Back from the Windy City!

Okay, so we are back! We got back Saturday actually, but it has taken me this long just to get around to editing & posting pics, of which I am still not quite finished.

We flew out the Monday before this last, on the 21st of April. Had a connecting flight in Denver, but was easy enough because it ended up being the same plane, LOL. Had us get off, then get right back on,... probably the fastest layover ever!

This was Courtney's first time flying, and my second... but my first was 13 years ago so this may as well have been my first all over again for the little I recall of the last time. Anyway, she did really well, despite being nervous. We had a bit of turbulance landing in Denver, but no more than to be expected. All in all a pretty good flight. We got in to Chicago about 6:30 PM, collected our luggage, got the rental car, and headed off to the hotel. It wasn't until after we got to the hotel that we learned that a limo had been waiting for us. Ah well, I needed the rental car anyway. ;)

We had a mistake with our room. It was supposed to have two queen beds, but only had one king. The hotel was completely booked up already due to multiple conventions so we were stuck with what we had. They sent up a roll-away, but that was a complete joke. The frame was a mess, and half the springs were disconnected. When I lightly pressed on the mattress, it fell through almost to the floor! So, the three of us shared the king!

Tuesday, Courtney & I slept in a little in order to adjust ourselves to the time difference, then went downstairs to breakfast at Bananas Grille, which BTW, has *EXCELLENT* food... then we got ready & headed off to Wrigley Field for the game. It came highly recommended not to try to park anywhere in the vicinity of Wrigley so we heeded that advice. Our hotel was in Tinley Park, where Scott's convention was held so we had to drive about a half hour to Chicago. We parked near Union Station, then took the bus over to the Red Line............. then standing on the sidewalk, looking down the stairs, was when we realized that the Red Line was in fact......... the subway. *gulp*

But, hey, we lived to tell about it! LOL

And in case you are wondering, let me just clarify that yes,...

Wrigley was *AWESOME*!!!!!

We had the time of our lives! What an experience! We had excellent seats, and the Cubbies played their hearts out! No nose-bleeder seats for us, no, we had Field Box seats, 6th row! It was great!! The Mets made winning look too easy,.. they just plain stunk up the place, LOL. I mean, even their fans were booing them! Seriously, we had 6-7 guys that had came from New York to watch the game. They were head to toe in their NY Mets gear, and screamin mad at their Mets players,... hilarious! What was even funnier was when the crowd started chanting, "New York Sucks! New York Sucks!" that went around the stadium like a wave, and those guys were chanting right along with everybody else! Other highlights included the crowd singing & dancing to "YMCA" and later, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". Very cool. Courtney & I also enjoyed hot pretzels, lemonade & then icecream in little Cub helmets... fun! But the best was when the bases were loaded and the Cubs got a Grand Slam!

The Cubs beat the Mets 8 to 1..... Afterward, we tried not to get swallowed up in the sea of people, but that's easier said than done. We wanted to get our picture in front of the Wrigley sign, and it would figure that we ended up essentially walking all the way around the outside of the stadium to find it. Of course, it was on the last corner, LOL. Outside, there were street performers,.. our favorite was the "Drumline"of sorts. These guys played the drums on buckets, and it was SO cool. Maybe I'll try to paste a video on here later...

Riding the subway back was a whole other experience... elbow to elbow people, and us trying to keep track of which stop was our's. But we did well. We survived the subway! We didn't get mugged, and we only got some mild hazing from some Socks fans at the bus stop, LOL. It would figure that us, being dressed head to toe in Cubs gear, would end up waiting at the bus stop with several White Socks fans, but they went easy on us. ;) So, that was Tuesday!

Wednesday, we went to Brookfield Zoo. We spent pretty much all day there, and really enjoyed ourselves. This trip was such a great one-on-one bonding opportunity for Courtney & me. I mean, we are already super close, but this is one of those things that we will never forget... this trip together and all the fun we had, just the two of us. So, I'm really thankful for that.

Wednesday evening, we rode the commercial bus with Scott & 50+ of his collegues, back into Chicago, down to Navy Pier for dinner. They all went to Bubba Gump's while Courtney & I went to Capi's Italian Cafe next door. Then, we walked all around the pier..... and accomplished most of it before they even got any of their food over at Bubba's. But, their group had almost 60 people so of course it took longer for them. I couldn't convince Courtney to ride the ferris wheel with me.... can't say I blame her, it was the biggest I've ever seen! She rides the one at the State Fair, but this one put that one to shame, that's how BIG it is. So, we admired it from the ground, LOL... After everybody was done with dinner, we piled back on the bus and headed over to the Water Tower building. We were told we were going to the John Hancock Observatory, but we actually went higher. We went to the Signature Room Lounge on the 96th floor! I will post pics soon. The pictures don't do the view we had justice at all, but you'll get the idea. It was amazing!

Thursday, we went to the aquarium & the planetarium, and then Friday we spent at the museum of natural history, up until time to head over to the airport and return the rental car.

Then, just as we were waiting to step onto the plane, I saw lightening striking in the distance... and by the time we were in our seats a short few minutes later, the storm had already reached us. It was like a monsoon! The rain was literally blowing sideways, the lightening flashed repeatedly overhead, and felt a little too close for comfort, while the wind literally & violently rocked the plane from side to side! Traffic Control actually shut down the entire airport, and we sat there in the plane, being tossed around (thankfully on the ground) for over an hour. They informed us that a second storm was right behind it, but they were going to try to get us out in between them if at all possible. On the outside, I held my cool for Courtney, but on the inside, I have to say, I was completely unnerved. But, we made it... Our flight had been late already because the plane had to divert the storm coming in, then we lost time stuck in the storm ourselves... and so by the time we took off, we were almost 2 hours off schedule. We were hoping our connection going home would be like it had been on the way out, whereas it was the same plane, but no such luck this time. Of course, it was a different flight on the way back, and being nearly 2 hours late, we had missed our connection flight. There were no more flights going out that night so we were stuck in Denver. And, since it was a weather issue, and not the airline, they didn't accomodate us with rooms... just a discount.

So, we got our room, being told that it was only 15 minutes outside the airport, and that the shuttle came 'round every 15 minutes as well. We were also informed that we couldn't get our luggage, that it would be held for our next flight in the morning. So, no jammies, no toothbrush, no deoderant, no meds... oh joy. Then we proceeded to go outside to the shuttle pick-up island.... at 10:30 PM in Denver at 5,000 feet, and it... was... COLD. And the shuttle that was supposed to come around every 15 minutes........ didn't. We sat there for almost an hour. We called them twice, and two other sets of folks called them at least a couple times between them as well, and we all kept being told the same thing. They didn't know why we had missed them, but another would be around in 15 minutes. *Argh!*

Finally, the shuttle arrives, and we all pile in like a can of sardines because nobody wanted to have to wait for it to come back again (& so the three of us got quished all the way in the back), and that's when we find out that the hotel is actually quite a bit further than a 15 minute drive. That's when we find out that going 60+ mph, it takes a good half hour to get to our hotel because the airport's property extends out for half that distance. Yes, it took 15 minutes, going 60 mph, just to reach the outside perimeter of the airport's property! Then, when we finally made it to the hotel, we were of course the last ones to be able to get off the shuttle, and being as such, we were then at the end of the line to get checked in at the front desk. It took 45 minutes just to make it 20 feet to the front desk. By the time we got to our room it was almost 1:00 AM, and we had to get back up in 5 hours in order to make it to our flight home. We were exhausted.

Oh, and that's not even the best part, LOL,... while in Chicago, we had purchased a number of pins & snow globes to bring home for Brittney & Ashley (B collects lapel-type pins & Ash collects snow globes), and not wanting them to get broken, I elected to buy a bag to take back as a caryy-on............ Keep in mind that I have only flown once before, 13 years ago, well before all the changes that resulted from 9-11. So, of course, I quickly learned at the airport in Chicago that I would have to check the bag in order to get through security. So, I did.... certain everything would get broken. We got through security, and then as a just-in-case measure, I purchased a couple more snow globes. Now this would have been fine had we not missed our connecting flight in Denver, but because we did and had to stay over,... well, we had to go through security again. We were told that two little snowglobes shouldn't be a problem, but oh guess what,.. they were. Security made me go back out with them. So, I bought another darn bag & a fleece to wrap them in, and checked the bag! I even had to throw my UNOPENED bottle of water away at the security check point. They said I could either dump it out or drink it, and take the empty bottle through the check point and then refill it on the otherside, or I had to just throw it away..... so I did. *grumble*

Anyway, we got home sometime Saturday afternoon, after getting out of the airport, picking up the other kids from their cousin's, and driving an hour home. And then I still had to go to the boarding kennel to pick up the dogs. And we've since been fighting head colds,... darn airport germs, LOL

It was an EXHAUSTING trip, but quite an experience! One not to be forgotten. We had a ball, and even the crummy parts can't bring it down. It was, all-in-all, a FANTASTIC time!!

I will post pics soon!! And, Britt & I leave on our own "mommy-daughter" trip at 6:00 AM next Friday for 3 days at Disneyland.......... *grin*