Off Again – Lynn's Travel Adventures

Yes, I’m heading back to Europe this week but before I go I thought I’d get you caught up on what I’ve been doing since I got back from the trip with my girls.

After relaxing at home for about a month, I headed off to Chicago to see family and friends. I took my time driving back, stopping in Sante Fe and Dodge City.

Then I headed to Kansas City where I visited with my dear friend, Themum.

Then it was off to Omaha, where I stayed with more good friends, Kathy and Tom.

Golfing with Tom, his son-in-law and granddaughter. If I remember correctly, I had a decent round.

After stopping to visit friends in Iowa, I headed to Chicago where I spent the next two weeks housesitting for my nephew and his family as they headed to Japan for vacation. While there I…

Went to a concert at Pritzker Pavilion.

We sat on the lawn and enjoyed a delicious picnic dinner.

Marc and I had a great visit while enjoying wonderful music.

Look in the background at the tall, light colored building. I lived there in a top floor apartment. My flat was on the opposite side of the building looking out over the lake…I loved it!!

Met with my dear friend Christine.

Visited the Chicago History Museum. I hadn’t been there in years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

An early version of the south side street car.

A horse from the carousel at Riverview. I remember going there as a kid.

My honorary Grandmother worked at Western Electric and I remember Mama telling us about how she didn’t go on this trip because she didn’t feel well that morning. She was lucky as almost 850 people died when the Eastland capsized.

Visited the Field Museum with my niece, Mary, and cousin, Michele.

These guys were cool, but I preferred the real ones I saw in Africa.

I played a few rounds of golf at a 9-hole course near Mike’s house.

It was a beautiful course right on the lakefront.

And of course, I took a few trips to my favorite place in Chicago.

My cousin Tom, his wife Arlene, Me, daughter-in-law Karin, son Tim and daughter Michele. Our boys in blue lost this game but they won the game I went to two days later.

My niece, Jen, hosted a family gathering for me at her beautiful house in DeKalb, but unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures. OMG!!! I had a great time catching up with everyone.

I also visited my Peter on the first anniversary of his death.

The military cemeteries are always so peaceful. It had just rained, though, so it was a bit muddy.

It was a wonderful two weeks catching up with family and friends. While not terribly hot (only in the 80s) it was very humid so I remembered very quickly why we moved from Chicago to the dry weather in Arizona. I’ll take our 110 degrees with 10% humidity any day over the hot, sticky mess that is a Chicago summer.

On my way back to AZ, I stopped in Kentucky to visit Mammoth Cave. The cave is gigantic, but not terribly impressive when compared to other caves.

I visited Carlsbad Cavern a few days later…it was much more impressive.

I also stopped at Abraham Lincoln’s boyhood home.

While not the actual home, this one is built in the same style of wood from the same time.

I played a decent round of golf in Cave City, Kentucky.

I hit a 60 yard chip shot for birdie!! For you non-golfers, that’s a very impressive feat.

I passed through Hope AR so I stopped at the only thing to see in the town….Bill Clinton’s birthplace.

The kitchen has the original appliances.

My last day on the road I stopped at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. I was in the first group into the cave so I got to enjoy it virtually on my own. It is a beautiful place.

Pictures don’t do the cave justice. The colors were stunning.

After 3 1/2 weeks and over 5700 miles, I made it back home in early August.

My fall as been busy with my various hobbies. My golf game had deteriorate so I had a playing lesson with one of the golf pros. It was like magic and I’m playing better than ever.

I went to a few concerts with friends.

Stephen Schwartz wrote the music for Wicked, one of my favorite musicals. He performed with the Phoenix Symphony and it was a great show. It was so fun to hear stories of how he wrote the music.

Then I also saw Frankie Valli. He’s 90 years old and didn’t move around much, but he could still hit those notes.

I decided to switch from stained glass to woodworking. In spite of having very scary tools, I’m having a ball.

And small cutting boards/hot pads (the reverse side has a rubber insert).

It’s been a ton of fun learning new skills and the other members are incredibly helpful. It’s a bit scarier than stained glass where all I had to worry about was needing a band aid on a cut. In wood I have to worry about reattachment surgery but so far so good.

Anyway, that brings us up to this week. I leave on Wednesday 11/20 and am looking forward to visiting the Christmas markets. Hope you can come along with me. Talk soon.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply