Chicago Part 3
So the ride home from Chicago was not nearly as interesting as the ride there. For one, we forgot to take the picture of the cross that said "Aborted Children" on it, so that is unfortunately missing from webshots. We did however, make a note of when we "returned" to the Central Time Zone, and laughed about it. Oh, and I called Greg to update him on the results of the competition, which he was also monitoring via batontwirling.com, haha. I kind of fell asleep in the car ~ it was difficult to get comfy enough to really sleep but I was basically brain dead after everything. We called Katie Dau on the ride home to make tentative plans for the night - YAY FOR MEETING KATIE DAU! Okay so we got home around 4:30 or 5ish, and Susan's mom decided we could eat at 6:30 since we weren't hungry yet after our late Subway lunch. We uploaded pics and videos from the competition and watched them, yay for twirling! I mean can we just revisit the fact that I went to NATIONALS for TWIRLING? S^2 certainly does pick interesting adventures. All for the love of KariLittle... PS we are going to go back next year if possible, haha...
So Susan's mom cooked a delicious dinner of corn on the cob (I had to tell you this because I haven't had it in SO LONG and I forgot how much I like it!!!), burgers, and potato salad. Yuuuummy. Then, I tried on some of Susan's prom dresses from past years, and decided to steal (read: borrow) her maroon one! I really need to get that pressed right this second... someone remind me when I get home? Haha. ANYWAY... Katie Dau shows up while I'm in the dress, and I'm like hi! We are playing dress up! Lol... good times. Katie is super. Then Jackie and her friend who is staying with her this summer (Carl) came too. We were going to rent a movie buuuut we never got around to it. Instead we looked at Susan's Glamours and talked for a few hours. Katie was really tired from her week at camp so they all left pretty early, and then Susan and I watched the end of some scary movie before bed... I forget what it's called but some guy's son gets taken hostage by a cop basically. Sooo yeah, then we went to bed early-ish (12:30?) because we had to get up early for church!
So this is exciting - because Susan, while she likes some churches, is not super into going to church. But Ryan Dau has invited her to go to Willow Creek Community Church the past few weeks, and she really likes is, so we went with him! It's a super church, a lot like Grace but bigger. (Read: John would dislike it because it has skits and no hymns.) And by bigger, I mean escalators in the building because the auditorium is 3 tiers!!!! CRAZY! So after church we went to "lunch" aka breakfast, since we went to the 9am service we went out to eat at 10:30/11am... but we needed to go early because I had still not seen the city! Brunch was super because I got to ask Ryan about his job and such, since he majored in business and got his master's in tax and does stock stuff, and I'm not sure what I want to do with my life, but I like business.
After church & lunch we said goobye to Ryan Dau and got ready for Chicago!!! Now, first I should probably mention that it was 100 degrees outside, so boo for that. Susan's mom packed me a sandwich and an apple so I could have dinner at the airport before my flight, and we packed up the car and went down! First we did the Sears Tower and got super pictures. Then we walked over to the W (insert laughter that almost no one understands here, but unfortunately, it was a day too late to be really fun), where we picked up the free trolley to Navy Pier. Navy Pier was super. There were American Airline signs which I gave a thumbs down to, and Coast Guard men with BIG BIG GUNS, which we gave a "huh" to. However, the pretty water and music playing got a thumbs up. We had to go inside several times to get out of the heat for a few minutes, though. Then we trolleyed back to the W, thinking we would use our remaining time shopping (Coach was across the street!) only to find that Chicago (or the part we were in) closes Sunday. Literally, almost everything - Coach, convience stores, Starbucks, restaurants! What the heck!??!! I have to find out if this is by law, tradition, or what. I mean, WHO DOES THAT? But other parts of the city we drove past were open, so we are rather confused. Any help there would be much appreciated. Anyway, we finally found a place at their Union Station to buy a soda and sit, and then we headed to the car and for the airport.
OH Airport. Silly O'Hare. And by silly, I mean my delay there had been caused by their air traffic controllers, so I was pessamistic going into the flight. Nothing too bad happend. I had my first odd occurance trying to get through security. Not the part where they look at your bags - but just your boarding pass & ID. This lady takes my license and boarding pass and looks at it for a while. She's like hmmm the expiration date... hmm.. and keeps looking at me. Okay - the expiration date on my license is DECEMBER 2006! And it's really my license. I mean, what the heck lady? FINALLY she gives it back to me and I keep going. After that, other than a 15 minute-ish delay in flight, it was smooth sailing. Well actually the plan ride was pretty bumpy but it was fine. I sat next to two people from Iowa who were going to a conference in DC, about children. The guy next to me was blind and the woman was helping him, and they were coworkers going to this conference. We had an interesting conversation for a little bit.
The metro ride home was slow, because (1) When I got to L'Enfant to switch from yellow to green, the next green was 17 minutes away. It was also the LAST green, so THANK GOD my flight wasn't delayed by 30 minutes, because I might not have made it!!! Then once we got on the green line, they told us Greenbelt was having some issues so we were going to delay for 1 minute at every stop to give them time to be ready for the train... so it was a good solid 10-12 minutes longer than normal, but no worries. Except there was a lady on the train who was clearly not from the United States and spoke poor English who wouldn't leave me alone! She's like "Does this go to Greenbelt?" So I said yes. Not a problem, I like to help people go the right way. But then she kept asking me weird things like "Is PG Plaza near Greenbelt?" So I explained to her that it was 2 stops away, and that Greenbelt was the last stop. Then I point out the map to her, since she's right next to it... and she's like "but then where is Hyattsville? Is that near Greenbelt?" Maybe I should mention I'm trying to read Harry Potter this whole time, so I'm starting to get annoyed, because she's looking at the map and asking me simple questions... so then she starts asking about buses and I tell her I am not familar with any buses, especially the ones at Greenbelt, and that I never take the buses. THEN she asks me if I can drive her somewhere, and I'm like sorry I can't... but she keeps saying "What if there is no bus at Greenbelt, where do I go?" So I tell her to call a cab and ask her where in Greenbelt she is going, and she says oh a car is there waiting for me. So I'm like okay you have a car, and she KEEPS ASKING ME FOR A RIDE. I was like I'm getting off before you ma'am, sorry... and then she just keeps rambling about stuff and I'm like okay I'm REALLY into HP right now, grr... okay so I know it's petty that I'm complaining about that but she seriously did not shut up for the ENTIRE ride and I had nothing to say to her, she was just being random. Anyway... Pammy and Misha picked me up from the metro around 12:15, just as it started raining, and I made it back to my apartment around 12:30. I got in, HAD to shower from the sweatiness I had acquired earlier in the 114 degree heat index of Chicago, and finally crashed a little bit after 1am.
*THE END OF MY CRAZY CHICAGO TRIP*
So Susan's mom cooked a delicious dinner of corn on the cob (I had to tell you this because I haven't had it in SO LONG and I forgot how much I like it!!!), burgers, and potato salad. Yuuuummy. Then, I tried on some of Susan's prom dresses from past years, and decided to steal (read: borrow) her maroon one! I really need to get that pressed right this second... someone remind me when I get home? Haha. ANYWAY... Katie Dau shows up while I'm in the dress, and I'm like hi! We are playing dress up! Lol... good times. Katie is super. Then Jackie and her friend who is staying with her this summer (Carl) came too. We were going to rent a movie buuuut we never got around to it. Instead we looked at Susan's Glamours and talked for a few hours. Katie was really tired from her week at camp so they all left pretty early, and then Susan and I watched the end of some scary movie before bed... I forget what it's called but some guy's son gets taken hostage by a cop basically. Sooo yeah, then we went to bed early-ish (12:30?) because we had to get up early for church!
So this is exciting - because Susan, while she likes some churches, is not super into going to church. But Ryan Dau has invited her to go to Willow Creek Community Church the past few weeks, and she really likes is, so we went with him! It's a super church, a lot like Grace but bigger. (Read: John would dislike it because it has skits and no hymns.) And by bigger, I mean escalators in the building because the auditorium is 3 tiers!!!! CRAZY! So after church we went to "lunch" aka breakfast, since we went to the 9am service we went out to eat at 10:30/11am... but we needed to go early because I had still not seen the city! Brunch was super because I got to ask Ryan about his job and such, since he majored in business and got his master's in tax and does stock stuff, and I'm not sure what I want to do with my life, but I like business.
After church & lunch we said goobye to Ryan Dau and got ready for Chicago!!! Now, first I should probably mention that it was 100 degrees outside, so boo for that. Susan's mom packed me a sandwich and an apple so I could have dinner at the airport before my flight, and we packed up the car and went down! First we did the Sears Tower and got super pictures. Then we walked over to the W (insert laughter that almost no one understands here, but unfortunately, it was a day too late to be really fun), where we picked up the free trolley to Navy Pier. Navy Pier was super. There were American Airline signs which I gave a thumbs down to, and Coast Guard men with BIG BIG GUNS, which we gave a "huh" to. However, the pretty water and music playing got a thumbs up. We had to go inside several times to get out of the heat for a few minutes, though. Then we trolleyed back to the W, thinking we would use our remaining time shopping (Coach was across the street!) only to find that Chicago (or the part we were in) closes Sunday. Literally, almost everything - Coach, convience stores, Starbucks, restaurants! What the heck!??!! I have to find out if this is by law, tradition, or what. I mean, WHO DOES THAT? But other parts of the city we drove past were open, so we are rather confused. Any help there would be much appreciated. Anyway, we finally found a place at their Union Station to buy a soda and sit, and then we headed to the car and for the airport.
OH Airport. Silly O'Hare. And by silly, I mean my delay there had been caused by their air traffic controllers, so I was pessamistic going into the flight. Nothing too bad happend. I had my first odd occurance trying to get through security. Not the part where they look at your bags - but just your boarding pass & ID. This lady takes my license and boarding pass and looks at it for a while. She's like hmmm the expiration date... hmm.. and keeps looking at me. Okay - the expiration date on my license is DECEMBER 2006! And it's really my license. I mean, what the heck lady? FINALLY she gives it back to me and I keep going. After that, other than a 15 minute-ish delay in flight, it was smooth sailing. Well actually the plan ride was pretty bumpy but it was fine. I sat next to two people from Iowa who were going to a conference in DC, about children. The guy next to me was blind and the woman was helping him, and they were coworkers going to this conference. We had an interesting conversation for a little bit.
The metro ride home was slow, because (1) When I got to L'Enfant to switch from yellow to green, the next green was 17 minutes away. It was also the LAST green, so THANK GOD my flight wasn't delayed by 30 minutes, because I might not have made it!!! Then once we got on the green line, they told us Greenbelt was having some issues so we were going to delay for 1 minute at every stop to give them time to be ready for the train... so it was a good solid 10-12 minutes longer than normal, but no worries. Except there was a lady on the train who was clearly not from the United States and spoke poor English who wouldn't leave me alone! She's like "Does this go to Greenbelt?" So I said yes. Not a problem, I like to help people go the right way. But then she kept asking me weird things like "Is PG Plaza near Greenbelt?" So I explained to her that it was 2 stops away, and that Greenbelt was the last stop. Then I point out the map to her, since she's right next to it... and she's like "but then where is Hyattsville? Is that near Greenbelt?" Maybe I should mention I'm trying to read Harry Potter this whole time, so I'm starting to get annoyed, because she's looking at the map and asking me simple questions... so then she starts asking about buses and I tell her I am not familar with any buses, especially the ones at Greenbelt, and that I never take the buses. THEN she asks me if I can drive her somewhere, and I'm like sorry I can't... but she keeps saying "What if there is no bus at Greenbelt, where do I go?" So I tell her to call a cab and ask her where in Greenbelt she is going, and she says oh a car is there waiting for me. So I'm like okay you have a car, and she KEEPS ASKING ME FOR A RIDE. I was like I'm getting off before you ma'am, sorry... and then she just keeps rambling about stuff and I'm like okay I'm REALLY into HP right now, grr... okay so I know it's petty that I'm complaining about that but she seriously did not shut up for the ENTIRE ride and I had nothing to say to her, she was just being random. Anyway... Pammy and Misha picked me up from the metro around 12:15, just as it started raining, and I made it back to my apartment around 12:30. I got in, HAD to shower from the sweatiness I had acquired earlier in the 114 degree heat index of Chicago, and finally crashed a little bit after 1am.
*THE END OF MY CRAZY CHICAGO TRIP*