Kirby
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2000
- Messages
- 13,313
We had a great trip! Good weather both coming and going. It snowed the night before our arrival, so we finally got to have a white Christmas.
We drove up through Oklahoma and in Springfield, Missouri, we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop. This place is awesome! We have one here about 1 1/2 hours away but have never been. The museum is a must see. No exhibits behind glass windows. The stuffed animals are right there close enough to touch, though you aren't supposed to. Great photo ops!
We made it the first day all the way to Litchfield, Illinois. Thought we made great time. If we hadn't of stopped in Springfield, no telling how far we would have gotten.
Arrived in Streamwood about 2:30 pm. We weren't in Chicago proper, just about an hour NW of town. Joe's sister, Kit, and her husband, Richard, lives in a development next to one of the forest preserves. We saw deer a couple of different times.
Christmas Day we had dinner at Richard's mother's house. She lives in Chicago. We got to meet all of his family.
On Friday, the kid's went to Mount Olivia for snowboarding. That didn't last long. It's a lot harder than they thought. So they switched to tubing. James hit the ice wall and busted himself good. We thought that maybe he had dislocated his shoulder by the way he was walking but it was just a sprained hand. Whew!
That afternoon, after his "accident", James met a friend of his, Rachel, that moved to Kildeer, Illinois four years ago, and two of her friends for dinner and a movie. The rest of us went out to eat at the India House. Joe, Carol and I had never eaten real Indian food before. After sampling everyone's meal, we quickly found our favorites.
Saturday was our family Christmas. Only one of the other brothers and his wife were able to make it (Joe comes from a family of seven kids). Richard's son and his family and Richard's best friend and his family were there too. We had a full house and had a lot of fun.
Sunday we met Sabrina, one of the girls James met Friday night, at IHOP for breakfast. We then took a train into Chicago. Grand Central is just like you see in the movies (Runaway Bride, The Untouchables) but bigger. Walking on the marble steps was just awesome, with all the grooves worn into them from all the people that have walked up and down them over the years. Kit took us on a walking tour of downtown. We saw so much, Sears Tower, Hancock Buildling, Chicago Tribune, the Marshall Field window display, the corn cob buildings. So much more than I can remember. I should have taken pictures.
Then we caught a free trolley and rode it to the Navy Pier. It was more enclosed than I expected. We walked to the end and I got a picture of Lake Michigan. And I also got some good shots of Chicago. We rode a taxi back to the train station. We were so glad to get off our feet.
Monday brought a day for being lazy. We finally managed to get out and went to Geneva for a little shopping. Since it was our last day, we had dinner at Super Dawg. For anyone that hasn't eaten there, its an all beef dog with sweet relish, onions, a pickled tomato wedge and a pickle slice. Very good!
Even though we left fairly late, 9:30 am, on Tuesday, we made good time and slept in Forest City, Arkansas at a very nice Hampton Inn. We had decided to take a different route home. We arrived home about 3:00 pm Wednesday. Our dogs were so glad to see us. Kirby would not leave the inside of the house once he got in.
Our trip was a good get away. The weather was great the whole time we were there, the temps ranged from the upper 20's to the middle 40's. We enjoyed seeing another part of the country, the frozen ponds, the geese everywhere. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and maybe one day we will be able to go back.
We drove up through Oklahoma and in Springfield, Missouri, we stopped at the Bass Pro Shop. This place is awesome! We have one here about 1 1/2 hours away but have never been. The museum is a must see. No exhibits behind glass windows. The stuffed animals are right there close enough to touch, though you aren't supposed to. Great photo ops!
We made it the first day all the way to Litchfield, Illinois. Thought we made great time. If we hadn't of stopped in Springfield, no telling how far we would have gotten.
Arrived in Streamwood about 2:30 pm. We weren't in Chicago proper, just about an hour NW of town. Joe's sister, Kit, and her husband, Richard, lives in a development next to one of the forest preserves. We saw deer a couple of different times.
Christmas Day we had dinner at Richard's mother's house. She lives in Chicago. We got to meet all of his family.
On Friday, the kid's went to Mount Olivia for snowboarding. That didn't last long. It's a lot harder than they thought. So they switched to tubing. James hit the ice wall and busted himself good. We thought that maybe he had dislocated his shoulder by the way he was walking but it was just a sprained hand. Whew!
That afternoon, after his "accident", James met a friend of his, Rachel, that moved to Kildeer, Illinois four years ago, and two of her friends for dinner and a movie. The rest of us went out to eat at the India House. Joe, Carol and I had never eaten real Indian food before. After sampling everyone's meal, we quickly found our favorites.
Saturday was our family Christmas. Only one of the other brothers and his wife were able to make it (Joe comes from a family of seven kids). Richard's son and his family and Richard's best friend and his family were there too. We had a full house and had a lot of fun.
Sunday we met Sabrina, one of the girls James met Friday night, at IHOP for breakfast. We then took a train into Chicago. Grand Central is just like you see in the movies (Runaway Bride, The Untouchables) but bigger. Walking on the marble steps was just awesome, with all the grooves worn into them from all the people that have walked up and down them over the years. Kit took us on a walking tour of downtown. We saw so much, Sears Tower, Hancock Buildling, Chicago Tribune, the Marshall Field window display, the corn cob buildings. So much more than I can remember. I should have taken pictures.
Then we caught a free trolley and rode it to the Navy Pier. It was more enclosed than I expected. We walked to the end and I got a picture of Lake Michigan. And I also got some good shots of Chicago. We rode a taxi back to the train station. We were so glad to get off our feet.
Monday brought a day for being lazy. We finally managed to get out and went to Geneva for a little shopping. Since it was our last day, we had dinner at Super Dawg. For anyone that hasn't eaten there, its an all beef dog with sweet relish, onions, a pickled tomato wedge and a pickle slice. Very good!
Even though we left fairly late, 9:30 am, on Tuesday, we made good time and slept in Forest City, Arkansas at a very nice Hampton Inn. We had decided to take a different route home. We arrived home about 3:00 pm Wednesday. Our dogs were so glad to see us. Kirby would not leave the inside of the house once he got in.
Our trip was a good get away. The weather was great the whole time we were there, the temps ranged from the upper 20's to the middle 40's. We enjoyed seeing another part of the country, the frozen ponds, the geese everywhere. We enjoyed ourselves immensely and maybe one day we will be able to go back.
