Thursday, July 3, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 11pm (took a while to fall asleep), I got up once during the night to pee and turn a heater on, finally waking/getting up at 6am.

I hit the shower first followed soon by Teresa then Laura so at the moment we’re ahead of schedule.

We blew the circuit breaker again and I had to reset it.

By 6:45 we were all showered and dressed so now it’s just an issue of Laura putting on makeup. 😊

We left the apt at 7:30 and drove to Deerfield Bakery where I grabbed a sugar (cake style) donut right away. The same Mexican working in the kitchen helped Teresa with her order. Teresa had The Classic (eggs, sausage patties, wheat toast), I had the Veggie Scramble (eggs, tomato, onion with wheat toast) and Laura had The Omelette (spinach, onion, ham, bacon, cheese with wheat toast). We all had medium lattes and I picked up the check of $64.74.

Laura set up GPS on the dashboard so I wouldn’t have to look down at my cellphone. We basically took I-90 West stopping in Belvidere for gas. (Mistake, while we were out of the higher taxes of Cook County, we were still in Illinois and I paid $3.459 per gallon.)

We arrived at The House on the Rock right at noon as I hoped and planned. I paid $71.64 for entry for Teresa and I and Laura paid hers herself.

In one word, The House on the Rock is “overwhelming”. If you’ve never been there, you have to see it. Section 1 includes Asian Garden, Alex Jordan Center, Original House & Infinity Room. Section 2 includes Mill House, Streets of Yesteryear, Heritage of the Sea, Tribute to Nostalgia, Atrium Restaurant, Music of Yesterday, Spirit of Aviation, and Carousel Room. Section 3 contains Organ Room, Inspiration Point, Doll House Room, Circus Room, Galleries, Doll Carousel Building, and Japanese Garden.

(Sorry more videos didn't make the cut; apparently, they are too long.)

We had stopped off at their ice cream parlor and had a scoop of ice cream for $5.50 each.

We finished at 3pm, all tired and ready to return home.

I remembered a road sign for The World’s Largest Culver’s and stopped off there for a late lunch. Laura and I had burgers (I had a root beer) and Teresa a spring salad with chicken. Teresa surprised me after by ordering chicken nuggets so in the meantime I went next door to the Mobil station and filled up with gas for $2.899 a gallon.

Teresa really enjoyed the experience but doesn’t want to take such a long road trip (3 hours) again so I guess that nixes a trip to Wisconsin Dells.

When we got off I-90 Teresa blurted out she wants to stop for ice cream. I had just passed a Baskin-Robbins so had to drive around a few blocks then missed its driveway and had to drive around a few (less) blocks before finding the entrance. They each had a scoop of ice cream and I just had a taste.

I stopped at a 7-11 and bought a newspaper.

We were back at the apt by 8:30 and I spent the remaining time before bed completing the crossword puzzle.

We were all in bed by 10pm.

 

FUNNY