On The Road

Now that my week is slowing down (or maybe my brain is just slowing down because it’s near the end of the week), I finally have a little bit of time to write about our trip to the Midwest.

First of all, the magic combination of United Airlines and O’Hare International Airport resulted in approximately eight hours of delays by the time we got home. After rushing out the door on Friday, we made it to the very crowded airport and made it through the check-in line, and then got into the security line. After waiting a long time, during which I was getting edgy and irritable because I thought we were going to miss our flight, we got up to the x-ray machines. I turned to say something to Special K, and when I turned back around and some woman stepped right in front of me. I stared at her very closely, and she glanced up and mumbled “sorry, I’m going to miss my plane”, and began to put her things into plastic tubs. I was dumbstruck, and turned to a nice couple standing behind Special K and me, and I said “is it just me, or is that the rudest thing you’ve ever seen?” They agreed it was, and I thought that I should be the bigger person and let it go, because telling her off wouldn’t help us to move through the line any faster.

She walked up to the metal detector, and walked through, and set off the alarm. She went back, and began to peel off her belt and necklaces and whatever else she was wearing. In this time, Special K and I sailed on through, as well as the couple behind us, and a few other people. As we were putting our shoes back on, I turned to the same couple and said “does it make me a bad person for thinking that’s hilarious?”, and they assured me that it didn’t make me a bad person.

We got onto our little people mover, made our way to the C Gates at Dulles, and ran to our gate. Boarding had already begun, but we made it on our plane, settled into our seats, and the plane pulled away from the gate a few minutes later.

Then we sat there. For three and a half hours. Something about a ground stop at O’Hare.

There was much grumbling, but they did end up showing some movies, and starting beverage service. But apparently they only had enough for one round, because the beverage cart and the miniature packet of pretzels didn’t reappear during the flight. By the time we arrived in Chicago, fortunately the Fabulous Miss M was there to meet us with a box of granola bars and some water. She truly is fabulous.

We got our rental car, headed back to her apartment in the city, ordered some delicious pizza, and went to sleep.

The next morning dawned and we headed up to Madison for a big bonfire and hikinks at the MadCity Family Farm. It was quite the hootenanny, and provided the chance to catch up with Mr. and Mrs. MadCity, as well as some other friends that I hadn’t seen in quite some time, all of whom were meeting Special K for the first time. He handled it well, and we had a great time keeping warm by the smaller cooking fire, grilling assorted meat products, chomping on Doritos and the like, and downing s’mores. The bonfire was quite impressive – or rather, the stack of wood used for the bonfire was quite impressive. The fire itself was the natural result of all the wood and some well-placed fire starters. (Not the Drew Barrymore kind.)

By the end of the night, it was time to close up shop and head back to MadCity’s house for some Apples to Apples, and some apple crisp – a specialty of Mrs. MadCity. It was kind of a theme night. I started to crash by the end of our second game of Apples to Apples, so we turned in and then awoke the next morning to set off to a delicious breakfast at the house of a friend with whom I went to high school (Go Rockets!), to see him and his wife and two absolutely adorable daughters. Breakfast was just. So. Good. It’s funny, when you haven’t spent a whole lot of time with someone since they were 18 years old, to see them as an adult, with a family, cooking things, is a bit of a mental adjustment – but it was great to spend the morning with them.

From there we jetted off to scenic Batavia, IL, to take my grandmother out to lunch, and allow her to meet Special K. The place we went to is a delightful restaurant in Geneva, IL, and I hadn’t realized this, but my grandfather used to take my grandmother there all the time. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet my Grandpa G, but it was a cool feeling to be there with my grandmother.

After a lovely afternoon with Grandma, it was back to Chicago and the Fabulous Miss M. We had a fairly mellow evening (except for the part where I managed not to see the whole chili pepper that was in my Mandalay curry from Joy’s, and ate it. And then downed several glasses of water and milk. With Lactaid, of course.) The next morning dawned, and since it was Special K’s first time in Chicago, we started off with breakfast at Toast in Lincoln Park. It was positively delicious, and definitely set me up for a hard core food coma. But one takes the good with the bad, yes? We then went down to Millennium Park, and took some pictures, admired the city’s architecture, and thought of how best to warm up and take some of the bite out of the lake air. (Yes, we’re wimps. I can admit it.) We wandered up the Magnificent Mile, and decided to head up the John Hancock Center. I am not a big fan of heights, so heading up to The Signature Lounge on the 96^th floor gave me pause, but since the views are amazing, and Special K is not afraid of heights, I wanted him to see it. We arrived just before clouds converged, so there were a few good minutes of views, and then all fog. We headed back down, and went next to the Chicago History Museum, which was unexpectedly delightful. I’m a fan of cities and always have been, and I’m also a bit of a history buff, so it was a treat. We headed back home to recoup before heading out to Wildfire for a delicious dinner. I told Special K that, while in the Midwest, he had to try the beef, and it was definitely worth it.

After a hugemongous dinner, we went back home, and spent a good bit of the remainder of the evening talking and watching British comedies – something for which Miss M and I have a distinct affinity.

In the morning, we rose early to head to the airport. Arriving just in time to find our flight cancelled. However, we were re-booked and eventually made it home without further incident.

It was a lovely trip, thank you to all who hosted us, and we must do that again, Darlings.