"Upon Approval....."

The last week has been a real roller coaster of emotions for us.

Wednesday we headed to the General RV store north of us to look at RV's and see the outlet stores that are located next door.   Connie had made a list over the last few weeks of models and brands that were appealing at least via the pictures, layouts, etc.  General RV had a few of them, so we thought we'd touch and feel.

Salesperson Tom was incredibly helpful, took plenty of time with us, showed us everything we wanted and then some.  After we came back to the rig, we had narrowed down to a couple of Heartland models, and the one we liked the most (a Big Horn 3670RL) they didn't have in stock in Chicago, but did have a 2012 at one of their other locations.

What did become apparent was this was going to be the future, whether it was a near future or a far future, it was the direction we were heading.  And the scooter didn't fit into those plans -- no way to haul it.

We thought that to make that commitment to the future, we were in the perfect time/place to make that happen.  Where else but a college town as the students are coming back to school to sell a Chinese scooter?  We placed our first Craigslist ad Thursday, got a response that night, and by Friday at dinner time, it was loaded in the back of a guys truck and leaving the park.  Just like that, the end of an era.

Lo and behold the model we wanted was located at our friends (long story for another time) RV dealership in Batavia, about a 40 minute drive from Connie's parents and our hometown of Wilmington, Ohio.  They were kind enough to run down on Thursday and take a look at the model and THEY fell in love with it, too.

Long story short, here we are on Sunday, figuring to hear back from the dealership on Monday about loan approval and taking delivery plans.  So for the last 48 hours, as we're thinking about where this or that would go, we try to preface every sentence with "upon approval" so as not to jinx ourselves.

Hoping for the best!

Road Trip to Medinah!

Pretty rainy, gloomy day here which means:  Road Trip!

Headed over to Medinah Country Club to get our lay of the land for the Ryder Cup.  Thought it would be a lot less stressful to have been there once, than later when there will be all kinds of people around.

We'll be doing our meetings and uniform credential handouts next Saturday/Sunday at a high school across from the golf course, and actually shuttled to the course from a baseball field a few miles down the road.  There's NO parking around Medinah except for the high school.  Going to be a real sight when the Ryder Cup is held there at the end of September.  Can't wait!

We were amazed at how much construction had already gone on.  Stuck our heads into a few of the construction gates (and promptly got chased out) to see all the corporate tents, hospitality tents, event tents, and more.  Looks like the next big projects are the grandstands judging by all the lumber laying around.  It will be here before you know it!

Hey! The Boat Drunks are at Navy Pier today....

Bob was just getting set to relax and watch the PGA Championship on DirecTV outside when Connie says:  "Hey, the Boat Drunks are at Navy Pier today at 5:30!"

The Boat Drunks are a Trop Rock band that can be heard on Radio Margaritaville and are often featured at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville's around the country, but especially the Key West restaurant when the Meeting of the Minds is being held.

This was at 1:25p on a Saturday when the trains leave every two hours and the next train was going out at 2:25p which was a half hour away, not dressed to go into town and no showers done.  We caught a big break when Bob got an email alert that the train was going to be late because, as it turns out, the earliest we could have gotten there was 2:28p.

Train left at 2:55 and we were off to Navy Pier (again!)

Maybe one of the few things we dislike about Chicago is it's cash only, or it's not, or it's exact change, or it's..... you get the picture.  Part of the hustle to get ready was having $1.25 exact change to park at the train terminal, $7.00 per person exactly for the weekend METRA pass, and $2.25 per person per ride exactly for the CTA busses.  Got lucky that there's no charge to park on the weekend.  Got unlucky when we got to the METRA station and the CTA card vender wouldn't take bills or credit cards.  Walked over to Union Station, and there machine wouldn't add more credit to our CTA cards.  Just such a pain.  We like the old school of the conductors and trains, but their system for paying just sucks and is so inconsistent!



We got to Navy Pier just as the Boat Drunks were starting, had a few Landsharks, met some great people who were just back from the Cubs game, and was a nice little Parrothead getaway, plus a bonus, Mike Miller rejoined the band for this set.

It was a great night, but since we bought weekend passes for the METRA, we decided on the way back to head back in on Sunday and just hang around Wrigleyville since the Cubs were in town for a day game against the Reds -- double bonus.

We had driven around Wrigley on a couple of our trips to Chicago, Bob had been to a game.  Bob's game was probably 20 years ago on a baseball trip:  drove in, parked, did the game and left.  We both wanted to experience the bars and the OUTSIDE of Wrigley Field without having to worry about getting into the game, out on time, etc.

Got a few tips the night before from the girls we met, so we were kind of prepared.  No issues with the trains and we decided to take a nice walk from the METRA station over to the Red Line through downtown.  The Red Line drops you off right at Addison and the right field bleachers.  Headed down to Murphy's Bleachers bar, met some nice Reds fans.  Great place to start your day.

Went down the left field outfield to Bernie's which is down the 3rd base line for lunch.  Some gift shops highlighted our walk down to the Cubby Bear, which was our least favorite with no outside space.

Came back around the corner (where you could actually look in on the game from a double fence in the Right Field wall) and had a couple more beers at Murphy's before we hopped the Red Line back to downtown.

Took a different route to walk to the METRA station and found them blocking off a street and filming down by the Chicago Board of Trade building.  Couldn't tell what/when/how was going on, but it was drawing a crowd.

Back into Chicago, Storms here again....

Thursday, we took a ride into Chicago to Navy Pier to hear the Dueling Pianos on the Pier and meet with a former student of Bob's who went to Loyola and has lived in Chicago for a few years.  Was fun catching up.

Not much drama traveling this time, just missed our first stop on the return ride, so a little bit of jogging to make the 9:40p Metra train back to Elburn.  Biggest drama was when we turned on the Garmin Nuvvi we got really bad news.  It must have gotten smacked when we put it away in the glove compartment and the result was a disaster as you can see.  Sent it in Friday to see if there's anything they can do.

Also Friday, we got our new Maxxi tires for the rig.  Hopefully will allieviate the Carlisle Tire blowout problems.  We made an appointment a the local Farm and Fleet to have them put on Monday, so we'll have a mini tear down and roll.

Friday night, Sycamore RV Resort was pretty electric with weekend campers and kids everywhere.  Probably trying to get that last run out before school starts.  Met a great couple (Scott and Leslie) in their new RV (moving in their daughter to NIU) staying here from Detroit.

Saturday, since we're moving on Monday for tires, we chalked off the first big "To Do" by finishing repairing the damage from the Iowa tire blow out.  Was a lot of work getting glue to hold, holes sealed, etc.  That Great Stuff expanding foam is good stuff but really messy.  We both threw away our work clothes at the end of the run.

Later we were going to go to the MooseFest here in town, but the Severe Thunderstorm Warnings came out around 3:00p and sure enough, around 3:30p we had sheets of rain, hard driving wind and lots of lightning and thunder.  Couple of the weekenders learned about their awnings in storms, and will be learning this week how expensive they are.

Scott and Leslie came over after dinner and 'the girls' made them feel right at home.  Night of Olympics watching after they left along with planning for the quasi move on Monday, and the weekend is pretty well over!

2013 "Soft Plans" are in place.......

We've got a pretty good handle on the summer of 2013 now. Thought we did earlier, but for some reason started checking average temperatures and realized we had routed ourselves through the desert for 3 weeks during July. Not good with AVERAGE temperatures in the 100's daily.

Had to make this in two maps, so we'll go through each of them. An asterisk (*) denotes an Elks Lodge.
We'll take off from Portland, TX making overnight stops at Kerrville*, Fort Stockton, and Las Cruces* on our way to Albuquerque where we'll spend a month.

Mid June we'll make an overnight in Raton, NM on our way to Westminster*, Colorado for a month.

Mid July, we'll make overnights in Laramie and Rock River Wyoming on our way to Salt Lake City, Utah.

Towards the end of August, we'll head to Reno/Sparks, NV with overnight stops in Wells and Winnemucca.

As we enter California, we'll have a weeks stay at Roseville* and Carmichael*, we'll pull into Fremont* for 5 nights for this summer's feature event, the Ohio State Buckeyes playing a road game at Cal-Berkeley.
You can use the +/- feature to make the map bigger below:

After the game at Cal, we'll continue on down the coastline with week long stops at Santa Clara*, Santa Cruz* (only 2 nights), Salinas*, Atascadero*, San Luis Obispo*, Santa Barbara*, Canoga Park*, Downey*, Garden Grove*, Oceanside* and 5 nights at El Cajon*. 10 weeks exploring California!

We'll make our way to Yuma, AZ for a week then on to Desert Trails RV Resort in Tucson, AZ for our winter.

Hope you'll be along for the virtual ride!

Our Brew Cruise from Navy Pier with all our mistakes...

Friday, we had decided if the weather was good, we'd go on a Brew Cruise from Navy Pier.

We've sworn off driving into Chicago, when the transit system is so good here.  So, we drove to Elgin for our first METRA train ride from there.  As much research as you do, you just can't find out everything until you've experienced it.  Such was a lot of this trip.

We get to Elgin and pass the National Street station, which was the first mistake.  I knew the price to park would be $1.50; what I didn't know was cash only and exact change.  We had stopped at Jewel Osco on our way and gotten $30 cash (a $20 and two $5's), so off I went to the little market across the street.  I was the only one speaking English.  Next door was a laundromat, so I broke the $5's into quarters.  Then I got the $20 broken into a $10 and two $5's, but not without some language barrier problems.

So I pay the $1.50 for the parking in quarters, leaving our $6.50pp for the train ride into town.  We knew we were returning from Union Station, so we'd just get tickets there.  (This is a key point to remember).

Train right on time, beautiful club cars, plenty of space, upper and lower berths.  Knew from my reading that we would just pay the conductor, who we saw several times.  Never asked us.

We get off at Grand/Cicero and we're feeling pretty good about the freebie.  Watched others, same thing.  Walked across the street to our bus stop and realized we were really, really overdressed.  Then the bus was 15 minutes late, and we really, really wanted to get going.  Another live and learn mistake.  Take the train to Union Station, not Grand/Cicero and get a bus.  I have since scrapped the website I was using that gave me that terrific time saving advice.

The sites along the bus ride were tough.  Lots of poverty.  As we were getting closer to town, there was just a definite change of property, rebuilding, and the clientele -- they became mostly tourists like us.

Navy Pier was great.  Had a quick dinner at McDonald's then off in search of our Brew Cruise.  Thought we'd get a quick beer before we went, then realized we couldn't walk with it.  Time to chug.  As we got to the pier for our cruise, we realized they had let people preboard and the kegs were open.  Didn't have to chug that $5.50 beer after all, should have skipped it.

The cruise was 90 minutes, with free beer from Rock Bottom Brewing Company.  They featured a white belgian ale, a red ale and an IPA.  Preferred the white to all of them.  Had some munchies and it was a nice spread.

We set sail promptly at 8:15p.  You could tell how many people had never been on a boat before.  And those that had.  Was really surprised that there's a lock at the mouth of the Chicago River/Harbor.  Only about a foot each way, but was surprised by that.

Captain took us around to the East side of Navy Pier, got us in very nicely for pictures.  The skyline was beautiful.  It really made me wish for a great camera and tripod.  Everyone on board was just snapping pics like crazy.  It was sensational.  We went to the West side of Navy Pier and still again, breath taking.  After returning through the locks, we went into the River a couple of bridges before turning around to the dock.  A tremendous experience.

We headed back to the Navy Pier bus terminal and got bus #124.  My phone had died on the boat, so I was going from memory.  Knew if we got on the #124 and headed to Union Station, no problem.

Union Station is beautiful inside.  The Great Hall is fabulous.  However, what we didn't know is that our train was supposed to leave at 10:40p and we were just walking around taking in the sights and probably only had 5 minutes.  The vending machines (where we were going to get the tickets, remember?) were sold out of one way tickets.  We had to stand in line for tickets and Bob could swear the board said "Now Boarding".  We get to our track at 10:44p.  Oh well, have to wait an hour.  Wait.  What?  Next train isn't until 12:40a???  Ugh.

Walked around Union Station, tried to reconstruct where we made our mistakes, if we got off at the right bus stop, etc.  Then we just started looking for what to do for the next 90 minutes or so.

Happened on to the Beggar's Pizza place who had a huge neon Coors Light sign on the outside.  This will work.  Had a couple of beers, talked some Big Ten and golf then headed back for the station.  Train was already there and boarding 20 minutes before departure.

This time, our conductor was serious old school.  Really wanted him to yell "All Aboard!".  And no nonsense, since this was about the derilict time of night.  Feet off the seats, making sure everyone was awake for each stop, etc.  And, he took our tickets.

It was a great night, even with all the miscues.  We were serious rookies and learned a ton for the next mission into town.

Weather Dictates (As Always....)

Really hasn't been much going on here.  Weather has dictated (both good and bad) much of what we've done here at the Sycamore RV Resort.
We were going to go into Chicago and see the Dueling Pianos at the Landshark Biergarten at Navy Pier last Thursday.  Nope.  Going to rain (and it did).
Friday, we 'bar hopped' here in Sycamore -- going to the MVP Sports Bar, then to the local Elks.
Saturday/Sunday were just beautiful and we sat outside and watched the British Open on TV all morning and afternoon.
Monday was a total work day, but really muggy outside so was also an inside day.
Today (Tuesday) we were awoken at 5:30 a.m. to 50 mph winds and driving rain (about 1/2") knocking out the power that still hasn't come back on yet.  Fortunately, our Honda 2000i is perfect for blackouts, as long as we don't have to turn on the air.  Then, it's going to be hot one.
This Friday, we have a Brew Cruise in Lake Michigan, but, of course, the weather will dictate.