Sunday, July 6, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 11pm, got up 5am to pee, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Teresa got up at 8:30 and Laura a few minutes later.

I got a call from Bart on my old cellphone on the -0859 number and we made plans to meet for breakfast tomorrow at 9:30 at First Watch in Schaumburg.

We left at 9:45 and drove to Sugar Bowl where we had a nice breakfast. We either had to hurry to catch the 10:44 train or take our time to catch the 11:44. We decided to drive to Chinatown which I did with Laura’s navigational help.

Laura found a good parking spot right before an underpass but when I got out of the car, I saw it was a Tow Zone. A couple blocks further I found a spot and was able to practice my parallel parking. (Luckily, it was a large spot.) I took a photo to show Jimmy where we were (which came in handy later when returning to our car).

We walked a few blocks and met Jimmy by the Chicago Library (closed on Sundays).

Jimmy guided us around the area including the area we had covered last time we were here.

I stopped in Veggie House to use their restroom and was told it’s only for customers. I told him we ate here last week and plan to return later. He let me go ahead and use their restroom.

We walked around some more and eventually stopped in a bakery where I bought a cup of iced tea so I could use their restroom.

In AJ Housewares & Gifts I bought a “I Love Chicago” nail trimmer for $2.99.

We had something to eat in Veggie House where Jimmy pointed out that our Broccoli Soy Beef wasn’t beef, it was made from soy. The sauce must have made the day, as it was as delicious as last time. We also had the spring rolls again and Laura ordered a couple items.

I picked up the check of $67.42, including tip.

We walked around a bit more then said goodbye to Jimmy. We’ll be seeing him again Tuesday morning for the Chicago River Architectural Tour in Spanish.

We found our car pretty easily and drove in heavy traffic (and a little rain) to Terminal 5 at O’Hare Airport. Unfortunately, I was at the drop-off point and Laura had to get out in a light drizzle and drag her carry-on out of the trunk.

We returned directly to our apt.

We just hung out in the apt the rest of the evening.

Since we’re going to be in Schaumburg tomorrow anyway, I decided it would be a good time to continue on to Memorial Park to fix my mother’s gravesite.

I chatted with someone from the tours and:

“You can select the Spanish experience on the variant/type of tickets page.  But unfortunately, it is available from August 09th, 2025.”

I think we’ll go there anyway and check out Michigan Ave, Millenium Park and take the Riverwalk. I also thought about the Art Institute but I see it’s closed on Tuesdays.

Laura gifted Teresa a purse when they were shopping in the Chicago Fashion Outlet Mall. Now Teresa wants to exchange it and she’s hunting all over the apt for the receipt. I told her I have no idea if she can return it without a receipt but anyway it looks like we’ll be making another trip back to that mall. ☹

 

BURMA SHAVE

 

Saturday, July 5, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 11:30pm, got up once during the night to pee, got up again at 5am to pee and turn a heater on, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

We left the apt at 9:30 and had breakfast in Katie’s Kitchen. The ladies had their Firecracker Skillet and I had 2 eggs, hash browns, pancakes and sausage links. Teresa tried my sausage links and liked them. The total check came to $79.37 and with tip the total was $92.24.

We stopped at UPS in Mount Prospect where Laura returned the air mattress to Amazon. We continued on to Staples in Rolling Meadows where she returned the sheet to Amazon.

Next door was a T-Mobile store where I added another 5G to my plan. Unfortunately, I had to get a new cellphone number – (312) 617-1920 and sim card for $28.02. In the meantime, Laura switched her cellphone coverage from AT&T to T-Mobile and that took another 30 minutes. In the meantime, I went to the other side of the drive and checked out Parlor Doughnuts that has only been open a month.

We drove to Bristol Renaissance Faire, arriving around noon. I parked in the cheapest ($10) and furthest lot and was a bit of a hike just to get to the ticket booths. With senior discounts I paid $76 for entry for Teresa and I. We were there during the hottest part of the day.

We walked around and Teresa looked at a number of exhibits, especially impressed with the basket weaver. She liked this bracelet enough for me to take a photo of it.

I think she wants to see if she can duplicate the colorful one at the top.

A woman was making this beautiful drawing out of chalk.

This man was showing off the dragon he had slayed:

The place has grown in the 15 or so years I haven’t been here.

Just before we left I found the sweet corn stand and had one, sharing it with Teresa who loved it. I went next door and got her garlic mushrooms and she loved that too.

I guess Laura wasn’t into it as she spent most her time on her cellphone.

We left at 5pm and returned via I-294 to the apt. I made supper reservations at L. Wood for 8:15 while we rested up a bit. When I arrived at the restaurant I was surprised to get the first parking spot on the street, just like last time.

We all shared a salad then Teresa had salmon, Laura half a slab of pork ribs and I the beef ribs with a baked potato. (I should have ordered a half order.) I ate half my ribs and got the other half to go.

I got to sleep at 11pm.

 

FUNNY

Friday, July 4, 2025

Last night I went to bed at 10pm, got up once during the night to pee and turn a heater on, got up again at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 7am.

Today is Independence Day!

I stuck my head out the door at 8:30 and it was pouring rain ☹ but by 9:15 it had stopped. 😊

We left the apt at 9:30 and arrived at a busy Walker Bros Pancake House a few minutes after 10am. Jimmy was already in line, saving us about 25 minutes.

We split an apple pancake but everyone got their own main dish and I a pecan waffle. I picked up the check of $116.74 and left a tip of $25.68. We’re going to meet up with Jimmy on Sunday for another trip to Chinatown.

We drove a couple miles and found a parking spot in a bank parking lot, closed for Independence Day. It was just a short 3-4 block walk to the parade. I saw the firetruck at the head of the parade as we were arriving.

We found a slightly elevated spot in the shade so we had a fairly good view. Teresa was entranced, especially with the treats thrown out for children. Laura didn’t seem to care, spending most her time looking at her cellphone.

When the parade ended, I drove us to the Chicago Fashion Outlet Mall in Rosemont. The ladies shopped for a couple hours while I relaxed in a café with a latte. Teresa bought some makeup in Ulta Beauty for $56.24. For lunch, Laura found Saltwater Coastal Grill on her cellphone and it was only an 8-minute walk away. Unfortunately, we took the car and ended up in a Village of Rosemont parking garage for $15. The restaurant was mainly seafood, great for Laura, but I found a salad and shish kebab that I shared with Teresa.

We returned to the apt to rest up a bit.

We left at 7:45 and drove to Gallery Park in Glenview. The first lot I pulled into was for Handicapped Parking. The second lot was full but when I entered the 3^rd lot, with observable parking spots available, I noticed their sign said, “with placard, $20 parking”. They didn’t say anything about a placard, they just took my $20 and I backed into a spot on the far side of the park. We walked to the other side of the park, past a few food trucks, one with pizza, two with shaved ice, and chose a spot in the grass.

We had about 50 minutes wait until the fireworks started at 9:25. I saw at least 3 other towns’ fireworks start a few minutes before ours and, though I didn’t turn around, I could hear more behind me.

The fireworks were great lasting about 30 minutes. We walked back to the car and the lot was packed with a line of cars but they weren’t moving. We waited outside the car for about 20 minutes until the car started moving. It ended up we were one of the last cars to leave the lot, right behind the fire engines.

It was a little slow going for a while but we were back at the apt by 11:15 and I was in bed by 11:30. (Still sleeping on the coach with no problem.)

 

BURMA SHAVE

 

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

 

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Last night we went to bed at 10:30, I got up once at 5:30, woke up at 7:11, Teresa was still sleeping, got up at 7:30 and she asked for another hour so I set an alarm, went back to bed, finally getting up at 8:30.

Laura texted me that two packages have arrived and I went out and found on the porch: an Intex Dura Beam Deluxe mattress (80”L x 60”W x 18”Th) with pump and a sheet in the other package. (Not sure where she thinks she’s going to put this large mattress and does she think we don’t have sheets? She did ask if we had a pillow for her and I told her we did.) The only place I see the mattress fitting is in the laundry room so I opened the door to start warming up the room. After further discussion, Laura will probably sleep in the bedroom with Teresa and I’ll sleep on the coach for a few nights.

We left the apt at 9:45 and drove to nearby Katie’s Kitchen on Wolf & Central. I found a Chicago Sun-Times newspaper across from the cashier. The busboy and at least 2 others helped Teresa with her order. She ended up with Canadian ham, eggs and a side of avocado toast. I had their bacon and cheese scrambler and we both had coffee for a total of $38.85 and I left $7 for a tip. The cashier said the newspaper was left by a previous customer so I took it and left $2 in their kitchen staff tip bowl.

We drove to another Michael’s, this time in Glenview, and while they had different inventory, in the end Teresa didn’t buy anything. (But I did get some technical names for products she uses like “cord end cap closures” and “slider end tubes” and a supplier, “Bead Landing”.)

We stopped in nearby Home Depot so she could compare it to Home Center.

On the way back to the apt I found another place for breakfast, Eggspresso Glenview and another place for supper, Giacomo’s Ristorante.

Back at the apt it took me about an hour to solve the crossword puzzle but there’s one letter I’m unsure about. I’ll see if I can find another Sun-Times tomorrow.

An email from the Illinois Tollway, “As per your selection, Credit card 6623 has been setup as your Primary Card on your Pay by Plate and will be used for Toll payments. Any additional cards available on your account will be used as Backup Cards if your Primary Card fails. If you have more than one Backup Card listed on your Pay by Plate, the Tollway system will select the Backup Card based on the date it was added to the account, starting with the
most recent card.”

I figured out why I had so much difficulty packing up the chairs last night, different size chairs and different size bags. After I put the small chair in the large bag I struggled to put the large chair in the small bag. I got that corrected this afternoon.

Teresa took a nap from about 2:30 to 3:30.

We left the apt about 5:30 and walked down the street to the park. No children were playing outside so we walked 100 yards away to a baseball field where a practice was in progress. We sat in the grass under a tree and soon a group of about 8 people stopped on a path nearby. A few minutes later Teresa asked me what a man was eating from a tree. I walked over and it was a blackberry tree. I picked off handfuls of ripe blackberries for us to eat. We left just before 7pm, with stained hands, and returned to the apt.

I was able to clean my hands but there’s still stains under my fingernails.

Teresa made spaghetti for supper.

We left the apt just before 9am for Laura’s 10:05 arrival at Terminal 5 at O’Hare Airport. I knew my righthand mirror was off when a semi passed me and I was looking at trees. That made me nervous. At the airport I’m going around in a circle for terminals 1, 2, 3 and it was difficult to see what was behind me on my left as I moved to the curb to ask an official for directions. She took my cellphone and entered directions to terminal 5 parking (which was quite a distance away; and scary because I was blind on my right side). Lots of space available in the parking lot and I was able to easily put the side mirror back in place.

We found the baggage claim and sat nearby for about 30 minutes until Laura came out with her carry-on.

We stopped at a payment machine to pay $3 with my credit card for parking. On the way back to the apt I informed Laura that we’ll be leaving at 8am!

Teresa warmed up spaghetti for Laura.

We decided on me giving the sofa a chance and I got to bed at 11pm as the ladies were finalizing their getting ready for bed.

 

FUNNY

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Last night we went to bed at 10pm, I got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 6:30.

I received an email from the Illinois Tollway reminding me I have to register a credit card to pay my tolls. I think I added my USAA credit card successfully and paid my $10.50 in Illinois tolls.

We left the apt at 8am and drove to First Watch on Mannheim Rd. We each had a single pancake: banana, blueberry, granola crunch for Teresa and carrot cake with pecans for me and we each had coffee. The check came to $26.60 and I tipped $4.31 for a total of $30.91.

I received an email confirmation of my tollway payment.

I uninstalled some of my apps from my old cellphone that Teresa won’t need.

Teresa is enamored with the Maytag washer and dryer. The washer because it senses how much water to fill and the dryer because everything comes out not wrinkled, soft and smelling so good (with the bounce sheets).

I finished solving Monday’s Chicago Sun-Times crossword puzzle.

We left the apt at 12:30 and met Jack & Arlene at Howard Street Inn at 1pm. It’s a nice sports bar where Teresa had their chicken pot pie and I a BLT and we each had Cokes. Arlene had turkey meatloaf and Jack also had a BLT. I told Jack about ChatGPT and he asked an obscure Cleveland Browns question and was surprised when AI got it right. We enjoyed rehashing old times. I gifted them a bag of coffee and they gave me a couple wrapped presents. Arlene also gifted us some homemade pizza she stored in a Styrofoam container with ice blocks on both sides. They picked up the check and we might meet again next September if/when I return.

We returned to the apt and Teresa heated a slice of pizza right away. She said it was delicious and I told her to be careful as we’ll be eating something later.

I want to go to Ravinia tonight but Teresa says she’s too tired. About 4:15 she went into the bedroom for a nap.

I deleted all the emails I could find in gmail but it still says I’m using 61% of 15GB. I queried ChatGPT for some advice. Gmail seemed to hang up while emptying 2,064 emails in trash.

Just before 6pm Teresa got up and asked about going to the park. We grabbed our things and drove the 40 minutes or so to Ravinia. I paid $10 for parking (I remember paying $20 before, possibly for more popular entertainment) and was happy the parking lot wasn’t anywhere near full.

We carried the portable table and chairs to the ticket counter and I paid $68 for lawn passes for the two of us.

Inside, Teresa chose the spot under a birch tree where I used to sit.

After a trip to the restroom, I showed her the Botero statue that he gifted to Ravinia.

We walked around the grounds but part of it was closed off.

I put the table and chairs together then we went outside the café where we bought 2 Chicago style hotdogs.

We took our seats, ate our hotdogs and just before 7:30 Brass from the Past started playing. They were loud and I was glad we were sitting (relatively) far away.

Just after 9pm, before it got too dark, with Teresa’s help I packed up the table and chairs.

As I turned onto Wolf Rd off Central Rd I was thinking of where to have breakfast tomorrow when I saw Katie’s Kitchen on the corner. So we have a new place to try tomorrow.

We were about ½ mile from the apt when we encountered cars stopped at train tracks and a freight train stopped there. Luckily, I was in the left lane and quickly did a U-turn and went back to the traffic circle and down Northwest Highway to downtown Des Plaines and easily returned to our apt.

I put out our garbage for pickup tomorrow.

 

FUNNY

Monday, June 30, 2025

Last night we went to bed at 10pm, I got up once at 5am, finally waking/getting up at 7:15.

Yesterday my daughter had her baby shower that her best friend JoAnn threw for her. JoAnn is pregnant with her first baby, also a girl, and they are both going to have babies about the same time.

The day before was her husband, Jacob’s, 36^th birthday:

We left the apt at 8:30 and had a nice breakfast in the Sugar Bowl. I chose this restaurant because it’s across the street from the train station. We each had eggs with hash browns and coffee. Coffee tasted a little bitter to me today.

I thought I would have trouble finding a parking space but I found one in the first lot I tried. (I think I forgot to account for people now working at home.) The lot had a payment machine similar to the others I’ve dealt with and it was only $2 for the day.

As we approached the train station, I could see the lights of the train heading our way which gave me just enough time to go inside and buy two one-way tickets for each of us for $20.

We arrived downtown about 40 minutes later.

I asked for directions then we walked basically straight ahead and outside to the Wendella dock where I bought 2 senior one-way tickets for each of us for a total of $20. The boat left right after we boarded. It was about a 15-minute ride to the Chinatown pier.

We basically just followed others the 3 blocks to the Chinatown entrance.

We stepped into a Chinese shop, AJ Housewares & Gifts where Teresa bought some bracelets as gifts for $26.50. We walked around the area and finally decided on lunch in Veggie House. I ordered vegetable spring rolls and Broccoli Soy Beef to share and it was all delicious. With 2 Cokes the check was $36.55 and I tipped 20%.

We returned to AJ Housewares & Gifts and Teresa bought a few more bracelets for $31.94. (I saw my first Caleb Williams Chicago Bears jersey.)

JERSEY

We returned to the dock as our boat was just leaving but another arrived about 45 minutes later and we returned to Union Station.

After trips to the restroom, we boarded our train and it soon left.

Back at the Des Plaines Station I was happy to see I didn’t have a parking ticket.

We stopped in Walmart and bought some needed supplies for the apt.

I stopped in a Walgreens and bought a newspaper.

We left at 7:30 and drove to Potbelly. Teresa had a small chicken pot pie soup and I had a large chili (spicier than before). We sat outside for a bit enjoying the nice weather before returning to the apt.

I have $10.50 in unpaid tolls. I tried paying them online from my laptop but ended up in a loop. I downloaded the Illinois Tollway app and could see my unpaid tolls but when I tried to pay with my Mastercard it told me it failed and to try again later. ☹

 

FUNNY