We’re settled in Bundang, S. Korea, and we’ve just returned from a 9-day excursion in Vietnam.
We WILL be updating our travel accounts this week (although they might not be in order). Apologies for the long delay, thanks for the patience.
Our travels around the world...
10 months ago
The drive from Iowa to Denver was long, but I think we were actually in the car for more hours between Denver and Boise. However, the beautiful scenery made the trek much more enjoyable. As we crossed the vast open expanse of Wyoming, I began to think about just how small we as people are, and how huge the world actually is. Montana is technically “Big Sky Country,” but Wyoming fits the bill too. We passed signs that said “next gas station 65 miles,” and we’d get to that station and it would be closed. Not to worry – the mini rarely had less than half a tank in her at any given time.
We stopped for lunch at a delightful little café in a Rawlins, WY, where we helped ourselves to healthy servings of Mexican food. Seemed to be the main fair in that part of the world. That was followed by some of the best cherry pie I’ve ever had, even though we were both pretty full at that point. Next door was a shop named “The Man Cave.” We didn’t go in, but it was definitely worth a picture. With a full tank of gas we headed out of Wyoming and on toward Utah. Does anyone else notice how the terrain seems to change immediately when crossing most state lines? Like from Illinois to Iowa across 80 for instance, it suddenly and inexplicably becomes hillier. Same thing from IL to IN across 76. But the latter border crossing isn’t defined by a terrain feature like a huge river – it’s a state line drawn arbitrarily back in the 1800s. What gives? Anyway, the northeastern corner of the Mormon state is beautiful. We followed the river as it cut a swath through the mountains.
The little lady and I were able to hold out ‘til Twin Falls for dinner, where our sandwich server’s discontent with his employer was our gain: we got free drinks and discounted sandwiches. Way to stick it to the man! An attempt was made to get through the entirety of Cage the Elephant’s latest album, but we couldn’t stomach the scream-o. What a complete and utter disappointment, especially after such a brilliant self-titled debut. This was quickly remedied by playing The Fleet Foxes’ latest. Faith in indie-rock and humanity restored, we glided down the highway as the sun’s dying rays water colored the high desert landscape. Ahhh.
Justine Britten and her Rhodesian Ridgeback named Riley greeted us around 9p on Friday night. Now Justine is a bit of a triathaloner (and by a bit I mean she completed an Iron Man last fall in about 10 hrs), and she informed us that it was past her bedtime, as she was slated to do a hard swim and ten mile run the next morning. Katie and I used the opportunity to lie in the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in, check email, read, relax, and then sleep in the following morning. Riley, who sleeps in Justine’s room on her dog bed, was more than shocked to see me in the bed the next morning (Justine graciously gave her bed to us while she slept on the couch). Luckily Justine arrived shortly and calmed her down.
Katie and I helped ourselves to a health breakfast of berries and cream, and shortly thereafter we meandered onto the porch. This gave us an opportunity to meet Jay, Justine’s significant other. It was about noon, and sitting in the summer sun on a Saturday seems to always be more enjoyable with a beer in hand. We chit chatted about our upcoming adventure to Korea, they talked about running, biking, and swimming, and possibly leaving it all to run a hotel in Tuscany. Hook me up with THAT gig. A few hours passed, and it was then generally decided that maybe we should do something with our day. So we headed off to hike the trails near downtown Boise. This was followed by a quick driving tour of the state capital, and then a stop at Justine’s parents brand-new house. The interior décor is unbelievable, and no detail was left unattended to. And the view of the surrounding hills is spectacular.
The party then headed back to Justine’s, where ____ , prepared a delicious grill-cooked meal that consisted of two types of brats and burgers. This was complimented with a tasty salad, all the fixings we could ask for, and of course more beer. Conversation with Justine’s parents was delightful, and with the sun behind the hills it was time to call it a day. Katie and I planned to watch a movie when we got back to the bedroom, but after tinkering on our computers for a time, we were too tired to muster a viewing. With Sam the cat on top of the comforter, we dozed like babes. Next stop: Medford, OR.
11 months ago
Driving into Denver, we witnessed a beautiful setting sun go to rest behind the mountains and clouds. It was a long driving day (13+ hrs), so we were ready for some rest and relaxation. Mark Walser, a buddy of mine from DG, greeted us with a handshake and a smile, and soon we were cozily sitting on his living room sofa. Why is that after sitting in a car all day, all you want to do is continue sitting? We busted out the box of wine, which Mark and his two wonderful roomates met with a full tray of lasagna. To our surprise, another good friend of mine from grade school, Michael Kolker, drove down from Fort Collins to hang out with us for the night. Mark’s roomate showed us his up and coming guitar making business venture, which uses CAD designs and an auto-lathe. The concept was brilliant, and I plan on having a commission for him when I head back to the states after our stint abroad. Everyone had to work tomorrow and we had another long drive ahead of us, so we hit our sleeping bags and fell soundly asleep.
The next morning, we filled up the Mini and popped the hood to check on the oil. Although the oil was fine and dandy, Katie commented that the coolant level was dangerously low. I never would’ve noticed! We asked Jane (our TomTom’s voice name and consequently the name given to our GPS unit) where the nearest Mini dealership was. Nothing close for about 75 miles. But they did have a few BMW dealerships around, so we called the nearest one and they told us to bring it on in. I believe in good customer service, and it should be applauded when done correctly. Overall, I’ve been extremely happy with the cooper, and driving into a super nice dealership and being handed doughnuts, coffee, and a topping off of coolant for no charge really iced the cake. We headed down to Whole Paycheck Foods and grabbed some fruit for our next leg. The strawberries were divine (and huge!). We waved goodbye to Denver and headed across the vast expanse of Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho on toward Boise.
11 months ago
Cedar Rapids, IA
Our first leg was one of our shortest, a mere hop from Chicago to Cedar Rapids. My aunt Anne hosted us for an evening, and shortly after arriving, showed us the ‘City of Five Seasons’. We asked multiple people what the fifth season was. It would probably be better left a mystery, as the fifth season is apparently “a season to enjoy the other four.” (We know; it doesn’t make any sense to us either.) But we had a dinner of pizza and pop, and then toured cousin Mary and her husband Josh’s new house in the next town over. They have a HUGE puppy that tried multiple times to knock us over, but thankfully he was unsuccessful. We said goodbye to Aiden and Keaton (they’re 2 babies) and headed back to my Aunt’s place. Katie was pretty exhausted and called it a night, but my cousin Michael and I were up for a tour of the town. We stopped at a few local bars, I got to see his martial arts school, and I learned all about Kat, the love of his life. By the time we got home we too were exhausted, so we called it a night. [Kat and Mike, have any pics you can send us?]
West Point, IA
We had a leisurely morning, which included a fantastic diner breakfast, errand running, and a practice jam session for Michael and I. Katie was still catching up on sleep, so she napped while Mike and ran through a few songs we would play later that night. As is the common case with road trips, we were a little behind schedule leaving for West Point and didn’t take off until about 4p that afternoon.
Now West Point is a fantastic little no-stoplight town in southeast Iowa that my aunt Sue and uncle Reed call home. It is also home to the Corner Tap, which is the bar they own and live above. Aunt Sue greeted us with a smile and a box of wine, and we chatted about our upcoming Korean adventure while watching the sun set. Soon we were joined by more of my cousins (Sue and Reed’s children) as well as more pizza. (Actually, I recommend the Domino’s Nacho toppings – fantastic.) Michael and I got to jamming, and we intermittently chatted with Jenny and her husband Ben, two of their children Isaac and Rachel, and my other cousins Ross, and Megan. It was great getting to catch up with all of them. We had no idea that anyone besides my aunt and uncle were going to be there, and it really meant a lot to see everyone. We mentioned plans of having our wedding in Bellingham, and surprisingly they were excited to make the journey out west to see that part of the country. Michael surprised us with cigars, and after a time outside we headed back in to play shuffleboard and to close the place down. [Jenny, can you send us some of your pics too? Thanks!]
A flood of childhood memories came back to me in West Point, as I had been a guest at many weddings across the courtyard at the American Legion building. The bar itself has hardly changed since I had last seen it. PBR memorabilia and animal heads adorn the walls, shuffleboard and pool tables offer hours of entertainment, and the jukebox is well stocked with toe-tapping tunes. Aunt Sue showed us around in the back, which houses a wood-covered walk-in refrigerator and a cellar that has dirt floors. I couldn’t believe the huge brick building was supported by no more than a few wooden pillars. Katie and I took a short stroll around the central courtyard, and we checked out the new monument dedicated to residents of West Point that had served in the military. The following morning, Uncle Reed took Michael, Katie, and I out to breakfast just down the street, where I had one of the best omelets in recent memory. With a hug and a wave, we headed out of West Point and back toward I-80. Soon we were out of the state and embracing the fantastically boring drive that is the trek across Nebraska. Next stop: Denver, CO.
11 months ago
Memorial Day Weekend we were back in Chicago finishing up our last packing, chores around town and made some time to party with family and friends! It was great to see everyone who came to send us off. We ate through 40+ brats and dogs and drank all the beer and pop in the house. A great time seemed to be had by all and especially by us. Thanks again to everyone who joined us… we unfortunately forgot to get out our cameras in the excitement of the day. If anyone has any good shots of the party could you please email them to us? Use gregpluskatie@gmail.com which is also an easy way to email both of us at the same time as it forwards to each of our accounts. Dan and Chloe sent us off with a warm farewell from our old stoop and we were on our way WEST!
“We are going so far West its East again!”
11 months ago
| Notes: 1
To Tennessee!! We were ready to switch gears from city to country so we took off from NYC and headed south along the Appalachian Mountains crossing through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and finally Tennessee. We spent the better part of 11 hours on I-81 S and criss-crossed the Appalachian Trail three times on our southward migration. Along our way we saw some amazing sights including a helicopter in tow (why not just fly it?), crossed the Mason Dixon Line, Katie experienced Chick Fil-a for the first time (thumbs up) and we enjoyed the beauty of the blue ridge mountains. Just before crossing in to Tennessee we came to a town where all the trees looked odd and as we started to remark on their odd style of logging, shredding up the trees mid way up the trunk, we realized that what we were looking at was a result of tornado damage. The towns, or what had been the towns, of Chillhowie and Glade Springs were all but destroyed by an F2 tornado several weeks earlier. The signs along the road way were blown off there mountings and completely gone. The homes we could see had been homes were completely destroyed in come cases, the roofs of most were sheered off. A self storage facility looked as though the tornado’s path had gone straight through the middle. Units on the ends were still standing but the middle had exploded and stuff was scattered everywhere for blocks around like a bad garage sale. Needless to say, this sight sobered up our rockin’ road trip for a few minutes and led us to reflect on how one’s life is fragile and can be turned upside down without a moments notice.
All day we kept track of the AT on our map and contemplated the fact that our friends’ Scotland and Cat would be walking the entire length of our journey over the next few months as they trekked Northwards along the trail. Check out their blog too! What took us 11 hours to drive and doesn’t even cover the entire length of the AT (Georgia to Maine!) will take them 5 1/2 months to walk. Since we were traveling off the grid with no GPS and two dead cell phones we felt like we were on a long peaceful journey as well.
But not to worry, the peace didn’t last too long… mayhem and mischief ensued as soon as we climbed the six miles of winding road way leading up to Sunset Bay and the Cobers’ perch high above the beautiful Norris Lake.
Night one we were greeted by our dear friends Ben, Steve Powalowski, Cat Dayger and Scotland Forbes… and steak. Also potatoes, salad and mac and cheese. After an epic welcome toast (per usual) and many cheers and congratulations as these folks hadn’t seen us since our engagement we settled in to the Drake room (named for Sir Frances Drake). In true Tennessee house fashion there was much relaxing, exploring, Catan, and enjoying over the next few days. The spiders and Luna moths were plentiful among other attractions however there were no dead squirrels in the bed this time :-) thankfully.
Caving was on the agenda for the first full day. Cat and Scot had elected to stay an extra day to participate in the underground adventure. We piled onto the Cobers’ sweet boat and zoomed up the reservoir in search of caves. Norris Lake is a man made lake formed behind Norris Dam, the product of the Tennessee Valley Authority which was a public works project from the WPA era (just like Bellingham High School). Our expert guides, Ben and Steve, lead us to our first cave… Spider Falls Cave which earned its name based on the fact that a waterfall flows out from it and spiders breed fruitfully inside. We explored around inside the cave and found salamanders, some cool limestone formations in the cave including underwater ridges, a stone flow with water actively running over it, stalactites, stalagmites and lots of spiders.
On the way out Greg climbed up on a huge boulder suspended in the cave’s entrance and got a cool shot of all of us below. We ventured back through the forest and up the lake to another cave. This one had bars over the entrance and promised that it was monitored by electronic sensors at the entrance. Our cave experts stated that from experience they could vouch that it was not monitored and that it was totally worth shimmying through the bars to get in. Katie and Cat stayed on the boat while the boys went in. Greg said that the inside of the big cave was large and you could walk around through the cave without bending over, though you were wading through chest deep ice cold water. It eventually opened into a large cavern as big as a school gymnasium. The guys found two tunnels which they eventually discovered were connected after splitting up to explore them. Ben and Greg had been just about to turn back and give up on their tunnel but they saw a light (at what they thought was the dead end of the tunnel ironically) and kept going, popping out after much wriggling and scooching along on their bellies fully extended like worms to meet up with Scot and Steve. Ben, an experienced spelunker, said it was the smallest tube he had ever been through. Greg, having previously been some what claustrophobic was seemingly cured if his level of elation was any measure.
Meanwhile back on the surface… Katie and Cat had been lounging on the boat waiting for the intrepid explorers, moving the boat back near shore every time is drifted away. Suddenly a cloud came across the hills and the wind whipped up. Thunder and lightning started crashing and the ladies got the awning up on the boat just in time before the rain started. The guys were totally oblivious to their plight, being safely underground. Seeing that the storm was going to be a doozie the girls took action and drove the boat under the cover of the trees and wedged it up on shore to ride out the storm. For a few moments in the middle of the storm the rain was so hard the opposite shore, which wasn’t that far off, was completely obscured from view. By the time the guys finally surfaced all traces of the storm were gone except for the fact that the boat was totally drenched and a few unhappy pictures of the ladies riding it out.
The next morning, Cat and Scotland headed back to the long trail. Greg and Ben dropped them off exactly where they had been picked up two days before. Upon their return we all packed up and headed to the boat. We gassed up at the Hickory Star Marina, as usual, opting to put in only $50 worth of gas for the day. Joe Hamilton had arrived late the night before and there was much epic tubing, rope swinging and cliff jumping. We saw many ducks, a bald eagle and lots of big fish under the water. In the evening we made a long run down the lake to the coolest joint around… Bubba Brews. The bar/restaurant is a boat up establishment floating on pontoons in the middle of a marina. The restaurant boasts an awesome menu of fried goodies and burgers as well as 3 full bars, an area to play bags (corn hole), all the hot waitresses in the area and even end zone uprights in the urinals with suspended footballs for targets. After a few rounds Katie introduced herself to Bubba, who can usually be found at the entrance to his fine establishment, complementing him on the service and his entrepreneurship for opening such a great place on Norris Lake. Bubba, it turns out, is pretty much a business minded guy who looks like Kid Rock, works out like The Rock and has the Southern charm of a gentleman from Little Rock. When Katie promised we would all be back again though stated it wouldn’t be for some time since we are on the way to Korea, Bubba said, “Well, I’ll be waitin’ on ya ma’am!” Our waitresses, Karen, hailed from Winnipeg (the home of The Guess Who according to Steve) and was on her way to Texas. She served us up right all night and capped it off joining the guys in a shot of whiskey at the end. Bubba also visited our table to personally greet us and congratulate us specifically on our engagement and upcoming trip to Korea. We passed a fine evening among some friendly Tennesseans, closed Bubba’s Brews down at around 10:30 and headed home on the boat.
Enjoying a lovely night ride home we were about to loop around the point about 3 miles from our home marina when our boat slowed to a silent drift. Ha ha ha Ben, quit joking around, lets go home! Nope, we were out of gas. Luckily we could see the Hickory Star Marina in the far off distance. We decided to paddle over in search of gas though we were reasonably sure it was already closed. Joke was on us! No paddles on the boat! Apparently the fact that the boat has two gas tanks means you are supposed to have one in reserve at all times… Gas isn’t cheap but I guess we are! Using nothing but two rubbermaid lids as paddles and the man power of Steve, Joe and Greg swimming and kicking off the back of the boat it took us a mere two hours and about “250 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” to reach the Hickory Star, around 12:45am. Needless to say it was closed. The lone local around laughed when we asked where the nearest gas station was… 15 miles away! After scouring the dock for free gas (don’t worry, we tied $20s to all the tanks) the boat still wouldn’t start. We gave up and collapsed on a pile of life jackets on the boat deck to wait it out until morning. Somewhere in the middle of the night it started raining and we put up the awning again though it isn’t really that waterproof it turns out. Luckily the marina opens at 6am. When the gas lady/cook/cashier came out at 6 and asked if we were waitin’ on bait we couldn’t even muster a laugh. It took long enough to wolf an egg sandwich for the boat to start (“Don’t worry, it made that squealing sound last time we ran out of gas, we just have to wait”) and we were off home.
The rest of the day was spent relaxing, sleeping and watching horror movies, naturally about tornadoes and caving (I do not recommend watching this if you EVER want to go caving again). Ben’s parents joined us that evening and brought along their three little doggies.
Friday morning it was time to pack up and head back to Chicago for the next phase in our long journey West. We headed north through Cumberland Gap into Kentucky. We were forced to re-route due to an accident and again due to flooding in West Lafayette. Taking the back roads home we were fortunate enough to see some Indiana wind farms and some beautiful farmland before we eventually ended up back home in Downers Grove. Tennessee was again a great success… a great thanks to the Cober family as usual for their welcoming hospitality!
11 months ago
“This stuff’s made in NEW YORK CITY?!”
Leg 1: New York City
5/19/11 - 11:20 AM: The Kage and I packed up my parents’ brand spankin’ new Dodge Minivan and headed out to NYC. In actuality, it was mostly packed with a collection of junk my brother had been storing in Illinois. We almost fit everything he was pining for, save a table saw. I suppose the 300 lb jigsaw bench will have to suffice for now.
Our original plan had us trekking straight to their house on Long Island (about 14 hrs driving time), but the day faded to night and we weren’t even out of Pennsylvania. As it turned out, Katie had reconnected with a fellow Peace Corps mate from Cameroon. Katy Woodford graciously offered to put us up for the night in her adorable little apartment in State College, PA. To our surprise and joy, she had taken time to prepare a meal of cabbage soup and tasty bread, which we eagerly accepted. The three of us proceeded to have a worldly discourse for hours before exhaustion took over. We also learned our favorite new phrase, which we are currently abusing to death. “How bout it?” is local expression of central PA area. “You’uns” is almost as good, but we haven’t had as much need for it as the former. After a delightful cup of strong Irish breakfast tea (our favorite!), we headed out around 9a and resumed our journey towards the Big Apple. [K Woo – what was the name of that tea?!]
As always, the drive through Pennsylvania hills was breathtaking. We made it to Mike’s house just after lunchtime. After a little housework (which is always included in a trip to the Zimpura household), Mike proceeded to cook a delicious surf n’ turf dinner. This included jumbo shrimp, fresh salad, and a porterhouse steak 2 ½ inches thick – all prepared to perfection. Several hours and bottles of wine later, we were all ready to hit the hay. The next day, the entire fam headed into NYC. Even though we’d been in and around New York City over half a dozen times, neither Katie or I had ever done the “touristy thing.” We would not leave this time without at least grabbing the famous “I (heart) NY” shirt. Mission accomplished.
Lauren accompanied us on the Long Island Railroad, which took us into Penn Station. She told us that ever vendor and store sold beer and wine in every size and at every turn. Verified. We met up with the rest of the gang and headed to the top of the Empire State Building. If I could go back in time and visit NYC for the first time again, my first destination would be the top of the Empire State. Not only are the views amazing, but suddenly the layout of the city makes so much more sense. You can see all the areas, bridges; even Lady Liberty herself. It’s worth the wait and the money, even if you have to rush to the airport afterward. We soaked in the sights and said a tearful goodbye to Mana (my mom) on the observation deck. The parents rushed off to the airport with Mike and the kids, and Lauren, Katie, and I were free to walk the city streets. A nice lunch was followed by a stroll to Times Square, complete with a stop at Bryant Park and a quick visit to the New York City Public Library building there.
Times square is a sight to see to be sure. Someone mentioned to me years ago than it’s much smaller than you think it would be. That’s a complete lie – I found it to be large, bustling, enthralling, and slightly obnoxious. I suppose it’s a microcosm of NYC and pretty much how I describe the whole place to people who’ve never been there before. We headed south to meet up with my brother Mike (sans kiddies) and I was able to pickup my tourist t-shirt. The four of us then boarded a subway train to Soho and the Lower East Side. We sauntered around and stopped in two bars before heading to our dinner destination: a Mexican restaurant named Mole. After margaritas and tacos, we were ready to continue our hopping. It was about a 20 minute walk to the next stop. This time we headed into a sports bar named The Blind Pig. We met up with Bill, Kim, and Caitlin, who are friends of mine from Downers Grove. Mike and Lauren were ready to head back, so we bid them adieu. Hours later, the rest of us closed out our tabs and headed around the corner to their friend Ross’s apartment. In a small-world scenario, we later found out that he figure skates and competed against our friend Mauro Bruni, who we know via Dan Rempert. (They met at USC in L.A.) After several more hours of partying and jamming, we were ready to head back to Garden City ourselves. I roused Katie from the couch and we hitched a ride back to Penn Station. We tried ourselves a couple of New York hot dogs. It was weird - they ain’t got nothin’ on Chicago’s. The train ride was probably the most entertaining of my life, as we listened to the drunken ramblings of a college kid, who was threatening to fight someone else and “get his a** kicked just to prove a point.” We also learned that he will “NOT do ANYTHING with Darren tomorrow”, and that if you’re going to tell him what to do, you “better be [his] BEST friend, or at least FIVE years older than [him].” We crept into bed at 5am and were asleep before our heads hit the pillow.
That night’s sleep was glorious, but extremely short. Mike roused us at 8a, and the entire house started a mad dash to Fire Island. Driving like a madman in his brand-new minivan, my brother was able to get us to the ferry with only moments to spare. Weather-wise, it wasn’t the nicest of conditions, as it was about 50 degrees, overcast, and windy. But it felt so good to set foot upon Fire Island again. Three summers ago the Acinapuras invited our entire family to spend a week at their amazing summer home on the island. We all had a fantastic time, and Katie and I were enchanted with the place. The main form of transportation is bicycle or foot, and all the “streets” are boardwalks. The entire place is a summer beach community, and as their entrance plaque states – life is better at the beach.
Mike and I had another project to complete. His Tornado, named “De Fuego”, was in need of a permanent home. This 20ft Olympic class racing catamaran had been purchased by Mike from the Illinois Sailing Club back when I was still commodore. We finished putting up the second wall of his custom-designed shed and were just starting on the third when Lauren came down to tell us that Mike was scheduled to work that day. We’ll spare the expletives, but needless to say he wasn’t happy about this recent development. Just as we had dashed to the island originally, we quickly bundled our belongings and headed down the weathered boardwalk toward the ferry. A hop, skip, and a jump later and we were back at their house in Garden City. In desperate need of rest, Katie and I headed straight to bed. When we awoke, Mike was back from work. Turns out it wasn’t too busy at the hospital, so they sent him home. Oh the sweet sweet irony. The Kage and I met up with three of the Kamaji crew (Kari, Orlee, and Shira) at another Mexican restaurant in Brooklyn. After parting ways, we headed around the corner to Kari’s favorite local bar. We chatted about our future paths re-crossing in Bellingham, WA, where she and her fiance Blaine are just about to move to. Our plan after Korea is to settle in the B-Ham also, and it’s always good to have friends in town.
The following morning, we packed up Mike’s ‘02 Honda Civic (which my father and I scoured clean) and braced ourselves for NYC Monday morning traffic, with no GPS system available to us. It turns out that the cigarette lighter wasn’t working, so we had to get to Tennessee the old-fashioned way: with maps and directions – ahhhh!.This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as it probably would’ve taken twice as long to get off of Long Island and past the city if we had followed the GPS. Miraculously, we hit absolutely no traffic. Our leg from Garden City to the Newark Airport only took about 40 minutes. We set the cruise control and headed south for the Cober lake house.
12 months ago
Meet Doggie and Duckie
We’ve acquired two travel mates who will be accompanying us as we travel around the US and beyond. These adorable mascots are doggie and duckie. Here are there back stories:
Doggie
Doggie is a scruffy, dirty, tiny canine with a humungous smile and an even bigger heart. We first met when our kitty cat Bowline (aka Bowlie, Bo-Bo, Bo-Bo-Ski-Whatten-Dotten) picked him up off the wood floor in our Chicago apartment. It was love at first bite. After hours of being thrown, batted, chased, pounced upon and loved all over the apartment Doggie was tragically misplaced (and replaced by Doggie2). He even missed his flight to Washington! All that changed when he was re-united with us while packing up our things. Doggie is now on a cross country journey to take him back to his feline friend at trips end in Bellingham Washington and beyond! But while the cat’s away, Doggie will play… coast to coast… Doggie style. Just look at that smile, he is obviously excited about it.
Duckie
Duckie is the newest addition to our travel team with a buoyant personality and a tendency to play practical jokes (think spitting cold water on people in the shower). Shortly after moving out of our apartment (and being reunited with Doggie) Katie was on a run along Deer Creek in Downers Grove, IL. The weather was ominous and quickly made good on the promise of rain. The wind whipped up, the rain started pelting and the sky went dark. Greg came to the rescue in the mini cooper, and just as Katie spotted him, something small and yellow caught her eye in the gutter: Duckie. Katie snapped up Duckie and ran him home to safety where he met Doggie… and the adventure began.
Doggie and Duckie will be featured in many of our travel photos… look for them as they accompany us on our adventures… world wide!
1 year ago
The epicness that will be our coast-to-coast road trip. Chicago -> NYC -> Chicago (via TN) -> Bellingham, WA:
Katie Green: “looks like its 3 days, 19 hrs driving a total of 5244 miles… WE ARE INSANE”
1 year ago
Oh the joys of moving back in with your parents. Luckily for Katie and myself, they’re wonderful people. Free rent, fantastic home-cooked meals, suburban living at its finest - who could ask for more?
At the moment we’re just waiting on Fedex to deliver all of our documentation to our Korean recruiter Sunny. The website has delivery set for May 9th, and Sunny believes he’ll have plenty of time to setup our visas. So far, so good.
A week from tomorrow, I’ll be walking out of Trek Freight’s doors for the last time. While there’s a tinge of bittersweet, I couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the future. For better or worse, the experience has taught me many valuable lessons and skills. But I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that I’ll never, ever work in logistics again.
This is where the fun part starts. Here’s a rough itinerary for the remainder of May:
May 16-18: Greg’s Chicago bucket list
May 18: Katie’s last day @ Misericordia
May 19-23: Road trip out to visit brother Mike and fam, buddies Bill and Caitlin in NYC
May 24-30: Possibly visiting Ben Cober at his lake house in TN.
Or this week will be dedicated to our combined bucket list. Itinerary includes (but not limited to):
- Bahia Temple in Evanston
- Skywalk thing @ top of Sears (Willis) Tower
- Modern wing @ Art Institute
- Body Worlds @ Museum of Science and Industry
- Sailing
- Biking
We’ll discuss what happens after Memorial Day weekend in the next post.
