What a great weekend in Bloomington! I got to see so many people, starting Wednesday evening at my welcome back party, then all weekend I was happy to catch up with lots of friends.
There was a little snag in the adventure as Wednesday night, sometime after leaving Lunkers, but before getting to my car, I lost my wallet (a span of less than 5 minutes and maybe 150 yards.) However, that was after a great gathering of people from many parts of my life here in Illinois. To be honest, I was totally overwhelmed by how many people showed, and felt bad that I didn't talk to everyone at the length that I wanted to before leaving to later obligations. But thanks everyone for coming! BN folks, Medici folks, ISU peeps, Coffee Hound family and those that came into my world through a friend of a friend of a friend - It was awesome!
Lunkers was the slower side of the night, with just a handful of people gathered to chat, sing a little karaoke, and drink some beers.
Then the weekend!
I love October for various reasons but in recent years, I've come to love the crossover from baseball to football. We get fall colors, cooler temperatures, baseball playoffs, football start ups, BBQs, homecomings, and to tie it all together, cute scarfs to top it off. Friday, I got most of those, as Val hosted an evening of Yankee/Angel playoff action. Who doesn't love sitting in a cozy basement drinking beer, snacking, and watching baseball? You know you do!
Saturday was more baseball. Quality time with Dan. Seeing Danny and David. Seeing John again, only at his new job (Yay John!). I decided it would be a good idea to meet Alex at 6:15 and cheer on the runners in this year's Town and Gown 5k. Silly Ariel! It was freezing! Alex and I stayed warm by dishing out hot plates of sarcasm to each other. Tell you what, that a few chuckles only gets you so far against mother nature.
Sunday was more Dan, coffee, football (!!!), Kristy, Alex, and a health dose of nap time thrown in the middle there somewhere.
And as you can tell, I'm posting an update, but what you can't see is that it's on my computer! Oliver has risen from the dead with the help of Jonathan, my super ninja computer friend that offered to just wipe the whole hard drive and reinstall the necessary drivers and programs. Yessssss!!!! It is so nice to turn it on and not have a million warning messages telling me - in as many words - that my computer is in the process of self destruction. Oliver just happily hums along now. Eager to do my bidding. I'm starting to really understand the power of knowing the right people.
Dan went back to Carbondale today. He was nice enough to come up this weekend and bring my passport so I had an identity again, and some things I forgot before leaving for Miah and Jessie's last week. I leave for Champaign tomorrow morning for four more days of playing with the kiddos. Sadly, Dad is leaving Illinois tomorrow morning, but I'm glad I get to see him one more time. I don't know when I'll see him next. I'm not planning any long road trips for my near future, that's for sure. : )
The only other exciting piece of news is that along with fixing my computer, Jonathan let me borrow a camera he had laying around, so I will be able to load photos of my life, both in Champaign and in Carbondale. You should see it! And you will!
Ok. Enough about me.
Showing posts with label Trip Home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Trip Home. Show all posts
Sunday, October 18
Friday, July 24
Lots of exciting
I made my reservation for the ferry ride home today. The ship usually fills up quick at the end of the season so I decided to go ahead and book it. So here it is, my official leave date:
September 29th
Yessss.
My friend Lauren Looper is going to be coming back down with me, and she asked if we could leave a full day after the last day, so we could attend all of the end of the year festivities and not have raging headaches when we were traveling. I thought that was a good idea. So instead of leaving Monday then spending the night in Skagway, we're leaving Tuesday and starting the trip on the road about noon. Four hours isn't the end of the world. The huge plus to having Lauren come along (besides not be alone for the 3400 mile trip) is she is all about driving as long as possible. No sleeping time needed! One restriction will be if the gas stations in BC are open through the night, but that will only matter in the far north.
It is early, but here is a tentative travel schedule:
Sept 29 -Leave Juneau, start road portion
S. 30 & 31 - Driving Yukon and BC
October 1 - Arrive in Spokane
Oct. 1-6 - Stay in Spokane
Oct 6 or 7 -Leave for Illinois
October 9 or 10 - Arrive in IL!
Lauren was planning on flying to Chicago after she got back down to Seattle, so she was excited to change her plans and hop a ride with Kodak and I. I may need to make some alterations to my car (ie: add a luggage rack to the roof) but I'm not quite sure about all that. Now that I know how much room the cat takes up on a trip, I can load way more stuff in the inside. I have no idea how much stuff Lauren has.
The more exciting news in my world is that Dan is back from India! There was a mishap with his cell phone while he was there, but as of yesterday, I am no longer at the whim of the Indian telecommunications system/Dan's schedule/14.5 hour time delay! We can talk anytime we want to!
Also, Dan has made his reservation to see me, and August 9th can't get here soon enough! Ten days of Dan! It was such a great surprise that he would be staying that long :) I'm going to be a mess to put up with. Let me apologize in advance for my lack of concentration, fool-faced smiles coming from seemingly nowhere, and random spurts of happy jumping about - I really can't help myself.
September 29th
Yessss.
My friend Lauren Looper is going to be coming back down with me, and she asked if we could leave a full day after the last day, so we could attend all of the end of the year festivities and not have raging headaches when we were traveling. I thought that was a good idea. So instead of leaving Monday then spending the night in Skagway, we're leaving Tuesday and starting the trip on the road about noon. Four hours isn't the end of the world. The huge plus to having Lauren come along (besides not be alone for the 3400 mile trip) is she is all about driving as long as possible. No sleeping time needed! One restriction will be if the gas stations in BC are open through the night, but that will only matter in the far north.
It is early, but here is a tentative travel schedule:
Sept 29 -Leave Juneau, start road portion
S. 30 & 31 - Driving Yukon and BC
October 1 - Arrive in Spokane
Oct. 1-6 - Stay in Spokane
Oct 6 or 7 -Leave for Illinois
October 9 or 10 - Arrive in IL!
Lauren was planning on flying to Chicago after she got back down to Seattle, so she was excited to change her plans and hop a ride with Kodak and I. I may need to make some alterations to my car (ie: add a luggage rack to the roof) but I'm not quite sure about all that. Now that I know how much room the cat takes up on a trip, I can load way more stuff in the inside. I have no idea how much stuff Lauren has.
The more exciting news in my world is that Dan is back from India! There was a mishap with his cell phone while he was there, but as of yesterday, I am no longer at the whim of the Indian telecommunications system/Dan's schedule/14.5 hour time delay! We can talk anytime we want to!
Also, Dan has made his reservation to see me, and August 9th can't get here soon enough! Ten days of Dan! It was such a great surprise that he would be staying that long :) I'm going to be a mess to put up with. Let me apologize in advance for my lack of concentration, fool-faced smiles coming from seemingly nowhere, and random spurts of happy jumping about - I really can't help myself.
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