A lovely Lake Geneva day
We went up to Lake Geneva yesterday. Despite having gone to a party on Saturday night, my parents were up relatively early. However, when grandma called before nine to say she could leave in ten minutes, well, we had to admit that neither parent had yet showered. So much for leaving early. But we did leave about an hour later and were up there by about 11:15, and that's with me taking the scenic route. Actually, we took a faster route of of town because I wanted to avoid Elburn; this newer route shaved like ten miles off the drive! Whoa. But right before town I turned instead of going straight at a place I knew was a little confusing and we ended up coming into LG from the east end. Oh, well--the center of town is always congested, and now we know another way into it.
We were to meet grandma at noon at this little mall in town, but we got there around 11:30 and decided to wait. Good thing we did--she was already there. She and mom exchanged gifts; mom got this fortune cookie 8-ball deal, and mom gave grandma this huge ring thing. I did not get a picture of it, but it was large enough that I could fit it around my wrist. Unfortunately, it took a couple minutes for me to get it off. Whoops. We then went to lunch, at a place clearly expecting a crowd of people as there were probably 6-8 girls lined up waiting to seat people. The memorable bit there, aside from the yummy raspberry iced tea, dealt with the bathroom. Some girl was in there next to the sinks talking on her cellphone. Meanwhile, I was in the stall trying to keep an eye on the door while reaching for the toilet paper. Weirdest place for TP ever--you literally had to reach behind you in order to get it. And, while doing that, the door swung open; I knew it hadn't latched properly. Sigh. At least the food was good.
Grandma and mom go up there to do shopping; dad and I go for the scenery. The two ladies found a clothing store and went in for a while and dad and I found a bench. There were a lot of people with dogs, and one family had brought their foofy little dog into the little indoor mall where grandma and mom were shopping. Dad and I were still inside at the time, and this lady who worked there walked by and said quietly, dogs aren't allowed in here. The dad was like, what? I said, I saw a sign when I walked in. The dad and two of the kids went to find the mom and the other kid who were apparently indignant that little foofy dog wasn't allowed inside; dad and dog stood in the vestibule. A little later, while my dad and I were outside waiting, along came the same family with the same little foofy dog. The wife was like, I don't see a sign; the husband finally noticed it. Yes, it was low to the ground, but it was painted on the door and fairly obvious; he was standing right next to it when he was in the vestibule. Anyway, hello, it's a dog. Sure, it's little and cute, but it's a dog. Unless it's some sort of medical dog, which should be marked properly, it's not allowed in buildings. This tends to fall under common sense, but clearly the family lacked it.
Grandma didn't stay in LG for too long; she wanted to go to some chocolate festival in Delavan. We'd already plunked quarters into our parking meter, so we preferred to stay. Oh, and that was after my nearly getting into a car accident trying to park. There's a little alley to get to the lot we use, and some lady was coming down it when I turned onto it (by the way, I've never seen anyone go that direction down that alley, but it appeared to be two-way), so I had to back out of the alley to let her out. There ended up being a car turning left waiting for us, so I hurriedly tried to go...except I was still in reverse. Whoops. Luckily I didn't hit anything, but I was probably close. Stupid lady. And she wasn't the only one; far too many people go the wrong way down the parking lots. It's diagonal parking, people. If the cars aren't facing the direction you're going, you have a problem, and it's you. I should have checked to see if there were any foofy dogs in those wrong-way cars.
Mom decided to continue shopping while dad and I walked around. He wore new-ish shoes and didn't care to walk too much, but we still walked a decent amount and took a number of pictures. I did not manage to get one of the dopey rental cars, though. They were these mini vehicles that sort of looked like you'd taken the top and back off of a Beetle. I have no idea where they were based, so I'm guessing maybe one of the resorts or hotels. They were tiny enough that you'd think you wouldn't have a problem parking them, but I never saw them parked anywhere.
At the park across from the beach, there was a wedding going on. We kept seeing nicely-dressed people and couldn't figure out if they were undertakers or Jehovah's Witnesses. Neither--they were guests or standing up in the wedding. Also, the music they played carried over to the Riviera, the building on the lakefront that we sort of made our base. Dad bought two bags of candy from there. My blood probably tastes like Swedish fish right about now.
The weather was lovely, and aside from the religious zealots in front of the library, the day was relatively peaceful. Seriously--my parents stopped at the local convenience store for coffee before the ride home, and since I was holding all the stuff I stayed outside. Across the street I could see three men carrying signs bearing religious messages. Okay, weird, but whatever...and then they started yelling stuff about repenting and sinning and whatever. Dad and I had wanted to stop by the place kitty-corner from the convenience store because they had cool statues out front, and from that angle I could see that there was a boy holding a sign as well, and babies and toddlers sitting on a bench behind him. You know, it's all fine and dandy if you want to spout out about your religion, but I find it distasteful to make your children do your dirty work for you. At least let them form opinions on their own, not whatever you spoon-feed to them, and then let them decide if they want to join you in your crusade. The boy did not appear to be enjoying himself.
Anyway, here are a few pictures of the day:
Outside of Starbucks was some sort of flower sale, and they had all these topiaries shaped like animals. This one, shaped like a golfer, was the largest and most intricate. It was like $350. Also, that was probably the nicest Starbucks I've ever seen.
The Riviera--our home base of sorts. Dad and I waited for mom on its steps, and dad kept buying candy there. He spent like $10 on candy!
The first time, we only got the Swedish fish and sour blue soda bottles; the second, we added the cola bottles and the sharks. The sharks are so huge that my dad went to the bathroom and came back and I was still eating one. He then left, and I was like, but I have to go, and he said, I thought you went when I did! I said, I told you, it took me the whole time to eat the shark! Needless to say, we went back so I could use the bathroom.
I'm sure the water was a bit cool, but that didn't stop people from swimming. It felt pretty warm; it was hot in the sun, but surprisingly chilly in the shade when there was a breeze. The temps were supposedly in the low 70s, but it really felt closer to 80 in the sun. I somewhat regretted not wearing a sleeveless shirt, except then everyone could see my sunburn. BTW, I remembered not only the sunscreen but also a hat. I was very thankful for that hat.
I kept this large so you could read it; it's this monument in the park across the street from the lake. Pretty interesting. Where it says Williams Bay, that's close to where grandma's place was when she owned property up there. We still kind of miss having a home base up there.
Here's a picture of the fundies.
I took the second fundie pic (the one above) from the store that had these horses. They also had a dragon sculpture, but that one turned out a little dark. Dad and I totally wanted the dragon for a hypothetical yard, but then he'd have to build a moat. I said, then we could get a little bridge! This is what happens when mom goes off shopping.
The red pony outside of the Red Pony. Its building was adjacent to the sculpture place and had some really nice landscaping, which was what was inspiring dad and me while mom browsed inside the Red Pony.
There are more pictures on my Flickr page if anyone cares; LG's pretty scenic. I told dad, next time, he has to be ready to walk the path around the lake. There are some interesting yards and statues along the path.
We were to meet grandma at noon at this little mall in town, but we got there around 11:30 and decided to wait. Good thing we did--she was already there. She and mom exchanged gifts; mom got this fortune cookie 8-ball deal, and mom gave grandma this huge ring thing. I did not get a picture of it, but it was large enough that I could fit it around my wrist. Unfortunately, it took a couple minutes for me to get it off. Whoops. We then went to lunch, at a place clearly expecting a crowd of people as there were probably 6-8 girls lined up waiting to seat people. The memorable bit there, aside from the yummy raspberry iced tea, dealt with the bathroom. Some girl was in there next to the sinks talking on her cellphone. Meanwhile, I was in the stall trying to keep an eye on the door while reaching for the toilet paper. Weirdest place for TP ever--you literally had to reach behind you in order to get it. And, while doing that, the door swung open; I knew it hadn't latched properly. Sigh. At least the food was good.
Grandma and mom go up there to do shopping; dad and I go for the scenery. The two ladies found a clothing store and went in for a while and dad and I found a bench. There were a lot of people with dogs, and one family had brought their foofy little dog into the little indoor mall where grandma and mom were shopping. Dad and I were still inside at the time, and this lady who worked there walked by and said quietly, dogs aren't allowed in here. The dad was like, what? I said, I saw a sign when I walked in. The dad and two of the kids went to find the mom and the other kid who were apparently indignant that little foofy dog wasn't allowed inside; dad and dog stood in the vestibule. A little later, while my dad and I were outside waiting, along came the same family with the same little foofy dog. The wife was like, I don't see a sign; the husband finally noticed it. Yes, it was low to the ground, but it was painted on the door and fairly obvious; he was standing right next to it when he was in the vestibule. Anyway, hello, it's a dog. Sure, it's little and cute, but it's a dog. Unless it's some sort of medical dog, which should be marked properly, it's not allowed in buildings. This tends to fall under common sense, but clearly the family lacked it.
Grandma didn't stay in LG for too long; she wanted to go to some chocolate festival in Delavan. We'd already plunked quarters into our parking meter, so we preferred to stay. Oh, and that was after my nearly getting into a car accident trying to park. There's a little alley to get to the lot we use, and some lady was coming down it when I turned onto it (by the way, I've never seen anyone go that direction down that alley, but it appeared to be two-way), so I had to back out of the alley to let her out. There ended up being a car turning left waiting for us, so I hurriedly tried to go...except I was still in reverse. Whoops. Luckily I didn't hit anything, but I was probably close. Stupid lady. And she wasn't the only one; far too many people go the wrong way down the parking lots. It's diagonal parking, people. If the cars aren't facing the direction you're going, you have a problem, and it's you. I should have checked to see if there were any foofy dogs in those wrong-way cars.
Mom decided to continue shopping while dad and I walked around. He wore new-ish shoes and didn't care to walk too much, but we still walked a decent amount and took a number of pictures. I did not manage to get one of the dopey rental cars, though. They were these mini vehicles that sort of looked like you'd taken the top and back off of a Beetle. I have no idea where they were based, so I'm guessing maybe one of the resorts or hotels. They were tiny enough that you'd think you wouldn't have a problem parking them, but I never saw them parked anywhere.
At the park across from the beach, there was a wedding going on. We kept seeing nicely-dressed people and couldn't figure out if they were undertakers or Jehovah's Witnesses. Neither--they were guests or standing up in the wedding. Also, the music they played carried over to the Riviera, the building on the lakefront that we sort of made our base. Dad bought two bags of candy from there. My blood probably tastes like Swedish fish right about now.
The weather was lovely, and aside from the religious zealots in front of the library, the day was relatively peaceful. Seriously--my parents stopped at the local convenience store for coffee before the ride home, and since I was holding all the stuff I stayed outside. Across the street I could see three men carrying signs bearing religious messages. Okay, weird, but whatever...and then they started yelling stuff about repenting and sinning and whatever. Dad and I had wanted to stop by the place kitty-corner from the convenience store because they had cool statues out front, and from that angle I could see that there was a boy holding a sign as well, and babies and toddlers sitting on a bench behind him. You know, it's all fine and dandy if you want to spout out about your religion, but I find it distasteful to make your children do your dirty work for you. At least let them form opinions on their own, not whatever you spoon-feed to them, and then let them decide if they want to join you in your crusade. The boy did not appear to be enjoying himself.
Anyway, here are a few pictures of the day:
Outside of Starbucks was some sort of flower sale, and they had all these topiaries shaped like animals. This one, shaped like a golfer, was the largest and most intricate. It was like $350. Also, that was probably the nicest Starbucks I've ever seen.
The Riviera--our home base of sorts. Dad and I waited for mom on its steps, and dad kept buying candy there. He spent like $10 on candy!
The first time, we only got the Swedish fish and sour blue soda bottles; the second, we added the cola bottles and the sharks. The sharks are so huge that my dad went to the bathroom and came back and I was still eating one. He then left, and I was like, but I have to go, and he said, I thought you went when I did! I said, I told you, it took me the whole time to eat the shark! Needless to say, we went back so I could use the bathroom.
I'm sure the water was a bit cool, but that didn't stop people from swimming. It felt pretty warm; it was hot in the sun, but surprisingly chilly in the shade when there was a breeze. The temps were supposedly in the low 70s, but it really felt closer to 80 in the sun. I somewhat regretted not wearing a sleeveless shirt, except then everyone could see my sunburn. BTW, I remembered not only the sunscreen but also a hat. I was very thankful for that hat.
I kept this large so you could read it; it's this monument in the park across the street from the lake. Pretty interesting. Where it says Williams Bay, that's close to where grandma's place was when she owned property up there. We still kind of miss having a home base up there.
Here's a picture of the fundies.
I took the second fundie pic (the one above) from the store that had these horses. They also had a dragon sculpture, but that one turned out a little dark. Dad and I totally wanted the dragon for a hypothetical yard, but then he'd have to build a moat. I said, then we could get a little bridge! This is what happens when mom goes off shopping.
The red pony outside of the Red Pony. Its building was adjacent to the sculpture place and had some really nice landscaping, which was what was inspiring dad and me while mom browsed inside the Red Pony.
There are more pictures on my Flickr page if anyone cares; LG's pretty scenic. I told dad, next time, he has to be ready to walk the path around the lake. There are some interesting yards and statues along the path.