Snowbirds

Most snowbirds migrate from colder climates to warmer ones. We, however, traveled in reverse since airfares are somewhat cheaper after the holidays. So, for a week R and I braved the cold Illinois weather for the opportunity to check in on my folks and see some friends and family while here. I don't have a lot of photos to post, but there are a few highlights that I wanted to capture on the blog for future reference...

Tuesday, January 28

Our flight from LAX-ORD left at 7:00AM this morning, so we arrived in Chicago around lunchtime. After picking up the rental car from the Multi-Modal Facility, we stopped by the Portillo's on the corner of Mannheim and Higgins and sat in the car in the parking lot to eat our Italian beef sandwiches because this is a pickup only location. Dipped beef is definitely too messy to eat while driving, but it's a super convenient location close to O'Hare. Chocolate cake to take home on the plane?

We decided to take a small detour to visit the graves of R's parents and brother in Elm Lawn Memorial Park on the way down to my parents'. Still miss them all very much. 😢

Saturday, February 1

We've been fed well the past three days (sorry, no food pics!), but we haven't done much of anything else. My lofty goal of organizing my parents' stuff was largely unsuccessful, but we did manage to get rid of a few things. I'll keep trying...

No snow, not too cold, and the sun was out = nice weather!

On our way out of town, we stopped by the library to donate a few books. We saw a family walking out to their minivan in short sleeves with no coats on - guess 40°F must feel balmy after sub-zero temps! Then we hit Avanti's in Normal to pick up several gondolas to bring with us to the get-together with R's cousins this evening. Final stop on our way back to R's aunties' place was Pullman National Historical Park to start off this year's passport stamp collection.

Sunday, February 2

After church, we met our friends P and J for lunch at Anto Pizza in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood. R saw videos online raving about how their pasta is served in a cone (smaller surface area so the pasta stays hot longer) and wanted to check it out. Definitely lived up to the hype - everything we ordered was really good!

Fried calamari, homemade tortellini vodka, spaghetti carbonara, pistachio ravioli, and the signature cone with shrimp fettucine alfredo  

For dinner, we went out to Lou Malnati's with R's aunts and his cousin R and family. So nice to meet V's fiancé J - we'll be back again in April for their wedding. 

Monday, February 3

Two of R's other cousins from his mom's side came over for lunch, bringing a few grandkids (their moms, too) along with them. How fun to see them all, especially since we remember playing with their parents when they were that age! 

Tuesday, February 4

With one gondola still left over in the fridge, we packed it and ate it for lunch while waiting to board our flight home. It wasn't quite as good as when the bread is fresh, but it would have been a shame to waste it. 

Looking forward to coming back in a few months. A week after R's cousin's wedding, there is a scientific conference in Chicago that I'll be attending for work, so I think I can tack on some vacation time and swing it so that my roundtrip plane ticket is all on the company dime. Woohoo!