Are we there yet? 2013: September 2015

Monday, September 28, 2015

The last of Illinois!?!

August 24th-September 20th-Our visit to Illinois continued.
September 13, 2015-Sunday-This morning Lennie & I are going to drive into Chicago to the "NEW" Maxwell Street. It's no longer on Maxwell Street but it's still fun to go there. Pretty much all the vendors are Spanish including the food, which is a great thing!!!

We're here, the "NEW" Maxwell Street in Chicago!

Playing the BLUES........

EVERYONE looking for a bargain!

Something for Everyone?????

If you can't find anything you need, you can always buy lunch! Which we did!

The food line, we've been here before, we know he's good, but do we want to wait that long???

I bet they're all good!?!

OH boy.....he's paying for our meal! I got Lengua(Beef TONGUE) Tacos!!!

Lennie "GETTING DOWN"?????

Good-bye Maxwell Street till another time.......

Good-bye Chicago, see you another time!

More of Illinois

August 24th-September 20, 2015-

September 9, 2015-Wednesday-It does seem like that's all we do is eat when we're traveling.....it's not necessarily true but.....it does seem to be a little more true while we're in Illinois, because with all our family & friends working or in school....it seems we only have time to meet for something to eat, which is what we did today when we met up with Lennie Ray for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes!

Sweet Tomatoes is a great place to eat, but how many eating pictures do we need to look at!?!

September 10, 2015-Thursday Today is SENIOR DAY at the Sandwich Fair!!! We always try to get to the fair while we're in town, especially on Senior Day! Originally Leif was going with us to the Fair till he realized he had a Dental appointment on the same day? I think I'd rather go to the fair!?! We chose today to go to the fair, mostly because it is SENIOR day, but also because the 5 day forecast predicts today to be the best weather day. We've been having our share of rain!!!We decide to go fairly early that way if it clouds over & rains in the afternoon, we'll be ready to leave! Sooooo, we're off to the fair!!!

What's with all the traffic???? Oh right....SENIOR DAY at the Fair!

Look at 'em all piling in!!!!

This is where I want to go!!!!

Come back for me later Len!

Making our way to the Mid-Way with all the other Seniors!!!

Our main Fair Goal is to have Fay's Bar-B-Que either for lunch or dinner!

A fair gimmick, this would be a GREAT Halloween costume!

You can't really see it in this picture but......storm clouds were lurking & before we knew it a steady downpour, I never saw so many "SENIORS" in one building at one time, except the time we attended an AARP's Convention!?! We the rain let up....we let out! Enough of the Fair &......we didn't have bar-b-que!!!!

The day wasn't a total loss!!! Lana text me she was stopping by our RV Park after work to take me by Matt's house to see Matt & Ashley's new puppy, a Dachador=part Dachshund....part Labrador!

When Lana arrived she told me Katie wanted to ride over there with us, since they live close by, I could see Jeff & Katie's new house as well as Matt & Ashley's new house &....the new PUPPY!!!

Jeff & Katie's house......I don't know why I didn't take a picture of the back yard, they really put a lot of work into it including a fire pit.....

I guess we all collect something, & Jeff just happens to collect farm toys & he's created a whole farm village!(This was just part of his collection!)
On to Matt & Ashley's house!

It was hard to pretend we were only there to see the new puppy, VAN!!!
Both kids have real nice houses, but boy oh boy.....that puppy is sooooooooo cute!!!

Just look at Van, isn't he just a bundle of cuteness!?!
I guess we better go! We could be interrupting some one's dinner!?!

"Good-Bye Van, you'll be a Big Boy the next time I see you!!!!"

September 12, 2015-Saturday-Today was a nothing day, I wouldn't be posting except.....2 gals I use to work with at BRK Electronics came by Hi-Tide to visit with me for a while! It was a nice surprise!

Me & Wildes

Wildes & Sheila

(There's another picture of me & Sheila but....I'll have to work on that one!!

Friday, September 11, 2015

Still in Illinois........

August 24th-September 20, 2015-When we first arrived in Illinois, we were surprised at their "FALL-like" weather which lasted about a week! The second week summer came back with a vengeance!!!!Never satisfied!!! We did our usual things while we were here......
September 2, 2015-Wednesday

We had pizza at Ginos with Kevin & Reese(I bet Reese wishes I would have taken the picture after he was done with his pizza bite!?!) Reese was sporting a broken arm, we HAD to write on his cast!

Reese fell off his electric bike doing 20 MPH on a flat tire going around a corner where he met up with a pot hole??? This is a kid that got almost a perfect score on his ACT tests!!!!

September 4, 2015-Friday-Tonight Lennie & I are going to Sycamore Speedway to watch the Demolition Races. Sycamore Speedway is a race track Lennie has been enjoying since he was 16 years old. During our marriage we've gone there ourselves many weekends with & without our kids up until we eventually moved to Florida. It was always a fun time! We asked Leif if he wanted to join us, which he did, so he came over for a light dinner, & we were off to the races!

The time trials start at 7:30pm, after dinner we start that "country" drive! We do have the benefit of the sun starting to set!

There was a real crowd waiting to get in!!!

Line em up.....

Ready, Set, Race!

Oh-Oh....

Fans of ALL ages come out here!

Demolition....my favorite!

No serious racing events tonight, just plain ole fun!!!!

While we were in Illinois.....

August 24th-September 20, 2015

Here we are back in Illinois. We knew when we were here in May that we would be back in Illinois in September, we had some real estate dealings we hoped would be resolved by now.....unfortunately....it didn't work out that way for us!?!

Coming now to Illinois, in September, makes visiting with family & friends difficult. Just about everyone we know is either working or in school. We spent a lot of days out at Hi-Tide by ourselves doing nothing!

There was a lot of relaxing going on, tell me Lennie doesn't SPOIL that dog!

We've already had lunch, Otis is now trying to negotiate a little something extra for himself!?!

August 27, 2015-Thursday- Today Sonic is celebrating 50 cents Corn Dogs & we are there!!!!

Note our bikes on the back of our car!?!

At 50 cents a corn dog, we had 2 each! Len even got us a order of onion rings to share!

Sometimes junk food just tastes soooooooo good!!!!!!
Our lunch was yummy, not so healthy.....we'll take care of that! That's why our bikes are on the back of our car! We're going to ride from North Aurora to Batavia.

Ready to roll.....

not too far.....

Overlooking the Fox River in Batavia.

And a Batavia Bulldog standing proud!

It was an easy ride to Batavia, it was a nice day, we decided to ride on to Geneva.....

The windmill at Fabyan Park. When I was in third grade in Wheaton, our class trip was to the windmill here at Fabyan Park!!!

It's a nice ride along the Fox River

Look what we found in Geneva!?!

I guess our bike ride took care of the corn dogs? If not.....it was a reward for riding that far,

& back!

August 29, 2015-Saturday-Tonight Lennie & I are attending a surprise 70th birthday party for Betty McAlister, an old friend & coworker from our work days at BRK Electronics. When I was visiting in May, Alice & I caught up to Betty. Her sister Dorothy was present & managed to tell Alice of the surprise birthday party. Worked out for me as I knew Lennie & I would be back from Colorado in time to attend!The party starts at 5:00pm. We're going to be early enough so we can get in on the surprise effect! The party is being held at the Prisco building in Aurora. Betty is coming to the building under the guise she's having church pictures taken!

They were finishing decorating & setting up the food when Lennie & I arrived.

Alice brought her great grand daughter, Shinaya

Here comes the Bishop of their church, Mt Olivet, Betty's got to be coming soon!?!

Here's Betty & she IS surprised!!!

She's crying.....

She's just now realizing who all is there including all 5 of her kids, 4 of them live out of town & kept it all under wraps!

I was checking out the birthday cake!

The food was excellent!!

The Bishop giving Betty some meaningful birthday words(he talked too long!)

The Bishop introducing Betty's 5 kids!

Entertainment!(They're playing HAPPY BIRTHDAY!)

LONG time FRIENDS!!!!

The party was a lot of fun & the food was EXCELLENT!!!!

August 30, 2015-Sunday-Today is Chris' birthday! We're going to have dinner with her at her favorite restaurant, Fireside, in Sugar Grove. As usual.....she had to work later!