Midwest Trip, Summer 2015 part I

Midwest Trip, Summer 2015  part I

Day 1  Saturday, June 27, 2015

Bad rain all day, made driving unpleasant, stressful.  Managed to get out of the house at 6 am and drive 680 miles that day.   We had reservations at the Microtel in Elkhart.  We have liked Elkhart for its location in the past - but the hotel wasn’t great.  We did not like small bathroom and poor water pressure.  Breakfast was unsatisfying with poor selection.  Dinner last night at Culvers was very good.  Stopped in a Walmart to get a new aux cable for the car radio.

Day 2  Sunday June 28

Day 2 went exceedingly well.  We started in Elkhart, drove from there to Edith & Fred’s in Schererville, where we hung out for an hour or so, then went to Portillo’s for lunch.  We left Schererville at about 12:30, jumped on I-294 and went to O’hare to pick Sarah who was flying in from LA where she is doing an internship at JPL at Caltech.  Picking her up was simple and we were in and out of the airport in less than an hour.  Parking there was only $2.  The next hour and and a half we spent driving up to the Lyons/Lake Geneva area, where we visited with George and Normandie, then checked into our hotel, the Comfort Suites and went to a very lovely dinner at the Red Geranium.  Finally it was back to the hotel where I fell asleep in front of the TV and everyone else called it an earlier night.

Day 3  Monday, June 29

Lunch at Simple, love the colors and the food.

The day started early for me, getting up at 6:20, exercising on the hotel treadmill for 40 mins, then a shower and breakfast at the hotel breakfast area.  The rest of the family slept.  I watched some YouTube videos on using Lightroom and Pixelmator together.  When the family was up and moving, we headed to downtown Lake Geneva, where we had coffee at Peet’s Coffee, in the same site as the our previously beloved Caribou Coffee.  Remodelled but some of the Morris Chairs were clearly the same.  Next we met George and Normandie at Simple, where the kids had eggs, bacon or ham, and a short stack of pancakes.  Sarah gave her bacon to Mike and myself.  It was good.  I had a blackened turkey burger that seemed very gamey.  Liz had...I do not remember what Liz had.  George was very disappointed with his turkey club sandwich.  I guess it was a bad day to order turkey.  Next we went to the Showboat theater and saw Inside Out, the latest Pixar flick.  It was very enjoyable.  After that we went to George and Normandi’s house, where we hung out and chatted.  Liz and George went to the graveyard to see he and Normandie’s new plot, and Dave and the kids went to the pie store and bought what turned out to be an outstanding blueberry crumb pie.  At about 6pm, we all headed out to the Mars Resort and Restaurant for a dinner of ribs and steaks!  It was good, yum!  Finally, we went back to George and Normany’s for pie and after dinner talk.  After that, we went back to the hotel and basically went directly to sleep.  A good day.

Day 4  Tuesday, June 30

The day started much like the previous - Liz and the kids slept later while I get up at about 6:30, did 40 minutes on the treadmill, showered, and ad breakfast.  Today was slightly different in that Liz got up at about 7:45, had some coffee (half caf half decaf) and then showered.  While I had already had breakfast, I decided to join her, while she had breakfast.  The kids decided to sleep in, but Liz promised to grab a muffin for each of them.  Today’s plan is to have lunch at George and Normandie’s, a little shopping and swimming for Dave and Mike, some more shopping for Liz, Sarah, and Normandie, and napping at the house for George.  The dinner plan is for Culvers, which is good, because meals have been somewhat pricey to this point.  

As it turned out, we did eat at Culver's that evening, and then spent some time walking around downtown Lake Geneva.  After the walk, George and Normandie said good night and left, and we sent for a drive to see some of our favorite sights in Lake Geneva - around the lake and up the hill.  Then back to the hotel for some quiet time and then to sleep.