for a while, meeting their wonderful pet rats. This was Hyla’s first introduction to rats, and she was a little nervous, but you could tell she liked them. I hadn’t held a rat in years (shocking!), but it was nice to have that opportunity again.

From there, we went out to dinner at La Puente, a Mexican restaurant. Rob was born in New Mexico, so he knew the place to take us – apparently this place had a New Mexican flare, which could even be seen on its sign, which sported the Zia symbol, the same symbol you see on our state flag! The food was wonderful, as was the company. We had such a nice time catching up. I only wish we’d have had more time. After 8 years (has it been that long?) there’s a lot of catching up to do!

After dinner, it was getting pretty late, and we were exhausted from another long day on the road. We said goodbye and headed south to Provo where we had another reservation. We hoped to be home tomorrow, and we wanted to get as close as we could while still having some civilization around. I forget if Nate and Hyla swam this evening or the next morning (I think it was the next morning), but she did get to enjoy another pool. It had been another great day!

4/30/16

We were excited to hit the road for home at last. We’d had an enjoyable trip, but we were exhausted, and we looked forward to getting back to our animals. Angling southeast out of Provo, we drove through the small town of Helper, picking up an “Inside Out” activity book at a gas station, before catching up with I-70 in Green River. We were only briefly on I-70 before we took the exit for Rte. 191 to Moab. Driving past the imposing Arches National Park entrance (we’ll have to go back sometime, though Nate, Hyla, and Karla stopped on their drive out.), we made our way to yet another brew pub for lunch. We’d eaten at Moab Brewery years ago, and it was ok. The food was par for the course, and the beers were typical, though watered-down, as is expected in Utah. Still, it was a nice place to stop and take a break. Once satiated, we headed over to Rotary Park, a neat little park with two playgrounds: one classic one, and one based around music! We grabbed a geocache (of course!) and took Hyla to enjoy the two play areas, particularly enjoying the enormous xylophones and bells. What fun!

Finally, we decided we’d better head off. On our way out of town, I hoped to find a place that sold shakes. Both times I lived in Utah, I LIVED on Oreo shakes. I was addicted! Utah makes the best ones! Sadly, I was not to get my Oreo shake fix. Next time for sure!

We continued on through the Four Corners region and finally back to New Mexico. The scenery was stunning, though much more deserty than when we started, of course. We drove and drove, eager to get home. I believe we made it back before dark, glad to be back safely and exhausted from an incredible trip!

Colorado: July 2016

Colorado, July 2016

Well, it’s been months since I’ve taken this trip, so we’ll see just how much I remember! Luckily I try to take good notes.

We had limited vacation time to play with this year, so we decided a nearby road trip would be the perfect summertime getaway. Colorado is beautiful and full of so many things to see, so it was an easy decision.

7-21-16

Being a Thursday, Nate had to work, so we didn’t hit the road until 3pm. We wanted to leave early enough to make it to Rino’s in Trinidad, one of my favorite restaurants. The drive up was uneventful, save for seeing random fires off in the distance, and we made it to town with time to spare. Located inside a former church built in 1887, the atmosphere is historic and airy. Though serving delicious Italian fare, the main draw of this restaurant is the singing staff. In my experience everyone, including the busboys and kitchen crew, sings here! It’s always a great experience, and I try to stop every time I’m in the area.

I was heartened to see the place hopping despite being a Thursday night. The food was nice, and the singing was, too, though a bit sparse. I think this was our daughter's first time here, and she got rather cranky mid-way through, so that was unfortunate. Nate took her out to the car and walked her around to see the sights of the restaurant, too. Before long it was time for us to hit the road again.

We made it to Pueblo that evening, not quite in time to enjoy the swimming pool. For the first time, our girl slept in an actual hotel bed and not her Pack N Play! She did really well (despite fighting sleep for a ridiculous amount of time)! Other than being situated along the train tracks, it was a nice spot and a good place to end our first day in Colorado.

7-22-16

Woke up relieved that our daughter didn’t fall off the tall bed during the night. She was excited to get a chance to swim in the pool before we headed out. So she and Nate did that while I packed and loaded the car. Then we drove up to Colorado Springs for our next big adventure: Santa’s Workshop!

Ever since Jeanine and I visited many years ago, I knew I had to take my kiddo to Santa’s Workshop. Geared toward young kids, most of the rides were just her speed, and I knew it would be a great introduction to amusement parks. I was so excited to finally take her here and see if she liked rides as much as I do. None of us were disappointed! She rode all but 3 or 4 rides (the only ones I remember she didn’t ride were the sky ride, zip line sleigh, and horse hopper). She loved them all! We rode motor cars, a giant spiral slide, a tilt-a-whirl, the world’s highest Ferris wheel, a Paratrooper, the Christmas ornament ride (they had one at Santa’s Village in IL when I was a kid), various kiddie rides she rode by herself with no problem, a swinging rocket ship, flyers (no cable snapping, sadly), you name it. She even rode her very first roller coaster: The Candy Cane Coaster! It was awfully rough, and she told us she was afraid she’d chip her teeth on it. Oh dear. She seemed to like it, though. I rode with her the first time, and Nate went the second time. I’m so glad she’s finally riding coasters with us! I’m sure this is the first of many!

We explored a mirror maze, visited some shops, ate at a cozy burger stand while it drizzled outside, touched the north pole (brrrrrr!), and saw some reindeer. At one point, lightning struck pretty close to the park and all the rides shut down. We took shelter in the Skee Ball pavilion and won some tickets, turning them in for a blue snowflake yoyo and two tiny rubber reptiles: a lizard and a snake. The magic show was about to start, so we hurried over to the theater to enjoy that while waiting for the weather to clear up. It was short but entertaining, and by the time it was over the rides were open again! I was able to take a ride on the zip line sleigh, and I have to say it was a little scary. I was mostly nervous about the stop – it seemed pretty abrupt, and there was no barrier between one’s legs to stop you from flying forward under the safety bar. I held on for dear life, and as you can see, I’m here today! Haha! I can see why they don’t let little ones ride it, though.

We stayed until the park closed. We never did get to visit Santa, though we did see him make a run for the exit once his day was over. I don’t think our kiddo wanted to see him anyway, so no problem there. I do have to say the staff was phenomenal – always so nice and accommodating. We had such a lovely time, and I’m sure we’ll go back again someday.

By now it was 5pm, and we were all a bit tired. Our daughter fell asleep in the car, but we still had things to see! We drove over to Garden of the Gods and took turns hiking while the other stayed in the car with her. The scenery out there is incredible!! I took some pictures that don’t do the place justice, observed the wildlife (mostly rabbits and birds), saw people on Segways, and watched a huge line of trail riders go by. How fun that would be! The weather here was perfect and seemed cooler than up at Santa’s Workshop. I would have loved to spend the rest of the day here!

Once we had seen enough, we headed to dinner at the Colorado Mountain Brewery. It felt so good to just sit and relax a while after all our running around. And this was a wonderful spot for that! Our food was sooo good! Nate had the nachos, but my duck poutine was out of this world! It was the ultimate comfort food – so tasty and satisfying. I also had the beer sampler and really enjoyed their creations. Our waitress was from Indiana, and we had a grand time reminiscing about Gino’s East pizza. How funny! A perfect end to a fabulous day!

From there we made our way to our hotel, a Hampton Inn located out east near the airport. While I love the hilly and topographical nature of the west side of town, this side was a bit less hectic and busy. It was refreshing to just slow down at last. We enjoyed the cookies they offered before walking to the nearby 7-11 for some milk. Then we grabbed an easy “lamp post skirt” geocache in the parking lot before heading in to hit the pool. All three of us swam in the frigid pool before hitting the hay. A great day was had by all.

7-23-16

Woke up to find the kiddo on the floor, fast asleep. Nate thinks she must have fallen out of bed and been so tired she didn’t wake up. It would be quite a fall from those tall beds, so hopefully she just crawled down, but Nate was probably right. Poor kiddo. Luckily she seemed none the worse for wear. We took it easy this morning, enjoying breakfast at the hotel before heading out around 10. Our first stop was The Space Foundation Discovery Center, which was free with our Explora pass. The museum was the perfect size, and it was full of fun activities for kids including exhibits on recycling, efficient houses, and healthy produce. Nate and I went nuts for the recycling video game, and I got the high score on both machines! Woo hoo! There was a working R2D2 that interacted with us, a neat show on the planets featuring a 3D orb that showed each celestial body from all angles, hands-on projects involving propulsion, and lots of outer space displays. I’m really glad we checked it out, and it would be worth seeing again.

From here, we grabbed lunch at the Trinity Brewery. Sitting outside, we were joined by an unusual beige ladybug that hung out at our table throughout the meal. We ordered another flight and were excited that it came with some cheeses. Most of the beers were great, though I wasn’t thrilled about the strawberry. I told Nate it tasted like “a computer lab.” It’s hard to explain why I felt this way – maybe it had an electrical flavor? But the amazing thing is that Nate saw where I was coming from and agreed. The food was good, though the portions were a bit small. I had the hummus, and I think Nate had a burger. In comparing this brew pub to Colorado Mountain, I’d say if you want great food, go to CO Mtn., and if you want great beers, go to Trinity. Overall, though, both are good establishments.

Bellies full, we decided it would be fun to drive to the top of Pikes Peak. We’d taken the cog railway up many years ago, but the drive sounded like a lot of fun, too. Plus, we’d be able to stop and site-see along the way. The drive on this 19-mile toll road takes you from montane forests up to high tundra at and below the 14,114-foot summit. We were told the weather was questionable and we may be instructed to turn back at some point, so we crossed our fingers and decided to go directly to the top in case they did decide to shut things down. We encountered drizzle, as well as slightly heavier rain upon our ascent, but nothing too major. On our way we saw a bighorn sheep and some incredible views of the surrounding countryside. Nate pointed out a mine in the distance, too.

The top of Pikes Peak is quite striking in that it’s essentially a giant parking lot. Kind of a letdown after driving up through some gorgeous scenery, but it is what it is. It was raining harder up here, and lightning was in the vicinity, so we camped out in the car for a while. Our daughter was asleep anyway, so there was no real reason to get out. Eventually, Nate left to use the bathroom, and then I went out to get us some of their “world famous” donuts. They weren’t bad, but certainly not out of this world or anything. While outside, I wandered over to a viewpoint and saw a rainbow reaching over the world below. It was just perfect! The rain was starting to subside, and the kiddo started to stir. It was time to head down and see what else the mountain had to offer.

Our first stop was just a little down the road, still in the tundra. We parked on the shoulder and struck out along a narrow trail. We were treated to more beautiful scenery and even saw a pair of yellow-bellied marmots! We were hoping to glimpse at least one of those critters. I was dealing with the effects of low oxygen and found myself almost gasping for air, though I have to wonder if it was more psychological than anything. You definitely do fatigue more quickly up there, though.

We descended further and were once again in the company of trees when we stopped at Glen Cove Inn for a quick snack and a bathroom break. Our girl enjoyed the gigantic bear stuffed animal by the snack shop. We wandered around in the woods for a while before descending further, stopping for a geocache along the side of the road. Then we stopped briefly at Crystal Creek Reservoir where we hiked the small trail around part of the lake and strolled out onto a couple of piers. Beautiful!

Unfortunately, at this point Nate was experiencing an awful migraine, so we got back to the car and headed out to find our hotel. I stopped briefly at Target to get him some Advil, but he was so sick at this point it didn’t do much good. We had reservations at the Doubletree, so we checked in and got settled in the room as quickly as we could. Then I took our daughter and we headed out to find some dinner.

I’d spied a Fazoli’s earlier, and, being one of the closest restaurants of its kind to Albuquerque, I knew I had to go. I have fond memories of eating there in college and, while their recipes aren’t as good as they used to be, it’s still a comfort for me. I really wanted to eat there because Nate needed some peace and quiet, so against my better judgment, I attempted my first solo dinner experience with my girl. I thought it would be so nice to spend some time with her, one-on-one, in a restaurant setting. Well, thanks to me not thinking about how she might need to use potty, this was a big fiasco. We had our number and our table, and that’s when she decided she needed to go. NOW. I tried to get her to wait, but she wasn’t having it. I wound up having to get our meal to go after all (which probably wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought it was at the time), but it was a stressful experience. I’m so bummed my first mommy/daughter dinner date was a bust.

We brought the food back to the room with us, including some Burger King for Nate, and I did all I could to avoid disturbing him, though I’m not sure it worked so well. After struggling to get our girl to eat and scarfing my own dinner, I ran out to the 7-11 across the street to get her some milk. Of course, while waiting to cross at the light, some guy comes up and says something like, “You’re going to 7-11, too?” Uh, none of your damn business! I mean, I’m all for being friendly, but you don’t talk to an unfamiliar lone woman outside at night. I was already on high alert, being in strange surroundings. Mega super alarm bells for me! I grumbled something at him and booked it once the light changed, leaving him in my dust. I wanted to get what I needed and get the heck out of there before he could follow me, but of course, there was some woman at the milk case hemming and hawing for what felt like an eternity. Eventually I excused myself, grabbed what I needed, checked out, and literally ran all the way back to the hotel. At least I got a good workout from it!

Once back, I made sure everyone had what they needed, and then I made at least 5 trips back and forth to the car, bringing in all of our stuff. While I typically like Doubletree (can we say, amazing cookies??), this one wasn’t really the best. I discovered that the bottom of our door (I assume there’s usually an attached strip of metal or something) was missing, leaving a good 3-inch gap. While sitting on the floor, you could comfortably look out into the hallway. Weirdness! We also only had one bed, so the kiddo had to sleep in her Pack N Play again. She wasn’t happy, and it was a struggle. On top of it, I was starting to feel a sore throat coming on. Ugh. Still, I was glad to finally be settled for the night.

7-24-16

I think we all felt better after a good night’s sleep. We made sure to get up in time to enjoy Doubletree’s splendid indoor pool. It was an unusual shape, and part of it spanned out under a glass ceiling. I’m sure it would be amazing in the snow or rain. Nate said the pool was warm and inviting, too. Of course the one day I swim is the one day the pool is ice cold! I packed up the car, explored the hotel some more (despite our room and its issues, the common areas of the hotel were splendid), and hung out with my swimming duo before we hit the road.

Today our destination was Cripple Creek, Colorado. We wanted to experience the narrow gauge railroad. We arrived at the station just as the train was boarding, so we decided to explore the town a bit and catch the next ride. We parked about 2 blocks from the main strip and wandered down, gawking at the many casinos and eating establishments. We decided to get a bite to eat at Maggie’s, which we found just off the strip in the basement of the Colorado Grande Casino. It sports a welcoming atmosphere consisting of several small rooms in a casually elegant setting. I had a French dip sandwich, but I forget what Nate had. Either way, there was a lot of food, and we really enjoyed ourselves. We had a long wait to get a table, so we didn’t quite make the next train out of the station. When we finished, a storm was rolling in anyway, so we drove over to the Cripple Creek Heritage Center, which was free and indoors, so that was a win! We wandered around the first and second floors, enjoying the informative exhibits and occasionally looking at the driving rain through the huge windows. The storm hadn’t quite subsided by the time our train was scheduled to board, but we went over to the Cripple Creek and Victor Narrow Gauge Railway depot and got our tickets anyway. There was a bit of lightning around, but luckily it stayed out of our way during our journey.

The train consisted of the engine, our covered car, and an uncovered car. The front of the car had plastic windows, which was nice as it was pretty chilly once the storm passed. None of us were really dressed for the occasion, but we made do. We even ended up scooting toward the back of the car for a more unobstructed view. We enjoyed a 45-minute trip through historic gold mine sites and surrounded by beautiful scenery. We would stop several times so the conductor could impart facts about everything around us. The turnaround point was the abandoned mining camp of Anaconda, right next to the functioning Cripple Creek and Victor Gold Mine. This was most likely the mine we observed from atop Pikes Peak! We slowly snaked our way back to the town of Cripple Creek, our conductor occasionally indulging in an echoing toot or two from the engine.

Once back, we’d considered doing the gold mine tour, 1000 feet below ground, but our girl was getting pretty tired, and we weren’t sure they’d let someone so small on the tour anyway, so instead we took the long way back down to Pueblo, heading back through the peaceful town of Victor and enjoying the Colorado countryside.

We rolled into Pueblo around 7pm and headed straight for Pueblo City Park. It turns out they have a small amusement park complete with a kiddie roller coaster, and we just had to check it out! The amusement park is open in the evenings throughout the summer and has many lovely attractions including an historic C.W. Parker carousel. The tickets were $0.25 each, and the rides were either one or two tickets to ride, so it was extremely reasonable. We wandered around, and the kiddo rode nearly everything: the kiddie Ferris wheel, the kiddie circle rides, the kiddie whip, the carousel, the train (a pretty decent one we all rode, went around a big pond), and of course the kiddie coaster which, again, was rough. I was a bit worried she’d be put off about roller coasters, but she would be a trooper. She just didn’t want to re-ride this one. There were two bounce houses, and she begged to go in one. So we paid the ticket and in she went…for all of 5 seconds. Luckily the ride op gave us our ticket back. We enjoyed a relaxing evening at the park and played until dark. After a quick time at the adjacent playground we headed off to find our hotel.

For our last night, we had a reservation at Econo Lodge West in West Pueblo. After having a quick bite to eat from Sonic, we managed to find the energy to visit the pool before hitting the hay. Another good day was had by all!

7-25-16

Even though this was the last day of our trip, we had a lot planned! We took it easy in the morning before heading back to Pueblo City Park to check out their zoo. It was located right across the small parking lot from the amusement park. Though it was a small zoo, it was decent, and it easily filled up our morning. We wandered around, admiring the animals and artwork. Our daughter has been fascinated by the color indigo and its absence in most depictions of rainbows, so I was excited to point out an animal that’s about as close to indigo as you’re going to find: the hyacinth macaw! In the same building, a few windows down, however, she found her favorite animals yet: meerkats. They were so active, and they were really interested in her, too. It was adorable! We fed some birds at the farm, walked down every path, and checked out an interesting area of empty exhibits: remnants of antiquated animal enclosures that wouldn’t work in modern zoo practices. Very interesting. We ended the day with a trip to the gift shop where the kiddo picked out her very own stuffed meerkat.

From here, we started thinking about lunch. There was another brew pub, the Brues Alehouse, down near the Riverwalk (which we also wanted to see), so we headed downtown and found parking. We wandered the three-armed Riverwalk, admiring the artwork and enjoying the stroll. It looked a lot more established than the last time I was there (in 2006). More art, less construction, and bigger trees made quite a difference. As we rounded the corner on the last leg of the Riverwalk, we came upon the Brues Alehouse and went in. Being an off-time at this point, it wasn’t particularly busy, but it took quite some time for the hostess to discover us. When she finally did, she asked us if we were ok sitting at a table with super high stools. Since we had a little child with us, we said we’d rather not, but she said there were no regular tables available, despite there obviously being plenty of open low tables around, as well as a few that currently seated people, so apparently they must be usable. There was also a whole other room full of nothing BUT low tables, a few of which were occupied, but most of which were quite empty. Ummm, okay.

Once seated, it took forever for our waitress to arrive. When she finally got there, we ordered our beers. At least 15 minutes later, she returned with Nate’s beer and told me the one I ordered wasn’t available. Great. So I ordered another one and didn’t hold my breath. We ordered our food at this time. Another enormous wait ensued. During this time, our daughter had to go potty, so Nate took her back to the car, which was no small walk. From what I recall, the waitress came back to me while they were away and told me the meal I ordered was not available, so I needed to choose something else (mind you, this was another 20 minutes or so after I ordered). All told, we were probably at the restaurant 2 hours or more. By the time Nate got back, we still hadn’t received our food. Once it did come, it wasn’t that great. I know that our kid’s PB&J had a homemade jam that contained seeds that could just about break your teeth! Yikes! My turkey sandwich might have been ok, but it was served on white bread – about the worst bread you can get! Bleh! Overall, we were not impressed. And we would have liked to have gotten on the road a lot sooner than this place let us. Eventually, we managed to pay and break free of its grasp. We were on the road by about 4.

Luckily, the drive home was, again, uneventful. We had a great time just enjoying each other’s company and chit-chatting. We did stop at a nice Dairy Queen in Raton (it seems like the non-Albuquerque DQs make the best George Mud Fudge Blizzards), and then drove on through the intermittent rain. The rain stopped as soon as we passed Santa Fe, and we made it home by 9pm. Another successful road trip was complete!

20 Year High School Reunion Weekend

Aug. 25 2016

After months of debate, I finally decided to attend my 20 year high school reunion a little less than a month before the event. The last reunion was somewhat disappointing, and it sounded like this one might be similar, though it was really hard to say. I contacted Anne, who was basically putting it all together, and asked if there might be a tour of the school or something else in addition to the expensive, alcohol-heavy evening event. She was so gracious and hadn’t thought of that, but she immediately made it happen! I couldn’t NOT go after she organized that on my account, so I made some arrangements to attend with Heidi by way of visiting Jeanine in Chambana. How exciting!!

I was scheduled to leave mid-day on Thurs. the 25th. Nate came home from work early and toted me over to the airport. There was an accident on the expressway, so we got there later than hoped, so instead of coming in with me, they dropped me at departures. The kiddo wanted to ride the escalators, so I guess they did come in and even saw me at security, but I was so busy there that I didn’t notice. I made it to my gate and played on the internet until it was time to go. The flight to O’Hare was uneventful, luckily. I did talk to the gentleman next to me both upon takeoff and landing. He has a high-level position in security at O’Hare and was out at NM Tech for a conference. Once we landed he gave me his card and told me if I ever needed to get through O’Hare quickly to just give him a call. How nice!!

Once in the terminal, I made my way over to my next gate, which wasn’t too far, luckily. The gate was one of the hidden ones, located downstairs from the main terminal. It was a bit quieter down there. I just relaxed until it was time for my flight to Champaign. This plane is so small that the entire left side only has a single seat, so I opted to sit there. I relaxed and did my crossword puzzle (for the second time – ha!) and looked at the city through the clouds as we headed south. Before I knew it, I was gliding over cornfields and gently landing in my old college town.

Jeanine met me inside around 7pm and we headed out to Mahomet to drop off my luggage, get a tour of her new place, and hit the town, such as it was. We wandered through tiny downtown Mahomet, dodging the carnival workers who were setting up a midway down the street. I hoped to see it, but alas, it would be over by the time I’d get back. We headed to JT Walker’s for some dinner, as I hadn’t really eaten all day. I did a sampler of their beers, as well as a glass of Orange and Blue, their Belgian-style Witbier. I also had an Italian beef sandwich which was ok, but tasted good because I was so hungry. It was great to catch up with Jeanine. We wound up leaving when they closed (at 9). Then we went back to her house and tried some blueberry wine. I honestly don’t remember what else we did that night, though I do remember she wanted me to watch some trucking show, and I totally fell asleep. All that travel, wine, and beer was exhausting! Haha!

Aug. 26, 2016

We took it easy that morning, though we had a lot to do this day. Jeanine gave me an awesome manicure with blue holographic polish, topping the pinkies with little blue stars. In the right lighting it was spectacular. In less-than-ideal lighting, the blue was still pretty nice. We also took a short walk around her new neighborhood. It turns out she lives about 3 blocks away from my graduate advisor! Small world!

Then we headed into Chambana. We wanted to try the popular Black Dog Smoke and Ale House, since we’d heard such good things, though neither of us are huge BBQ fans. There was a new, less-busy location in downtown Champaign, so we opted for that. It took a while to actually find the place, as it’s hidden in an old train depot and not well-marked, at least not from the parking lot we used. I believe it was around 2 when we got there, so the restaurant was quite empty. I tried the catfish taco special with a side of twice baked potato casserole. The tacos were ok, but nothing to write home about, and the potato casserole was full of onions. It wasn’t unbearable, but still a bit off-putting to me. Jeanine thought her stuff was ok, but I don’t think she was thrilled, either. Now we know!

Jeanine had heard about a strange new ice cream place just down the street, so we headed there after lunch. Snow Meets Coffee is definitely different than what I’m used to. They have a fancy new technique of adding shaved ice to ice cream to give it an unusual and airy texture. Jeanine got the key lime snow cream, and I tried the chocolate with chocolate syrup, Oreo crumbles, and passion fruit popping boba balls. It was delicious! But the most striking thing was the appearance of each. Jeanine’s looked like shaved coconut, and mine looked like some sort of barbequed pork with beans. I’d have hesitated to try mine if I didn’t know what it was! Haha! Still, very cool. I wonder when we’ll get a place like that out in New Mexico!

From there, I had to rush to Fannie May to get some candy my mom had requested. Growing up, going to Fannie May and getting a bag of chocolates was always a treat. Since it’s really only easily available in Illinois, we have to get it while we can, so I stocked up! Next I rushed to find some flowers for Heidi’s mom, since she was letting me stay with her while in Chicagoland. I was immediately drawn to some fragrant lilies, and I hoped she would enjoy them, too.

Then we tried to find Heidi’s house. For some reason, the Garmin kept wanting to bring us to a busy intersection with no homes nearby, but after some confusion, we were able to zero in on her place. Jeanine dropped me off, and Heidi greeted me at the door. It was so good to see her again! We never seem to have enough time to catch up, but now we’d have a few days to do so! Her husband Luke was just leaving, so we said goodbye and loaded her car for the weekend. She asked that I drive, so I got acclimated to her vehicle, and before we knew it, we were on the road, heading north on I-57!

The drive up was so much fun! We had a great time talking and catching up. Heidi is one of those friends that, even after not seeing each other for years, it’s just like old times. The traffic was light, the conversation was good, and we made it up to Park Ridge in record time! We were greeted by her mom, Sandi, whom I haven’t seen in probably a decade. She hadn’t aged a day in all that time! She was so happy to see us, and very welcoming. She set us up with a room and loft area upstairs, and we got unpacked and settled before coming back down for dinner. We had a lovely evening with nice conversation. Oh, and she really loved the flowers! Yay!! It was a perfect end to a great day!

Aug. 27 2016

This was it! The big day had arrived! We were both a bit apprehensive, as we didn’t know what to expect or whom we’d see today, after all these years. The tour of the school wasn’t until 11, so I got ready and we enjoyed breakfast with Sandi before heading out to get my eyebrows threaded, a tradition whenever I come back to the area. Heidi wanted to get hers done, too, but she wasn’t too sure about the threading technique, so she opted to make an appointment with her hairdresser for a waxing later that day. Honestly, I’d rather have dental floss near my eyes than hot wax, but I understand threading can look a bit daunting at first. Anyway, I only had to wait for about 3 people (no appointment necessary!) and once I was in the chair it only took about 2 minutes before I was done! Woo hoo! And in case anyone is wondering, Meera’s in Park Ridge is the place to go. They’re fast, good at what they do, and only $5!

Once done there, we still had some time before the tour. We really had nowhere else to go, and there wasn’t enough time to do anything really major, so we just drove over and sat in the school parking lot, eagerly talking about what to expect. Eventually we decided we should probably get over to the meeting spot, so we walked along the familiar sidewalks of Maine South High School, feeling our youth come back to us more and more with every step. From outside, everything looked pretty much the same, from the pond to the circle drive to the building itself. They did add on to the 3-storey A Wing quite a while back, but that was really the only thing that was different from our days there, at least from the outside.

Inside we met up with the rest of our former classmates. Only about 10 people (plus 1 spouse) showed up. I suspect the word hadn’t really gotten out to the people who’d opted out of going to the evening event due to price, but oh well. Before the tour, I managed to talk with former Constitution Team and Science Olympiad member and classmate Tim P. for a bit. I was excited to do so because he and his wife Jessica, who was also there, but whom I didn’t know as well, had moved to Albuquerque, and I wanted to know more! Of course, wouldn’t you know it, they’d moved to Tucson a mere two weeks prior! What timing! Anyway, it was good to catch up a bit.

Other people on the tour included Adam, an old friend of Heidi’s whom I didn’t really know well, but he was really nice, and Lisa K. who was all, “You’re Jessica, right?” I hardly knew her in school, and I got sidetracked, but I would have liked to have talked to her more, too. Eve and Nora, neither of whom I knew very well, were also on the tour. Then there was Pierre. I never knew him in school other than from his yearbook photo, but he asked who I was and claimed he recognized my name. He was on the tour with his wife, and they were both very nice. It turned out that he is a horror author living in Michigan now. How cool! The last guy on the tour was Angelo. I definitely don’t remember him from high school, even from the yearbook (and believe me, I memorized that yearbook when I was a student), but I’ve gotten several Facebook friend requests from him over the years, which I’ve ignored since I hardly have time for the people I DO know on it. Anyway, I don’t know what it is about me – I’ve always thought I came across as the goody-two-shoes who always follows the rules, but often times the troublemakers (who would have picked on me had they known me in days gone by) like to tell me about all the bad things they did like they think I’m going to be all, “Oh, that’s so cool!” Well, that’s what this guy did. We passed some bathroom, and he was all, “That’s where [so and so and so and so – two guys who picked on me in grade school, though I doubt he knew it] and I would smoke! You wouldn’t believe all the stuff we got away with at this school!” Um, yeah, great. Craziness!

Anyway, the tour was given by Dave Berendt, the assistant principal for students. What a great guide! So down to earth and eager to answer any and all questions. While we were still congregating, the door opened and the Italian teacher, Ms. Weber, walked in. I’m not sure if she’d planned it that way, but a couple of her former students were in our group, and they went up to her room for a quick mini tour with her. The rest of us just wandered around with Dave. He took us into all sorts of rooms, opening up the chorus room and labs and gyms and the cafeteria. Other than having more computers (each student is issued one these days!), and a little updating to the bleachers in the main gym, everything really looked pretty much the same!

One fun thing was when we got to the pool, Tim, who was a star swimmer, still was featured as a top record holder! It was neat to see all the old pictures of former classmates displayed all around. As we looked at one that featured a recently deceased classmate, Nora piped up that she had fallen while hiking. I had been wondering what happened. How sad.

Once we had seen just about everything, Dave said he had to get to a meeting, but that we were welcome to wander on our own if we’d like. I was surprised they’d let us do that, but Heidi and I took him up on that, and we wandered all around, taking pictures, and only being stopped by one person who, after telling him we were on the tour, let us go on our way. We went to the 3rd floor of the A-wing, my science floor, took pictures of the wall of fame (Hillary Clinton is probably our most famous graduate), and went out to visit my wonderful pond.

Eventually we had to get over to Heidi’s eyebrow appointment. That went pretty quickly, too, and we were happy to be set for this evening! Then we headed over to Uptown for old times’ sake. I got some more Fannie May (they didn’t have everything I needed down in Champaign) and just wandered around a bit. What fun! Finally, we made our way back to Heidi’s mom’s where she treated us to some wonderful Portillo’s! So nice!! Then we got ready for the evening’s big event!

Heidi was nice enough to curl my hair a bit. I have an irrational fear of curling irons. I mean, they’re super hot! Luckily, she didn’t get it too near to me. I wasn’t convinced the curl would hold (it never does, and we didn’t even use hairspray), but it looked kinda neat anyway. (It turns out it held so well that, even after my shower the next morning, the curl was still there – she worked some magic!) Before we knew it, it was time to head out.

The reunion was held at Fairway Banquets in Niles. We weren’t really familiar with it, but it wasn’t too hard to find. There were a ton of cars, even though we were pretty early, but it turns out that, other than Anne and Claire, who were running the show, we were the first people there! The two of them were so awesome and greeted us so warmly! They showed us where to get our name tags and told us we could go in whenever we were ready. We stopped a while to gawk at the nametags to see who was coming, and before we knew it, a few more people trickled in. First up were Pierre and his wife, and then came Cyrus, who was also a former Constitution Team and Science Olympiad member. We caught up for a while – I always remember him telling me he wanted to be a surgeon (heart or brain, I forget), and he laughed when I told him that. Turns out he’s working on animation at Activision now! Amazing where our paths take us.

Before I knew it, the banquet hall was filling up! Alexandra and her date showed up, so we got to meet him. He seemed pretty nice and was very interested in all of us, asking lots of questions. I ran into Pam and Amanda. I didn’t really know Amanda very well in school, but Pam was a friend of mine back then. It was nice to catch up with them both. A lot of people I wasn’t so sure about came over and were so approachable and nice. One girl came up to us and was all, “I’m Jamaica!” Ok, you don’t forget a name like that. I didn’t know her very well, but we had talked a bit in school. Turns out she’s a lawyer in CA. While we were talking, a guy in an Air Force uniform came up. It was Tim M., yet another person I only knew from the yearbook. Anyway, it turns out he lives in Alamogordo now! What a small world! It’s funny that the four people from my high school that have moved to NM are named either Jessica or Tim. Too crazy!

Before long, we were ushered outside to take a group photo. That was a nice touch from the last reunion. This reunion was nicer, overall, than the last one, and I’m so glad I decided to go. There was more elbow room, the DJ didn’t drown everyone out (though it was still plenty loud), and it just seemed to have a better vibe.

Once inside, I had a rush of confidence, since everyone had been so awesome up until now. Then I saw her in front of me: my enemy since 3rd grade or thereabouts. I never really knew what her problem was, but she had been a royal snot to me all these years. I saw and ignored her at the last reunion, but I figured it’s been all these years, and I don’t like disliking anyone, so I’m going to approach her and be kind. Well, she saw me, and I said, “Hi, [name withheld]! How are you? You look great!” I think she mumbled something at me, turned tail and bolted…right into a block of people who wouldn’t let her through. She couldn’t get away from me fast enough! It was literally like mixing oil and water. I let her go, kind of shocked that she’d react that way after all this time. I’m glad I didn’t have to waste any time on her, if that was how it was going to be. If anything, the encounter just boosted my confidence because, heck, I just approached a major adversary, and as far as I was concerned, I came out on top with that interaction. I was kind and open minded, and she was insecure and obviously never matured. I felt sad for her, more than anything. Oh well, her loss.

There was one person I really wanted to talk to, but I wasn’t sure how I’d get my opportunity. Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about that because he approached me. Bob C., whom I’ve known since kindergarten, came up and started talking right away. He was always the “cool” kid in grade school – friendly, good at P.E., really likeable to everyone. He was one of the few people I grew up with that didn’t give me a hard time, and I was so glad to have the chance to talk with him. He asked about my mom, and we caught up a bit, and it was probably one of the highlights of my evening.

At one point, I saw Pierre’s wife sitting alone at a table, so I went over to see how she was doing. She said she was having such a great time meeting everyone. I must admit, our high school vibe was always very good – the “cool” kids were never jerks, and most people have always been nice. I hung out with her and Pierre for a while – Pierre even brought over Kevin, an old tennis partner of mine (I always kind of assumed most people didn’t remember me, but he totally did). He always had the most epic fro, and, dressed in our red and white gym clothes, I’ll never forget how he said he looked like the Greatest American Hero. I told him about that and we laughed. Good times.

The rest of the evening was kind of a blur, thanks probably to the open bar. There were several people I’d have liked to have talked a little more to, but it’s so hard when you have 150 people to catch up with. I really am looking forward to the next one, and I hope that more people I knew better show up for it. Before I knew it, it was almost 11, and we made our way out to the car for the drive back to Heidi’s mom’s.

I woke up around 3am in a panic because I realized I never took out my contacts. Luckily they didn’t fuse to my eyeballs (biggest nightmare!), and I crawled back to bed.

Aug. 28, 2016

I woke up feeling much better than I would have expected, though as the day went on, I sort of deteriorated. Heidi wasn’t feeling so hot either. We had plans to go visit my good friend Jenny and see her brand new daughter, but we ended up cancelling, which I hate to do. We were just not in a good way that morning. We took it very easy, since we had to get back to Champaign later that day. I tried to eat breakfast, but I think I only got through about 1/3 of it. Then I laid down for about 2 more hours. Eventually, we packed up and hit the road. I thanked Heidi’s mom (and Jake, her husband) for a wonderful time. They had been so nice!! We made the drive back down, in average time. I was feeling better, but I’m not so sure about Heidi! We met Jeanine at a parking lot, and I said goodbye to Heidi. It had been a fun trip! And I’m so glad we did it! Hopefully we’ll make it to the next one!

From there, Jeanine and I got dinner at Minneci’s, an Italian restaurant suggested by Heidi. We’d discussed how few nice restaurants there are in Chambana. Well, this one was located in a brand new strip mall I’d never seen before. The food and service were great! The atmosphere was nice, too, though Jeanine thought it looked like we were eating inside a tomato, thanks to the reddish paint job. Ha! I had a nice spaghetti which hit the spot after an exhausting day. Then we headed back to Mahomet to watch “Room on the Broom,” do facials, and just relax. Jeanine had saved that blueberry wine for me, but at this point, I didn’t think I’d ever drink again!

29 Aug. 2016

We took it easy this morning…mostly. After sleeping in until about 10:30 (unheard of!), we headed out to her garage so I could pay for my room and board. Jeanine had a number of boxes of clothing she wanted brought into the house, but there were spiders and cobwebs all over everything, so we set to work cleaning cobwebs, removing egg sacs and hatching spiderlings, shooing away adult spiders, and rearranging things. Then we started to work on 3 large clothing boxes. The first one had huge cobwebs all over it. They looked like the webs the daddy longlegs were making, so I let my guard down, expecting that to be the only spider we might encounter. We started placing the clothes in bags to be transferred to her washing machine. She pointed out one tan suit and said, “We’ll stop there. That needs dry cleaning.” Well, little did we expect that very suit to be the one with a huge wolf spider, just hanging out. Gaaa! I tried to grab the thing with the fancy spider catcher I’d just ordered for Jeanine, but the thing escaped far into her garage before I ever had a chance. We were a lot more careful after that! Luckily, none of the other boxes had any surprises. We bagged up what we could and left everything on her back patio to be dealt with later. What an adventure!

Once we were done, we retreated to the house to bask in the air conditioning. It was so hot outside!! We took showers, and then we headed into town to visit Curtis Orchard. I hadn’t been there since I was an undergrad. The one thing I always remembered about that place were the apple slushies. They exceeded expectations, and I was excited when Heidi told me they still made them! So we HAD to go back!

I was surprised they were open on a weekday, since they really had very little business. We toured the gift shop, got a few little items (a roaring triceratops stuffed animal and a frog-themed candy for my daughter), grabbed some slushies, and toured the grounds, visiting with goats, chickens, and a cardinal. It was a nice, relaxing time, and I’m glad we checked it out.

Before we knew it, we had to head south to grab dinner. Jeanine had been wanting to try the Firefly Grill in Effingham for years, and we decided now was the time. We hit the road for the drive down. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a restaurant in Effingham, but it did have good reviews. I was intrigued.

We got to Effingham around 6. Being the crossroads of two major interstates, it has a lot of business dedicated to the traveler. It’s quite the spectacle, actually. We pulled off at a main exit and followed the signs to the restaurant. It sounded like it would be located in a rural area, thanks to the website, but in actuality, it’s less than a half mile down the road from the main strip. It is surrounded by farm fields, however. Housed in a huge old barn, the grounds are scattered with vegetable plots, growing items used in many of their dishes. Despite the rustic setting, the inside is very modern and trendy. I particularly enjoyed their use of blue glassware – it was my favorite shade of sapphire blue.

Much of the menu was quite pricy, so we decided to share two appetizers and a pizza. We ordered the fried green tomatoes, crab cakes, and a shrimp and pesto pizza, which sounded interesting. The two appetizers were delicious (though the crab cakes were small for the price). The pizza, however, was quite the experience. We should have been concerned when the waiter told us the ingredient “nduja” was essentially like the spreadable inside of a Slim Jim. We figured, being such a nice restaurant, it surely couldn’t be that bad. When the pizza arrived, Jeanine tasted it and said it reminded her of something she couldn’t quite place. Then it occurred to her: Chili dogs! I paused at that and realized that, yes, yes it did! Seriously, even the texture resembled a chili dog. The shrimp was the hot dog, the crust was the bun, and the rest of it was the chili. Gross! I couldn’t really get past the thought of that, and when we left, I felt like I had just eaten three chili dogs. Needless to say, it wasn’t the best feeling. I decided to walk around the pond and through the cornfields to work off the feeling (plus, the grounds were pretty, and I wanted to see more of them), but really it lasted well into the evening.

We made the long drive back to Mahomet, arriving just after dark. We stopped at Dairy Queen to get something to offset our current palate. That place was a mess, too – horribly understaffed and doling out sub-par desserts, as was evidenced by people bringing back their orders for improvements. I decided to try the new royal Blizzard (Oreo with fudge inside). There was barely any fudge, but what fudge there was was rather unpleasant, so perhaps it was for the best. Anyway, we went back to Jeanine’s to watch Napoleon Dynamite and do more facials. I also had to pack. I couldn’t believe the trip was nearly over! Oh, Jeanine asked me to bring in those bags of clothes from her patio, too. There were orb weaver spiders all over her back porch, as well as earwigs. I did my best to shake out the bags before bringing them in – hopefully most of the critters stayed outside. Haha!

30 Aug. 2016

My alarm went off sometime around 5, I think, and I rushed to get all my things together. Jeanine was kind enough to get me to the Champaign Airport by 6 for my 7 am flight. On our way, we saw some guy drive off the road, tires sparking. Scary! She said he wasn’t there on her return trip, so that’s good (maybe).

Anyway, I was in for a long day of travels: 13 hours! My first flight to Dallas wasn’t bad, but I had a 3 hour layover once I got there. I didn’t realize until that last half hour that DFW has free internet! I spent most of my time lost in my thoughts, though. Good times.

From there, I flew to LAX and had to transfer to one of the smallest terminals. You have to catch a rather sketchy bus to get to it, and many of us were unsure we were in the right place, but we got there with no problems. I was hoping to maybe get something to eat at LAX, but this terminal had hardly anything! So I made do by eating some of my Fannie May Pixies, which hit the spot. Eventually, after another 3 hour layover, I was soaring over the Pacific before rounding back to the east and heading home. It was so good to get back to Albuquerque and see Nate and my kiddo. She was so happy to see me! She couldn’t stop talking to me about everything and anything. I loved it! We picked up some Taco Cabana for dinner, and came home. What an adventure! It’s good to be home, though!