Day Seven - Glen Haven, Colorado

We're staying with our friends Ericca and T.J. in Glen Haven, Colorado for a few days.  On our way into Colorado yesterday, we could see a faint outline of the mountains. They got clearer more gigantic as we got closer. Here's the montage of pictures I semi-successfully took from the car going 80 mph. (The speed limit is 75 here! Bonus.)

Here we all are in the car.

Bear has driven the entire way so far. He loves it.

Charlie is over it. Beyond over it. He's been awesome, though. Didn't make a peep for the entire ten hour ride yesterday.

Ericca and T.J. have chickens!

To preserve my sanity, I'm going to upload the rest of the pictures later. The internet isn't slick enough here for efficient uploading.

Day Six - Arriving in Colorado

We left Des Moines this morning at 8:00 a.m. and headed west!

Barry's mom was super cool and let us use her Marriott reward points for a hotel room last night. I kept saying, "I can't believe people spend $180 for one night in a room!" It was really nice and everything, but good lord. Over the top, Mr. Marriott.

This is the sunset on our way into Des Moines last night.

When we were driving into Colorado this afternoon, we could see the mountains progressively better. I got some photos and I'm working them into a display for tomorrow. Beautiful.

Here's a video of the narrows we drove through on the way to Glen Haven. Sorry if you get dizzy :)

I'll be back tomorrow with more pictures.  We drove for about ten hours today and I can't think clearly enough to write more.

Day Five - On the Road Between Chicago and Des Moines

We’re excited, devastated, elated, and a little tired.

SO excited to go Colorado. We’ve never been there and we can’t wait to explore. We’ll have about ten days to see everything before we head for Las Vegas. Is there anything we shouldn’t miss? We’re going to be around the Denver area.

Devastated to leave Chicago. It feels like we never left and also like it was a lifetime ago.  We loved being in the city.  (Notice how bundled up I am? Did not miss the bitter cold wind.)

Elated to have seen lots of our friends! We stayed with Chris, who lives with three fine gentlemen.  We saw several of Bear’s old college friends on New Year’s Eve. Last night, we saw the one and only, the incredible, the fantastic, Justin Arnett Graham.  We met him and Bear’s wonderful friend Sam for sushi. We went to Sushi Mon on Clark, about a block north of Fullerton. It was fannnntastic. Also, it’s BYOB. Love that. Makes everything cheaper.

Sidenote: We’re currently driving by the birthplace of Ronald Reagan.

A little tired because we went to Small Bar with Justin after dinner. It’s right in Chris’s neighborhood and it’s also Justin’s place of employment. 

This morning we woke up and packed the car, which takes us about half an hour. It’s like Tetris, except it isn’t fun at all.  We drove down Route 55 to Morris, Illinois, where we took Charlie to the park.

Brief description of taking Charlie to the park:

Bear and I get out of the car and I turn to open the back door to let him out.

“Um, where’s the dog?” I ask.

“In the car,” says Bear.

“No, he’s not, unless we put him in the trunk.”

“HEY! GET THAT DOG ON A LEASH!” yells a mustached park ranger.

Charlie had darted out of the car when I got out of the front and sprinted probably 100 yards away in 20 seconds and was manically running in circles chasing birds.

So we call him and leash him, walk 20 yards away and let him off to run again. We’re terrible listeners.

Then we went into the little downtown and had lunch with our caravan buddies. Our friends, Ericca and TJ, live in Colorado and we’re planning to stay with them for a few days. They were in Ohio for Christmas so we coordinated our drives out west.  Bear keeps singing a song about convoying. It’s not so good. Ericca and TJ are with their dog, Ranger.  Charlie is excited to stay with another dog. I know because I speak dog. Here are the humans.

Now we’re on the road, heading into the sunset. Literally.

Day Five - Leaving Chicago

Day Four - Chicago

It's our last day in Chicago! We're leaving tomorrow morning for Colorado. We've never been there and we're really excited!

Yesterday we did nothing. We sat around and watched TV and played board games and made Chris's roommate make dinner. We whined until he offered.

We also took Charlie to a different dog park in Wicker Park. He loved it, of course, but it was a lot smaller than the one on Lakeshore Drive yesterday.

I would post a picture, but I'm pretty sure we didn't do anything photograph worthy yesterday. Haha!

Day Three - Chicago

So the tragedy that occurred at what was once one of my favorite restaurants is as follows:  Everywhere you go has fried calamari, I vastly prefer it grilled or, even better, sauteed. Chicago Joe's had the best.  I have spent the last five years craving this exquisite dish.  I show up there last night with friends bragging to them about the amazing squid they were about the have.  Turns out the restaurant had taken that particular item off the menu. Now I'm pissed.  Almost left.  I will not be returning and I am definitely un-liking them on facebook.  Grilled at Nagoya is the only way.

Day Three - Chicago

Happy New Year! I'm definitely the only one awake this morning.  Bear and I had a fantastic New Year's Eve and I went to bed at a reasonable hour like the old lady that I am :).

We took Charlie to a dog park in our old neighborhood yesterday. He loved it. He ran around the whole time we were there and ran to the gate to greet every new dog and human. See that big white dog on the right? He looked a lot like Charlie, only twice as large. Charlie is the one on the left, a lovely bum shot.

 This is me at the best Thai restaurant in Chicago. When we lived here, I went to this place probably once a week. Best. curry. ever. Also, they've remodeled since I was last there and it looks more like a restaurant and less like someone's home kitchen. It's called Jitlada's. It's on Halsted, just south of Irving Park.

We drove through our old neighborhood and saw Michael's, a little bar where they would let me in.  I was 19 when we lived here so it was always a problem to find places where I was allowed to go! We also drove by Wrigley field, where I loved to go and Barry loved to discuss the level of boredom that baseball achieves. Mostly we drank beer and watched them lose. I think that's what all Cubs fans do, actually.

We walked down Michigan Avenue, definitely without Charlie, who would have been terrified of the crowds, and shopped a little. Some of the stores were so busy, there was a line outside just to walk in. The picture below is of the sidewalk around 4:00 p.m. yesterday. Put-in-Bay is a little bit desolate in December. Bear and I kept saying, it's so nice to be around people again! Seriously, we were loving it.

Lights at The Lincoln Park Zoo! It was gorgeous but the pictures don't do it justice so I'm just putting up a few, mostly of the animals.

Here's a video of the light and music show. I loved it and I danced along.

Bear's friends from college were having a party at a bar over on Irving Park and Ashland. We stopped in and had a drink after dinner. Bear will be by later to fill you in with the tragedy at dinner. Well, to him. Didn't really affect me. Anyway, this is Bear, Ashby, and Jamie.

And this is Sam...

And this is Birdie! 

Loving it. What did everyone else do for New Year's Eve?