Wanderlust

I think celebration is in order – we finally found a geocache! Well, yes… another geocacher did point it out first, but I think that’s just a small pesky detail of our hunt. We dropped a bug, signed our names proudly, and (of course) snapped a picture to save the moment. The guy with us was planning on spending the entire day driving around the area and finding as many caches as possible; we had only one goal – to find this specific one. And had given ourselves hours to do so. Hehe. Good thing it didn’t take hours, otherwise I have a feeling it would’ve been death for my geocaching hobby. Again. At least for another month.

There are great trails in and around the Starved Rock State Park. Warning though – declines + terrain during winter = falling. I think I slid about 20 feet on this one, thankfully came to a halt before the huge rocky ravine. Yes, that is my butt mark. I like sledding and all, but wasn’t planning on it so abruptly and painfully, and I didn’t have a sled. Cujo and Charlie stayed upright, yeah yeah, walking experts or whatever.

So, you know the show American Idol? Well, I don’t really watch it, but in this area of Illinois it’s pretty popular. Most of the small towns have the contest on a smaller scale. We went to the ‘Rockstar” competition for the Ottawa area naively – totally expected a handful of people singing karaoke style – thought it would be something to do and somewhere to have a drink and be entertained. We were FLOORED! It was packed – standing room only in a huge lodge – I’m guessing 200 people to watch, eat dinner and vote, the contestants were GREAT, and the process was professional with judges and feedback. If it was like karaoke at all, it was karaoke on steroids. I want to go back and watch next week’s theme is 80s – my favorite! I suppose instead, I will watch from afar.

Guy Fieri is my hero. He’s the host of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network. He is that lucky schmuck that goes around the country and eats all the good low key places. He is also the one who introduced me to Paradise Pup in Chicago. Healthy is not how it’s described, but oh man it’s good. They have char burgers with this cheddar spread – it’s like a paste or a spread – and tastes much better than that sounds. They put it on fries, too. The burgers are juicy and the bun is grilled, and the onions are too. Sooooo good. Trust Guy. Yeah, we went back for seconds, so what?

The Museum of Science and Industry was a beautiful building, and held a submarine and a 727. However, the 727 wasn’t accessible and the submarine tour cost extra. I suppose I lacked a little planning as my expectations were much higher than reality. It always irks me when there are extra add-ons. Like those damn grocery store ‘rewards’ cards you have to sign up for. Just give me best price without me giving you my phone number. Anyway, we saw the outsides of the plane and sub. And we saw a baby chick peck out of it’s shell. There was also a little movie/exhibit about the power of 10 that was neato – moved out into the deep black at a power of 10 in 10 seconds, then back in. Gave you that – whoa I am but a speck of dust – feeling.

Millennium Park is really an incredible area of Chicago. It’s huge, and it houses a slew of art, architecture and events. The Cloud Gate held our attention for quite a while - wandering around it, in it, looking at all the angles of ourselves and the skyline in the abstract blob of mercury. Check out the reflection behind us. There is an exhibit called the Museum of Modern Ice during February, and it’s basically that – colorful art in ice slabs. There is also a fountain area which displays heads of Chicago residents on a big tower. Adjacent is the Chicago Cultural Center which had exhibits ranging from artist’s neurosis to maps/geography. Those were really, really interesting and really, really odd. In a good way, of course.