My Kind of Town

Friday, April 25

After saying goodbye to the aunties, I loaded up my lone suitcase (R took the other two bags when he flew home yesterday) and headed back to O'Hare to return the car. It was pouring rain when I got to the gas station (figures!) in Park Ridge, but I managed to fill up and stay fairly dry, thanks to my spiffy new raincoat! From the Multi-Modal Facility, I rode the tram back to Terminal 2 and then walked to the Blue Line station to take the train downtown. $5 for the CTA vs. $50 for an Uber - no brainer!

Suburbia

Hanging out with our friends RH and C at the Cubs game on Tuesday wasn't enough, so we also spent the day with them yesterday, too! We met them for lunch at Barnaby's in Northbrook. I guess it used to be a big Midwestern pizza chain, because both R and RH remembered going to Barnaby's (different locations) with their families as kids growing up in Chicago. Now there are only a few left...

Barnaby's is known for their crispy, thin crust pizza

Pressing Our Luck

Our good friends from college, RH and C, are also back here in Illinois. After some discussion in our group text, we decided to see the Cubs-Dodgers game together. However, rather than get seats in advance, we opted to park in the remote lot (free), take the shuttle to the ballpark (also free), and walk-up to the ticket window at Wrigley Field (no service fees). This way if the weather was bad or there were no good tickets left, we could just find a sports bar nearby to watch the game without having to commit any money ahead of time.

Yep, we got tickets!

I Got You Babe

We thought about going back to Devil's Lake State Park to hike on the east side of the lake this morning, but we didn't because...

1. I was still tired and sore from yesterday's hike.
2. It was raining.
3. We decided to go to another Cubs game tonight with other friends, so we needed to get back to Chicago.

After checking out of the hotel in Lake Denton, we started driving back on I-90, which brought us around the opposite side of Madison from where we were yesterday. Near Janesville, we got off the interstate and onto US-14 because we intended to stop in Woodstock, IL along the way. Unfortunately, we missed a turn going around the town square in Walworth, WI, so we got rerouted onto smaller roads instead.

180 miles, 3.75h

On the Trail of Manny, Sid, and Diego

Yesterday was Easter Sunday, so we went to the church we attended when we lived here in Chicago. Easter breakfast has been a long-standing tradition, so it was nice to have a chance to chat with many old friends and family before the service.

After church, we went back to R's aunties' to pack our bags for a quick trip up to Wisconsin. Then we headed over in the late afternoon to crash the gathering at R's cousin's son's house. (This is his dad's side of the family that we usually see when we come back to Chicago, as well as in Vegas at our reunions.) Most of the cousins' kids now have littles of their own, so it was fun to watch them scramble around the backyard to hunt for Easter eggs! We hung out for a bit after dinner (so much good food!) and then hit the road straight from there. Once on I-90 west, it took us about 2 hours to reach our hotel in Madison, WI.

Sing the Song

When R and I watched the Cubs beat the Padres in San Diego last April, we finally broke our streak of attending losing games. Then the boys joined us for a night game at Wrigley in September which had a more typical ending (Pirates 5 - Cubs 0), bringing our collective record to (drumroll, please...) 1-8. 😩

For today's Cubs-Diamondbacks game, we got tickets with four of our longtime friends. Like we did for the game in September, R and I parked in the remote lot off Irving Park Rd. and rode the shuttle over to meet up with them.

A Good Friday

Since R's cousin's wedding wasn't until later today, R and I went out to Alexander's Breakfast and Lunch in Skokie for breakfast. Or are chilaquiles considered lunch? 🤔 Either way, both dishes were really good!

Chilakillers and Tres Leches French toast

End of Beginning

And when I'm back in Chicago, I feel it

Another version of me, I was in it

I wave goodbye to the end of beginning

(Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye)

You take the man out of the city, not the city out the man...

Have you heard this song from Djo (aka Joe Keery, "Steve" from Stranger Things)? It's a super catchy tune that went viral on TikTok last year. Although our "end of beginning" in Chicago was almost *25* years ago, we've tried to come back at least once a year ever since. With so many family and friends still here, that line from the bridge of the song rings true - you can take us out of the city but not the city out of us... 

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...

In a Pickle

Friday, August 30

Nice leg room for R!

Our flight from LAX to ORD was not without some drama this morning. When we boarded the plane, we found out that the seats we originally booked were changed to accommodate a family with children. So instead of the four of us sitting together in Row 36, R was assigned to an exit row in the front of the plane, and the boys and I were given seats in Row 35, also an exit/bulkhead row. However, the gate agent did not notify us or the people originally assigned to Row 35 about the changes.  

Ordinarily, exit rows would be viewed as better seats. But we are used to having our backpacks and water bottles easily accessible to us, so this wasn't really an upgrade in our eyes. 

Things got worse when one of the original passengers boarded with a screenshot of her old boarding pass rather than using the United app, so she didn't understand why her seat was taken. It probably didn't help that she and rest of the party traveling with her only spoke Italian. Her son (I presume) was using Google Translate to communicate that he purchased the upgrade for his mother, and both of them were getting increasingly agitated.

Circle the Wagons

In the 1800s, a wagon would have taken 8-10 weeks to travel between Independence, MO and Santa Fe, NM along the Santa Fe Trail. Thankfully, we were able to drive it in four days and see/do lots of fun things along the way!

Altogether, we spent 11 days on this trip - two in Chicago, two visiting my parents, and seven on the road between Illinois and California.

3117 miles

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

...begins with a single step.  -Lao Tzu

Or, in this case, a journey of *three* thousand miles begins with a single *park*!

In order to get to our last two stops in Independence, MO before closing time, we had to stick to a tight schedule today. So we said our goodbyes to my parents and were on the road by 7:45AM. 

An hour later, we arrived at Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield. Since we have been here many times before, this was just going to be a "stamp-and-run" stop. But because the visitor center wasn't open yet, we walked over for a selfie in front of the house while we waited.

Wagons Ho!

Our main purpose for this trip was to box up the last of R's family mementos and bring them back with us to CA. I guess we could have shipped most of the stuff, but how exactly do you pack antique samurai swords? That's not exactly something that we'd trust in a checked bag either... 🤔

So, since we had to drive cross-country, I was very excited to map out a route to visit several national park units on our one-way trek, especially because the ones in the middle of the U.S. require some intentional effort for us to get there. For the most part, we will be following the Santa Fe National Historic Trail from Kansas City, MO to Santa Fe, NM, with a few detours in Kansas over the next week. 

Head 'em up! Move 'em out! 

The Bear

Have you seen FX's "The Bear"? The show has garnered a lot of positive buzz of late, receiving several nominations (and wins) for the Primetime Emmys (10 for Season 1), Golden Globes (3 for Season 2), and upcoming Screen Actors Guild Awards. We were a little late to jump on the bandwagon, but after recently binging our way through both seasons on Hulu, count us among the fans of the show. 

Why?

1. It's set in Chicago, more specifically an Italian beef sandwich shop in Chicago. The main character, Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) is an award-winning chef who comes home to run the restaurant he inherited after the suicide of his older brother. Besides his brother's debts, he is also left to deal with both a kitchen and a staff that are dysfunctional. 
2. Food. Given that the show is about a restaurant, and Carmy and Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) are trained chefs, the food itself is essentially another member of the cast. Everything they prepare looks amazing!

Several of the locations in the show are actual restaurants in Chicago, so we decided to take a "foodie field trip" around the city to try them for ourselves...

Stamp On

In my post about our trip back to Illinois last September, I blogged about trying to earn the Silver Master Traveler Award from the National Park Travelers Club by visiting at least 35 units across 5 regions and collecting 75 stamps minimum in 2023. Sadly, R's dad passed away just two weeks after we saw him in Chicago, so the rest of our fall travel plans were put to the side as we grieved our loss and settled his estate. The four of us returned again in November to celebrate his life. 

Then R and I both got an early Christmas present (COVID - ugh!), so the last few weeks of December were spent recuperating on the couch instead of visiting parks and getting stamps.

2023 final count:  31 units | 5 regions | 79 stamps 

Nisei, Sansei, Yonsei, Gosei

After an early breakfast, we said goodbye to my parents, brother, and niece and hit the road for Chicago since we planned to meet R's dad for the 10:45AM service at church this morning. Before we got to I-55, however, R realized that he left his aunties' apartment keys behind. So we turned around and met my brother who drove to Goodfield to bring them to us. Needless to say we were a little late to church. 🤦🏻‍♀️

It's the Great Pumpkin

Besides visiting the grandparents, there were two other reasons for the timing of this trip back to Illinois... my hometown's annual Pumpkin Festival and my high school class reunion. 

57th Annual!

If you've ever used Libby's Pumpkin for any recipes, chances are pretty high that it was grown and harvested from fields in Central Illinois and canned at the Nestlé plant in Morton. The "Pumpkin Capital of the World" has held an annual 4-day celebration of everything pumpkin each September since 1967. Imagine a stereotypical small town fair (carnival rides, competitions, entertainment, food, parade, etc.) but on steroids - the Chamber of Commerce and its army of volunteers does an excellent job! However, the bigger draw for me is the chance to catch up with old friends since many people come back to see friends/family who are still in town.

As a bonus for my parents, my brother G and niece C also decided to visit when they heard we would be there (my sister-in-law couldn't come due to work 😢), so they had all of their grandkids together for the first time since before the pandemic.  

Going for Silver

Since joining the National Park Travelers Club in 2011, our travels have gotten us the Special Achievement Award (minimum 10 units in 2 regions with 20 stamps) every year except for 2020 (pandemic 😢) and last year when we earned the Bronze Master Traveler Award (min. 25 units, 4 regions, 50 stamps). This year because we have been able to visit a number of different NPS passport regions (Western, Midwest, Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and North Atlantic), we are really close to achieving the Silver MTA (min. 35 units, 5 regions, 75 stamps). Only need stamps from 7 more units before the end of the year! 

So, in an effort to get our (okay, *my*) certificate, we took a slight detour on our way down to my parents' house today to move 3 units closer to Silver...

225 miles

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

Since both M and J were working full-time this summer, we thought that we could squeeze in a family vacation in September before J started his fall quarter classes. When given the choice of planning a trip to Maui or Illinois, it was a no-brainer for them...

Divide and Conquer

Wednesday, January 4

Taking advantage of cheaper air fares after the holidays, R and I flew back to Illinois for a welfare check on our folks. But we decided to split up so that we each would get more time with our respective parental unit(s). After the norovirus debacle last year, my secondary objective was to make sure to get some Lou's this trip.

Who cares how cold it is outside when you have hot pizza in your belly?