Gilligan and the Skipper cast off from here, and the Brady Bunch and Home and Away cast's also visited - that's a sign of true geographical importance

 

having tasted between 40 - 60 different local draft beers on the mainland, other delights awaited us in Hawaii

 

moi and my teacher

 

I waited 4 weeks for my huge ass burger at Hard Rock, Waikiki

 

sunsets here are truly amazing, 'though a bit monotonous

 

the view from our final hotel room - that's an airport in the distance - and while this was one of my last views for the trip, nothing will take away the memories and thousands of other sights and experiences. Thankyou America. God bless you all!

“I still call Australia Home.”

TBR was a womderful place to stay. Do yourself a favour, and if you get the chance, stay at least 2 nights to get the ectivities in. L and N dis paddleboarding and really enjoyed it. Me, I got lost on a beach walk and ended up walking round a golf course trying to get my bearings. It wasn’t my fault, there’s just no signage. Saw another turtle on the edge of our private beach.

We ahd to leave eventually and we continued around the island. A funny day weather wise – it heated up quicly, rained a little, got hunid, brightened up, another shower… just like home, really. Came across a number of shrimp trucks and tiny roadside cafes not far down the road, so had to stop for a feed. Shrimp is popular here. No tummy troubles as yet, so I’m assuming the hygiene standards may not be as bad as first seemed.

We saw unbelievable beaches, and surf in particular. Theres nothing better to do here than surf, and nowhere was better than Sandy Beach where the grommets showed us how it’s done. With big surf and dumpers on the beach, they breed them tough in these parts.

We also did a tour of the Kualoa Ranch – the working cattle ranch that has been the site of many films over the ages, inc Jurassic Park and Lost (and no, I don’t look like that guy in Lost…), some great and dramatic scenery here with sheer cliffs and coastal views aplenty. The drive around Oahu is not long, nor is it difficult and is recommeneded. Plenty to see and the scenery changes every few minutes.

We made it back to Waikiki in time to return to one of our favourite spots, another glorious sunset, huge meal, finishing with the obligatory Hula Pie. Washed down with a bottle of Vasse Felix chardonnay, all felt very good with the world.

Unfortunately, as I type this, we are holed up in our final destination, at an airport hotel, awaiting tomorrows final journey home. We are due in about midnight Thurs Melb time. Please feel free to greet us at the airport if you wish. I’ll be the one  wearing Bermuda shorts, an Aloha shirt and sandals with socks (and possibly a henna tattoo).

“I’m enjoying two beautiful visions tonight. Watching you stand there against a marvelous background has to be the most intriguing sunset I have ever experienced”. – K. S. Collier

So here we are at Turtle Bay Resort  (TBR) at the northern end of Oahu. Far from the madding crowds we sit, surrounded by 5 star luxury and very few Japanese tourists.

We set off this morn in our oversized people mover for a 2 day tour of the island. Road Trip no. 4! Four adults woulf fit into most cars, but we opted for the largest available to ensure we could carry the girls shopping bags as well as our suitcases. An easy drive saw us visit the Dole pineapple plantation (think Wobbies World with pineapples), Banzai Pipeline (which today had waves akin to Port Phillip Bay on speed), bought the T-shirt, Waimea Valley botanical gardens (beautiful) and TBR. The resort’s a fair size, with several bars and restaurants, and plenty of activities provided. There are further activities provided for additional cost. The surf is perfect, the beaches are great and we will certainly make the most of it tonight and tomoz.Stand up paddle lessons have been booked for early morn for the others. Me? I’ll just take a walk along a magical beach, alone, and sit by the pool watching the mermaids play.

Then later, we prepare for our last night in Hawaii, our last night of the trip. Unfortunately all good things do come to an end. But we are all looking forward to our return, as we are exhausted. We’re also looking for some healthier meal options. Myself, I can’t wait for a roast leg of lamb.

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Breakfast has been problematical for a couple fo days now; what where when…? So we did what any Aussie would do – we went to an Australian owned/themed restaurant – Bill’s of Sydney – aka Bill Granger. A good start indeed with an actual flat white… and toast, and muesli’s and granola etc. But served with a Hawaiin touch. While the food was good the service was terrible, and while Americans are employed, or, until properly trained, a four star experience becomes a 2 or 3, I may write to Mr Granger hisself.

With that off my chest, we proceeded directly to the beach for some fun in the sun. A better 2 hrs has seldom been better spent. It took a lot of discipline to keep my camera in my pocket.

Then the girls went shopping – again, while the boys ventured to the Hard Rock for a bit of enlightenment. We were later met by the girls for dinner and I finally got to have my huge ass burger!!! I had waited 4 wks for my first burger, and I enjoyed the experience. The mood was enhanced by a band featuring 3 young ladies accompanied by a male drummer – the first band I had seen for 2 weeks. How I miss those heady days of band after band after band (where are you Gary?).

So the wrap up is, girls happy having shopped heavily, boys happy cos the girls are happy. Oh, and the beer…

Now a word of advice from a seasoned traveler; when packing, don’t select your shoes in the dark, cos you may end up wearing unmatched shoes for the duration of your journey. Not that I’ve done it, mind you, I’m simply making an observation. Be warned!

“At noon I observed a bevy of nude young native women bathing in the sea, and I went and sat down on their clothes to keep them from being stolen.” – Mark Twain

When you struggle to find something interesting on the breakfast menu (and this is Day what, 29 or something?) you know its time to come home. Our trsvels have found us very much on the go, with my weary head – by the time of returning home –  having seen 15 different pillows, eaten about 80 meals in restaurants and hotels (skipping the occasional lunch), 10 air trips and a full day spent in airports. But we wouldn’t have done it any other way!

We arrived at our Waikiki hotel  yesterday – 2.5 stars only, but clean and confortable. I have only had to request a change of rooms twice, both within the first week (and there relates another story). We are 2 blocks from the beach but its cheap and close to everything. Had a huge arse lunch yesterday at one of the seemingly hundreds of beachside hotels. For those that don’t know the lay of the land, the hotels occupy the length of the famous beach.  Our refreshments during the course of the day are spent in an array of posh establishments with excellent views and sometimes cooling sea breezes.

Yesterday we dagged around a bit, getting our bearings. Today we visited the Pearl Harbour Memorial – very good, and very poignant. Just had a bevy overlooking Waikiki beach – I must admit, I like people watching, and there are many sights to be had here. And not all the sights are in bikinis, either.

But a few are.

The girls are off shopping somewhere on Oahu, the boys playing by the hotel pool. Theres not too much else to say, the weathers perfect, 90 degrees each day but a more comfortable in the evening. In fact we would have only had 4-5 days where it hasn’t been 90+. While much of the country is now cooling down as they enter their Fall (pronounced FARL), the best of the weather has followed us across this broad nation. It is fairly accurate when I say , as we depart each city, the weather turns for the worst. Lucky us.

So as the sun sets, we get to thinking of where we are to eat tonight, hopefully somewhere new, something different. All I know is, as much as I’ve tried to sample something different for every meal, I have still to get one of them good ol’ USA huge ass burgers into me. In our 4 plus weeks away, I am yet to have a burger (OK, so I've had a cuppla sliders but they don't count); I'm saving it for last. We’ll be having a great time, fo’ sure, y’all, no matter what I end up with for supper.

 

a bride, a groom and one of the best men

 

fortunately a doctor was available at the abbey infirmary the morning after

 

the little lady livin' the dream in the NW of Big Island

 

our ATV, complete with flood emergency devices

 

one of our private waterholes during the ATV trip

 

a neat picture, that!

 

the view from our condo, Kona, Big Is.

 

I betcha you've never been so close to an active volcano. We have.

“People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck

Thanks for that John – you’re correct. For today we spent 11 hrs on a guided tour of the volcano park in the SE corner pf the Big Island. We learnt heaps on volcano’s in general, and in particular the latest lava flow to come from Kilaeua. A government warning was issued in recent days as a 2 mtr wide lava flow has sprung (that’s my term) 30 kms away from the volcano itself. Travelling at 250 yds a day it is expected to become a nuisance in the coming days. It has the potential to cut off as many as 10,000 residents from the rest of the island. The home of our driver tonight said his home is likely to be threatened, having purchased it only a year ago.

While we were learning of the reality of life on a volcanic isle, our tour was indeed interesting. We did a crater rim walk, viewing the open crater from a distance of about a mile – it lokked a helluva lot closer. WE walked thru a 100 ft long lava tube, which is where a hollow cavern was formed upon the lava flow cooling, and is like walking thru a mine. We got up close and personal with the steam vents – this is where moisture drops into cavities or fissures, creating steam to spew forth. You stick your head above one of these to get your “facial” – I tell y’all, within seconds, if you can stand the heat, the moisture drips from your skin and your clothes stick to you from the intense steam temperature. Do not do this commando! Then the biggie – we viewed the volcano opening (from a safe distance) and in the inreassing dark saw the red hot glow of the latest eruption. Fascinating stuff!

I must say, our young female guide was a walking talking encyclopedia on all things naturist, horticultural and historical. She is a well learned person that is putting her efforts into sustainable living by growing her own produce – an interesting story herself.

But the winner today was certainly the magic of the volcano. This island has several volcanoes, which when measured from the base (underwater) are the worlds tallest mountains. It’s a little weird listening to your radio and hearing emergency warnings on lava flows and the possibility of the need for evacuations. Especially as you could outrun it. But in all seriousness, we hope our hosts remain safe and well. The reality is, one day this island will come to an end due to volcanic activity, maybe in our lifetime, but probably not. Ponder that as you eat your raost lamb on your back deck.

“To have never taken a solitary road trip across country? I mean everybody’s got to take a road trip, at least once in their lives. Just you and some music.” – Elizabethtown

Today was one of the better days; not that we’ve had any bad ones. The trouble and strife ticked off an item on her bucket list. She drove us to the high country in the NW of Big Island – in  a brand spanking Ford Mustang convetrtible. With roof down we took off in bright sunshine, driving thru landscape somewhat different to the norm – lava rock formations 100 years old. Thetre was much barren landscape, then the occasional gtreen pastures, more often than not signifying a resort of some sort. The temperature plummeted from 93 to 73 degrees in minutes as we climbed inland, venturing away from the much warmer coastal areas. The vistas of light and shade, barren rocky plains and irregular lush green pastures, interspersed with mist and forb oding cloud, made for some unreal sights. Absoloutely beautiful.  From the cloudy and much cooler heights we could see the far away azure sea – inspiring!

We went on a ATV trip (they’re 4 wheelers, like what the cocckies now use) thru 3000 acres of private land, visiting womderful waterfalls, swimming holes and scenic views. In particular, the Valley of the Kings was awesome. Dozens of photos were taken, but no simple camera shot will do ity justice, I’m sure.

On the return trip we chewed on beef jerkey as the Gods didn’t hear our prayer and a shower of rain hit us unecxpectedly with the roof open. Finding the wiper switch appeared problematical for our Jack Brabnham, but not half as much as finding a spot to pull over to close the roof. So what if the boys got a little damp? At least the girls were dry and comfy.

In the evening (after cruising up and down the main promenade in the Mustang, Hawaiin music playing, doof doof)we had dinner at what may be the only BYO restaurant this side of the international date line. It was a very long and tiring day, and I’m sure we’ll be thinking of this one for quite a while.

 

P.S - internet is extremely lousy here on Big Is...

“Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii?” – Steven Wright (I do particularly like this one tee hee)

Very warm indeed yesterday on our first day in Hawai’i. Bloody hot, one would say! I keptreminding the groupn of how hot it was as we traipsed around town, acquainting ourselves with the neihbourhood, the girls shopping and the boys looking for the Enterprize Car Rental place. The forecast was only 30 odd, but it felt a lot hotter.

We had breakfast at a little place on the beach (volcanic rocks actually) and watched a pod of spinner dolphins frolic in the water. We then spent a bit of time booking tours for the next few days. As was expected, there are plenty of “information” booths around town, with 99% of them being run by Time Share interests – to get a cheaper price you need attend a 2 hr seminar. The fact the K’s took the bullet for us a year ago on a different island meant jack, and the full amount we paid. Oh, well, we can’t afford the time as we have planty to tick off our list in our 4 days here.

Having done the necessary recon, we found ourselves on an evening cruise on a swanky catamaran, The Body Glove. Boarding at 3:30 in the arvo was a little odd to me for a “sunset” cruise, but it was special enough, rockin and rollin south along the coast before dropping the anchor (that’s nautical speak for stopping) at Captain Cooks Monument. This was a bit spesh for we Aussies as it marked the place where he had been bopped on the head and fatally stabbed – I thought that happened in the Sandwhich Islands, but apparently I don’t know everything, do I? So we dined on fine foods and drank their mai-tais and other cocktails til the bar ran dry, then we returned while listening to the smooth smooth voice , and guitar, of the one and only L T Smooth. They tell me he won a Grammy for something. But yes, he had a very smooth voice indeed. But I’d probably change my name, if I was him, preferring a more surprising name. – the Beatles didn’t sound like Beetles, did they?

Anyhoo, we saw the sunset on the water and regained our land legs (it was a bit up and down on the water). It was N’s birthday, and after earlier buying him a Huge Assed Beer (as the Americans luv to call em), we had a nightcap just as our batteries ran out. It seems we awere all somewhat afflicted by the vagaries of time travel, and the weater had been a bit warm (I need you to get the point here as to the temperature…). I think it was bed by 9, at which time it was still 30 degrees, while according to the local weateher man, felt like 37! I told you it was damn hot!!!

Gotta go, we have a huge ass day planned for tomorrow where my darling gets to tick an item off her bucket list. At kleast that’ll keep her quiet for a while.

 

The missus having a nanna nap at Ortonville (prior to thr mossies carrying her away) - she still doesn't know I took this shot haha

 

the view from our bedroom window at Ortonville

 

Minneapolis - near to the start of the Mississippi River

 

this apparently was my best shot at mini golf

 

say no more...

 

I'm not sure why I downloaded this pic as it is of nothing in particular - it is not a deep dish pizza - just treat this as being in error (a good selfie but)

“Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” – Jack Kerouac

Yetsreday was a loonnngggg day! Up at 5:30 am, packed, 3.5 hr drive thru boring flat countryside to Minneapolis airport, 3.5 hr flight to LAX, hanging around, 5.5 hr flight to Hawai’I, transport to condo sth of town, to bed about 1:30 the next morn. Its not only physically draining, but its another day lost as we find ourselves going back in time (zone ) once again. How do time travelers know their age? And why don’t they suffer jet lag or some sort of fatigue? Hmmm?

Said our goodbyes to the Z’s extended family members as well as the K’s at Minneapolis, whom are all returning home. Very dear friends, all. More shared experiences and adventures. But the Z’s and D’s now commence the 2^nd last leg of their journey together.

Antway, we’re in Kailua –Kona, safe and well. I was up at dawn again and went begging for milk. We’re in the land of Kona but have no groceries as yet. Just having a coffee on my huge 3^rd fl lanai, staring at the surf and wondering what today may have in store for me. No doubt I’ll have something to say to you  - maybe a bit of deep sea diving or ziplining or kayaking or violcano abseiling….

“… Nice Day For A White Wedding…”

The wedding was fantastic. No issues, no fuss, weather perfect bride and groom immaculately dressed. Australia was well represented. Outdoor setting after a glorious day, 250 guests at the reception that was held at an Abbey, half an hour from town. The brides father was also the presiding minister at the service.

Things were done a little differently here as far as weddings go. But there again, afterwards we were informed by several locals it was a little different for them too. Each to their own. But it was a great outdoor setting. Loyts of dancing, particulary by the away team, Eagle Rock,  Men At Works Downunda, and a surprise guest singer as the dad of the best man sang his “Americanised” version of Once a Jolly Swagman for bhis new mates the Oss-ies.

We spent the night at the Abbey itself, rooms that used to be housed by the monks until it was discontinued as a working retreat approx. 20 yrs ago. Small rooms, but comfortable enough for one night (only). Certainly an expeience .

Awoke hangover free (only cos the beer was weak…), breakfasted, helped (in my limited capacity) with the cleanup, then a lazy afternoon as we mentally prepared for the cleanup, packing and return to Minneapolis airport tomoz.

But what is it with mosquitoes? Billions of the bastards out here. They love me so much they want to marry me, move in, and have my babies.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore”.

We have very poor internet services available to us, hence the delay in posts.

Our first morn was cold, as in Melbourne cold, but the weather improved somewhat to allow us to have a bask/snooze in the sun on the lush lawns. The weather is holding for us as poorer and much colder conditions are expected to rush in from Canada in the next few days.

We spent the morn on a walking tour of the town, population 1920. Complted that in several minutes. We tried to locate the bar situated on the lakefront that I’d researched prior to leaving home, but it quickly transpired I had researched an Ortonville in Minnesota, and we were 14 hrs drive away – so that was that!

This is a sleepy town, preparing to roll up into itself for the coming winter. It strikes me as a place you would want to hibernatefor 3-4 mths in a well stocked weather proof home. The snow gets rather deep.

One positive about the cold would be the affect it would have on the local mossie population. I have never experienced such swarms, they are everywhere near the water, which suprises me somewhatgiven the temps and varying breezes.

The locals are sometimes amused by our strange accents, with very few over our 3 weeks here being able to pick our nationality. I have been referred to as English, Irish, Kiwi, Sth  African, with the best being TEXAN!! Obviously they don’t watch Home And Away. But we did have a bevvie with an older gent who quoted every 2^nd line from his favourite movie – Crocodile Dundee. That about sums up  the popular opinion of we Aussies.

The night was spent at the post wedding rehearsal dinner, which was very much appreciated by us visitors. The wedding ‘process’, as Gary has deemed it, is quite different to our own service and celebrations. But tomorrow we look forward to the biggest wedding this place has seen for some time. The Aussies are set to rock da house as we bop to the bands opening musical selection – Eagle Rock. Should be a hoot.

“The car was full of unhappy people heading west. It was the Great American Family Road Trip, all right. Whaaa-hoo!” – Kim Harrison

Road Trip Part 2: having met the K’s at the airport we firstly had to upgrade our rented Rav 4 to a Dodge to fit in the luggage and Lynne.  A leisurely 4 hr drive due west saw us arrive at Ortonville on the Sth Dakota border. Our house, shared amongst 9 of us, is situated nicely on the banks of Big Stone Lake in the County seat of – Big Stone lake. We have been provided with a 6 bedroom, 2 storey, clapboard house, shingled roof, surrounded by huge trees and private jetty to the 26 mile long lake. Imagine, if you will, the stereotypical home in an American gothic horror/slasher film – that’s us living the dream! All here to celebrate Trents wedding to Hannah, a Minnesotan gal.

A few of Trents mates from home have also turned up, turning the house into a maelstrom of activity. Within minutes of yesterdays arrival we were whisked away to the other side of the lake to attend a welcome dinner put on by the brides grandparents. Fresh fish anyone? The cordiality of this family was tremendous and much appreciated by we Aussies in such a remote place. Lots of mirth and laughter and talk of huntin and shootin and fishin. The lake apparently freezes in winter to a depth of 4 feet, at which time the locals move their little sheds onto the ice to bore a hole and go afishin’.  The temp can drop to minus 40 fahrenheit! Anyhoo, the footy came out, and the boys tried to teach the locals the vagaries of our national sport. ‘Twas a fun night.

(posted a cuppla days late due to lack of local technological infrastructure)

“Sometimes I write drunk and revise sober, sometimes I write sober and revise drunk”.

Here’s the thing, I fell asleep last night sitting up in bed with an ice cold Goose in the hand, watching 3 games of baseball in succession on TV - or was it at one, I dunno. Cos that’s what you can do when on vacation. After a glorious dinner – Latin American – and a bottle of Spanish tempranillo, we returned to our hotel to discuss what we are to do. L was buggered, while I wanted to go to the ball game – Twins v. White Sox, 200 mtrs from my room. You can see the ground from our room (as well as the basketball stadium across the street). Unfortunately it rained, so to bed I went.

You may ask whywe weren’t out and about. Minnepolis has a vibrant nightlife, but it’s more for the youngies. Once dinner is finished, so are we. We found a grog shop. Bought a 750ml bottle of Grey Goose Orange for $32. Niow that’s what I’m talkin about. I think the standard bottles were mid $20’s. A whopping 1.5 lt bottle was change back from $60!! Unfortunately the single malts, of which there were many, were not as cheap. But I can tell you a $32 bottle produces many good dreams. And I’m yet to find out the game scores…

As I said yetsreday, if ever you are in this town, go to Hell’s Kitchen. At risk of sounding like a sponsored message, their hotcakes are the best darned hotckes we have ever had. Period.

We are currently at the airport awaiting the arrival of Gary & Jen, from where we commence… Road Trip No 2. With Lynne riding her bike on the wrong side of the road the other day and running a stop sign, I think I’ll nominate Gaz as the first driver. (And yes, as good a driver as Nick is, he twice ended up on the wrong side of the road.It wss funny tho!)  You just gotta remain alert around here people of Minnesota, for we're acomin'..

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well” – Virginia Woolf

Whatever you do, if ever you get the opportunity, get your arse to Minneapolis to have bereakfast at Hells Kitchen. Yes the name is correct – it has nothing to do with Mr Ramsey. Bloody good tucker. In fact we’re probably going to double up tomoz.

Lynne’s feet are problematic. Fortunately most things are within walking distance. We are conquering the skywlks, which was important this morn as we had our first day of rain. Still got warm but. Another lazy start this morn after we missed out on last nights performance of the Brave New World theatre company. Apparenmtly we had the wrong address and turned up at the wrong venue.

The eateries here re renowned witin culinary circles apparently, but as with our experince you have to pick your mark. It appears any place with ‘steak’ in the name, or ‘steakhouse’ generally means higher prices. The alternative is a mixture of sandwhiches and fried staples which becomes monotonous and uninspiring. But we are finally sussing out the pretenders. We just returned from a great night at Barrios, a Latin American bar – beautiful tucker – we’ve been twice, and you know e don’t tend to repeat  venues.

After a sluggish start we parted ways today, with the little lady doing some serious shopping while I did the cultural thing and went to the Walker Arts Centre. L cam ehome with nothing while I had a feeling modern contemporary art does nothing for me. If you like the idea of a bloke perched on a platform 10 ft off the ground, sitting on a toilet in his jockstrap for days at a time, eating the Fianacial Times, and regurgitating on a diet of milk and tomato sauce….

L bought nothing, I was all the wiser, that’s the way they roll in Minneapolis. Still with a bottle of flavored Grey Goose for $32US, everyones a winner (a 1.5 lt bottle for $40?), yet single malts are pretty much the norm as we know it.

Love it.

BTW - as we travel tomoz to the wild west, internet facilities may be short, so stand by.

“I don’t think the real America is in New York or on the Pacific Coast; personally I like the middle west much better, places like North & South Dakota, Minneapolis and Saint Paul. There, I think, are the true Americans.” – Charles Chaplin

As we said goodbye to Chicago, we also split from the gang; the K’s staying in Chicago, the Z’s flying out with us to commence their journey to the Minnesota/Sth Dakota border. IT was a good time to get respite from each other for a few days after living in each others pockets for a while.

We D’s arrived in Minnesota and what appeared to be the remotest place on earth – Minneapolis on a public holiday. OK, Minneapolis is a small city/big town, but we arrived to streets void of vehicles, sidewalks with no pedestrians, and bars and restaurants closed.. It was a ghost town. Really weird.

But today was a different animal. School resumed post summer break, and businesses are again open. People roamed the streets and shops and bars were open and awaiting our custom. Becoming accustomed to street names in each city is made easy by their penchant for naming themin consecutive numbers eg First St, Second St, Third… But here, not only do they run these West-East running streets, they cross them with similarly named Avenues. So you can find yourself looking for Seven St Nth which intersects with Fifth Ave Sth – my head is spinning.

But there is an easier way to get about looking for street signs here. The Skywalk is a series of Ist Fl walkways that link every major public building and shopping centres. While other cities may have similar walkways, I believe this is the largest in the world. So no matter what the weather conditions, the locals can attend to their everyday needs without being exposed to the weather.

We had a bike ride along the Mississippi, having reestablished our relationship after losing the great river befor Memphis. A walk around town, while not big, was increasingly problematic as my princess is battling minor ailments to her feet. So its more of a shuffle and then a sitdown to recover, bandages applied,,, The issue I think she’ll unfortunately get worse before she gets better as we have another  2 weeks to go. So maybe we need more bike rides.

And why does everyone have to be so nice? Even the homeless show respect. Everone wishes yo a good day, all day everyday. And wheelchairs – an immediate observation is the high numb row wheelchairs around town – with many of them using the bike lanes as they whiz around town in the bike lanes.

Minneapolis may not be big in size but I’;m already feeling the love.

 

“I live in my own little world. But it’s OK, they know me here.” – Lauren Myracle

I thought we were in for a slow day yesterday. How wrong I was. With it being the final day in Chicago for the D’s and Z’s, we crammed as much as our sore and tired bodies would allow us. ‘Twas a beautiful morning, sunny. It has been said there are not many sunny periods to be had in Chicago, the norm is partial or full cloud. The day we were on the 96^th fl of the Hancock building saw grey and smoggy conditions. But yesterday was beautiful. And 30 degrees once again. We must be fully acclimatized by now as I don’t think we have had a day with a lower temp than that since we arrived on Day 1.

So it was onto the hop on hop off bus once again to the Navy Pier, which is a popular hub for holiday makers and locals alike. This being a public holiday holiday w/end half of Chicago’s 8 mill population converged as one upon what was like a poor mans Luna Park. There was nothing to like about it at all. Tacky shops, food outlets and questionable rides for the kids. And the people – thousands upon thousands. And then some more. Most of them squealing, complaining, rude little upstarts.

Still, the others didn’t seem to mind queing up for lengthy periods to participate in some mindless ‘entertainment’. My friends may also say I was upset at the fact I was the only not to score a hole in one at mini golf and could not join their club. But at least I’m the only member of my special club, which is important to me.

A further HopOn Hop Off bus ride saw us defeat death as the very funny tour guide, bordering on risqué, entertained the packed bus with his original take on what touristsn need to hear. The driver took a detour under some very low bridges – very very low bridges. There wasn’t one person aboard who didn’t feel the need to duck below seat level. I’m sure that sort of risk would not be allowed at home, but it was hilarious to see everyone’s reaction. Me? Why I took photo’s of course, but I haven’tr checked the quality as yet. But the dude on the mic was excellent with his very hiphop approach and was provided with a sizable tip as we disembarked. When asked what would be the closest bar (the golf had been thirsty work), he could’t answer us as he wasn’t old enough to have such knowledge. That means, as good a patois as he had, he was not yet 21!  

We visited the Sears/Willis tower. But didn’t enter as there was a 2hr or so wait! After an early dinner we saunterd back to the Navy pier for a twilight tall ship sailing adventure on Lake Michigan. This was worthwhile – a tremendous view of the city skyline was enjoyed by all aboard. Then a 6-8 km walk home, with a cheesecake stop and a visit to Buckingham Fountain (“love and marriage…’). We finished with another look at the city lights from our room, interrupted once again by the nearby One Direction concert. Bloody Tweenies!

P.S. – you know I really do love kids...