Birthday Trip: Chicago

Last night after the concert was a little unbelievable. I had a room reserved at the Red Roof Inn in Willowbrook, IL. When we got there, sometime around midnight, I was informed that they had no more rooms. The young guy working the front desk was unhelpful, and the 800 number said I needed to deal with him. My credit card reservation entitles me to a night at another hotel on their dime if they overbook their hotel, but he took so long I just gave up and left. I drove south on I-55 until I came to the Springhill Suites at the Bolingbrook exit. It is $35 more than the reservation, but it was a bed to sleep in.

We got downtown early, because I was worried about traffic and parking. Neither of these were an issue. We drove right up Lakeshore Drive and straight into a mostly empty parking garage on Randolph Street.

We went on a segway tour with City Segway Tours. It was a rainy morning, but the tour was really fun!





After our three hour tour (a three hour tour), we ate at Giordano's in the Prudential Building.


We ate dessert first:


Then stuffed pizzas:


Then we walked through the theater district up to
The Sears Tower. Except it is officially called "Willis Tower" now.







On the way home, Chris accidently threw ketchup all over my car:

Birthday Trip: Chicago

Crossroads Festival was extremely awesome!

We got there early and got pretty good seats:


Then we spread out our blanket and got ready:


The music was amazing. My personal favorite set was Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, and Ronnie Wood. I. SAW. CLAPTON. LIVE. There were a few other "bucket list" moments too. ZZ Top is freakin' badass. Warren Haynes, Robert Cray played Chicken in the Kitchen, John Mayer?!?!??, Jimmie Vaughan played Six Stings Down - OMGJEFFBECK - and Jeff Beck's BASS PLAYER! Shuuuut up! I can't believe I actually saw this concert!

Ron Wood, Buddy Guy & Jonny Lang:


ZZ Top:


Clapton & Winwood "Had to Cry Today":


Finale:

Birthday Trip: Chicago

Chris and I left for Chicago after work today. We ate dinner at Cozy Dog Drive In in Springfield.



We're staying near the concert venue tonight so we can get to Toyota Park early tomorrow to hopefully get good seats for Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010.

Bonus! Our hotel room smells like hamster pee.

Home again home again jiggety jig

Junction City, KS is better at night.

I drove us all the way home today. We made great time, and got in around 2:30.

It is nice to see Chris again!

Back to the same ol' same ol' tomorrow.

On our way home again

We caped and quartered Dad's elk this morning. Actually, it is more than quartered, but not quite processed. It fits in the coolers we have available.



We said our goodbyes and started for home.

Dennis got sick and slept most of the way. He perked up somewhere around Limon, but I drove us all the way to Junction City, KS.

Coming down the mountain

We loaded up, cleaned the cabin, and headed out this morning.

Dad and Kelly took the trucks, but Dennis and I got to ride out. Sam took us the long way down, because it was still elk season and we were willing to shoot any cows he could find for us.



There was fresh snow yesterday afternoon and overnight, so all of the sign we saw was from today. We saw tracks, beds, scat and feeding areas. The elk were all around us. Probably laughing at us.

Besides the exciting hunting prospects, the scenery was beyond beautiful. The Colorado woods with freshly fallen snow is one of the prettiest places I've ever been. And so quiet. Except for the occasional jet overhead, there is nothing but natural noise.

Sam could charge for the trail ride he took us on this morning!



I was very happy to meet running water when we got back to the house. The first shower after a long stay on top of a mountain is one of the best you'll ever have.

We're having Elk for Christmas!

We went up the ridge behind the cabin this morning. Dennis and I sat together right on the canyon edge. It is a long way down to the Conejos River. We can also see across the canyon to the Ruybalid Trail and the approximate area where the base camp is. We stayed there in tents in 2007. I'm glad we're not camping for this trip.



Dennis and Kelly both thought they saw some movement in a clump of trees by Los Flores Lake, but it was too far out for either of them to even confirm if it was an elk or not.


View Larger Map

We rode back down to the cabin. Sam and Dad came in right after us, and we heard that Dad had shot an elk!



I let myself get pretty cold, so I stayed at the cabin and did dishes while everyone else went back out for the afternoon. The area they were hunting was pretty much the same place Dennis and I went on Thursday. There were elk prints all over the places I was staring at on that windy day, and it was right down the ridge from where Dad shot his elk. We were definitely looking in the right places.

Snow!

The wind blew in snow.



It is beautiful, but it is cutting into our hunting time.

Sam said the only thing we'd accomplish if we went out today is getting ourselves wet and cold.

We found some copies of Western Horseman in the bedroom, and I've shared my fashion magazines with anyone willing to read them.

I don't know if I would have made a good pioneer woman. That's a long winter to be holed up together. It gets dark at about 4:30 up here. Good thing the cabin has propane lights in every room. It is not really gloomy inside at all.



This evening, Dennis melted a big pan of snow for me, so I took a 'bath'. Ahhh, refreshing!

The wind cries Mary

I'm not sure if the wind actually cried "Mary", but I do know it kept us pinned down in the cabin today. It was howling! Sam said that just like whitetails at home, the elk were not likely to be out moving in this weather. They've most likely found a good place to bed down and stayed there.

Dennis and I did go out the forest road around 3:00 and sat on a hillside for a while. The wind was the pull your hat off variety, and it almost snatched the binoculars out of my hands once. It was carrying our scent across the draw and up the hillside we were looking at, so I doubt anything was ever going to come out of the woods.

At least we have a warm bed to sleep in. This wind would be a real challenge in wall tents.

A hunting we will go

We sat outside most of the day today, elk hunting.

Dennis and I were together, the farthest from camp. We rode through a lot of elk sign to get to our place for the day.





Dad was somewhere to our east, and Uncle Kelly was the closest to the cabin.

We heard four shots sometime around 2:30, and I was convinced it was my dad. We found out later he didn't hear a thing. But Kelly did. Sound does funny things in the mountains.

Some elk passed my dad, but he was looking the other way and didn't see them. We only know because Sam saw them. Kelly saw two mule deer does near the salt lick he was watching. Dennis and I saw our horses and each other, but no other wildlife to speak of.

A cabin in the woods

The "big house"


and "the little house"

Elevation

We drove up as far as we could take the horse trailer into the Rio Grande National Forest. Then we dropped the trailer and rode the rest of the way up.

Thankfully for me, this ride was not as hairy as going up the winding stair, but I have city eyes and I really can't see anything at night anymore. Did I mention it is DARK here?

The cabin is warm and cozy.

Colorado here we are!

We arrived in La Jara, Colorado around 2:30 this afternoon.

We saw a beautiful sunset over Kansas last night. I don't care what anyone says, I like Kansas!


We can see mountains now :)

Colorado or bust

We're leaving for Colorado for our elk hunt!



Our plan is to stay in Burlington, CO tonight and make it to Sam's house tomorrow.

Vacation: Day 9 Mammoth Cave to St. Louis

We crossed the Green River Ferry to go horseback riding this morning.



Chris rode his new friend Curly:


Then we drove - forever - up through Evansville and back to Troy, where we met Dennis and Lacey.

Vacation: Day 8 Mammoth Cave

We explored Mammoth Cave National Park today. We took the New Entrance tour at 9:00 this morning.



We ate lunch at a place called TrogloBITES, where I got a Where's George Dollar in my change.

Mom, Dad and I took a hike after lunch, while Beth and Chris hit the gift shops. The deer in the park have no fear of (or even concern for) humans. I was uncomfortable being this close to them.



Our last cave tour was the Historic Tour. I'm very glad we managed to reserve our spots from home, or I don't know that we would have made it on any good tours. The park was very busy today!

Vacation: Day 7 Lexington to Mammoth Cave, KY

Lexington received 2.55 inches of rain last night. My tent tried valiantly to dam the flow of water through our campsite, but gave up sometime before dawn. Chris and I stayed fairly dry, but our sleeping gear had to be dried. Thank goodness this is a luxury campground with a washer and dryer available!

When we got to Mammoth Cave, we were able to dry the tents better in the sun while we were setting up camp.

Vacation: Day 6 Kentucky Horse Park

Chris, Beth and I went on a horse farm tour today. Our first stop was a mare and foal barn at Hurricane Hall.



Then we went to Winstar to the stud barn and breeding shed. We saw Tiznow and Distorted Humor, two of the best breeding stallions at this time. Bluegrass Cat was also there, and I was most excited to see him, as I remember him running second to Barbaro in the Derby and increasing the payout for that race.

Vacation: Day 5 Kentucky Horse Park

We started our day at Kentucky Horse Park doing great things like petting baby miniature horses.



Rain moved in during the late afternoon, so we decided to head into downtown Lexington for some food. We ate at Billy's Bar-B-Q while it poured outside. I had the mutton.



Mom & Dad each got pulled pork, which rivaled any I'd had here or in Memphis. Chris got ribs, which were fine, and Beth got beef, which I found a bit weak and thought it clashed with their sauce. This is a pork joint if I've ever seen one, and I want to go back to find out just how good their pulled pork sandwich is. It has potential to be the best I've had yet. This is a very happy surprise!

Vacation: Day 4 Taylorsville to Lexington, KY

We packed up camp this morning and drove to Kentucky Horse Park. We saw Cigar and Funny Cide in the Hall of Champions. Then we watched a Big Horse Productions vaulting display.



The campground has a pool. Beth and Chris went swimming this evening, while I sat on the deck and tried to keep my book safe from the occasional raindrop.