Nick got his first real six string
Bought it in Edinburgh

Bear and her bestest friend Meghan

Since my dad has never been further than Wisconsin. I took it upon myself to take him on a vacation. I’ve always wanted to go to Chicago and since it is a 7 hour drive from Woodbury i thought why not go.
We were suppose to leave at 6am on Sunday morning, my parents were late so we didn’t leave until 7am. With the gps as our guide and the prius as our vessel we were off. Since I was in charge of the driving it was up to me to decide when we stopped for a rest and potty break. I had decided that we would stop in Black River Falls for breakfast. Ooo they have a Hardees mom, lets go there. I haven’t eaten at one in years, I got the biscuits n gravy bowl, while the folks got Canadian Sunrise sandwiches. After we finished we were off on the road again. We saw a lot of people pulled over along the way and made one more stop before we hit the Illinois boarder. I have never been on a toll road in my life and had no idea how much you had to pay. My dad sat ready with his bag of coins, mom would shout $2.00 and he would count it out and have it ready for me. We only managed to miss one toll. Oh well.
soon we found our hotel, our room wasn’t ready, so we took the EL train into the city. Bad idea the O’hare line was under construction and only went half way. Luckily the Chicago transit people had a well thought out alternative, they had buses waiting at the station to take us the rest of the way. With a little help and one wrong way bus we found our way to Navy Pier. it was fun, but not what I had in mind. Since we hadn’t eaten since breakfast we went to McDonald’s in the Pier for lunch and looked around in the shops. I found a Piggy Bank with the Chicago skyline painted on it. It was getting late and Pete was tired so we headed back to our hotel and called it a day.

Day 2
We woke up early and asked the front desk if there was any cafes near by. They had suggested that we try Maxs dinner down the street. Our waitress was a delight and the food was very good. I waffle with a side of ham, they give you a ton of food for very little money. After we finished breakfast we decided to ditch the EL and drive into the city. Our first stop of the day was Grace land Cemetery. We did a walking tour of the cemetery in the light rain. This isn’t your regular cemetery with tombs designed by Getty and Wright, sculptures completed by by gone artist. It was peaceful and beautiful.
After we finished our tour we headed to Oak Park. Ever since I can remember I’ve always wanted to visit Frank Loyd wrights Trinity Temple. There it was standing before me in all of its concrete greatness. We paid the lady our $8.00 a piece and walked in side this holy grail of modern architecture. It was greater than i imagined, better than the pictures and TV specials had shown it. i was so moved by his design, his attention to detail that I was brought to tears. The folks enjoyed it too. it was fun walking around Oak Park and Shouting Oooo another Loyd right house.
when walking we had noticed a sign that said Hemingway museum this way. mom a lover of books and all things old wanted to go. So we did. We got to visit the museum and do a tour of the house he was born in. Note; they have the most long winded boring tour guide in the world. The house was your typical Victorian, we ran out on the tour guide. After my dad and I made fun of my mom for picking such a boring tour, we were ready to get down to business. To tour the first Frank Loyd House that he built and desgined. Only to get to it and find out we had missed the last tour of the day. Saddened we got back in the Prius and headed back to our hotel. For dinner we at Chicago deep dish pizza and went to the Buckingham fountain. In which my dad was surprised to find that it was in deed real and not just made for TV. it was amazing and we strolled through millennium park as well.

Day 3
I woke up bound and determined to see Frank Loyd Wrights home. We ate breakfast at Max’s diner again and headed out to Oak Park. We got there at 8:30am, 30minutes before they opened and were the first ones in line for our tickets. Success we got tickets for the first tour of the day. All I can say is WOW the house is amazing his concepts in design are funny and mind blowing. it truly is a gem. When we were finished at Wrights home we headed back into Chicago and went to the Shedd aquarium. I had no idea how huge this place is, we got a sneak peak of there new show Fantasea it was very cute and delightful. It was getting late and our tummies were grumbling for food. We went to Ram Pub near our hotel, the burgers were so yummy and juice just like a burger should be. After dinner we drove around Chicago for a while and headed back to the hotel to pack. Our Chicago adventure was coming to a close. I had a great time traveling with my parents and sharing this adventure with them.

I have studied abroad twice while in college and fell in love with traveling. This is a passion that I have given to my husband. In March we took an NCL cruise in the Mediterranean. Our itinerary included Casablanca and Aquadir Morocco, Las Plamas Gran Canari, Funchal Portugal, Malaga and Barcelona Spain. It was an amazing magical trip that made me fall in love with my husband all over again!
A Ports of Call recap
Casablanca Morocco:

is the economic capital of Morocco, so there wasn’t to much to see. We took a shore tour that took us to a mosque, the palace the Islamic quarter and to a market. I found Casablanca to be a bit unorganized, they are doing a lot of construction to attract more tourists and developing the city. The people are very friendly and almost a little to eager for you money.
Things that I bought, Two stone turtles made out of the different types of granite found in Morocco and a Hand painted bowl.
Aquaidir Morocco:I found Aquaidir to be much better than Casablanca. Sadly Aquaidir has been completely rebuilt do to an earth quake on leap year day in 1960. Over 15,000 people died in the quake as it occurred at midnight and most of the citizens were asleep.

The citizens did not want to rebuild the old city, instead they filled it in and it is this bleak mound that sits above the new city. We took a shore tour to the Fantasia Horse Show and Camel ride. We got to view Berber horses and riders in costumes, musicians and the husband rode a came. There was even a snake charmer. Once finished here, we went to a small shop owned by a woman and she explained the different spices and products to us. Once finished we headed back to the ship.
Things that I bought: 35 spice blend 3 packs for 8 euros
Las Plamas Gran Canari: This by far was my favourite port. We did not do a shore tour, we elected to navigate Las Plamas by our selves.

We bought tickets to the open top bus that drove around the city and pointed out things.The town is beautiful, the hills are dotted with brightly colored homes. there is a teal green one that i have my eye on, no matter where you went in the town you could spot it on the hill. I told the husband that we need to buy it in 10 years so that when people come to visit we can say we live on the only teal green house on the hill and they will be able to find us. We also did a little shopping in the mall that was conveniently located next to the port.
Things that I bought: 2 t-shirts from C&A
Funchal Portugal: Is a city on an island, the city was very lovely. Again we did not do a shore

tour. Instead we bought another open to

p bus ticket. The bus took us all over the island.
Things that I bought: a tea towel with bananas having a little fun on it (wink wink), a metal chicken, a bread basket and a spoon holder
Malaga Spain: I really liked this city too. They have a church with only one bell tower that they lovingly refer to as the One Armed Lady, the money to complete the bell tower went to the Revolution. They have a great promenade lined with shops. We did take a tour, we went to Njea, to see the caves. The caves were great. The husband got his first taste of gillato cookies and cream, he liked it alot
Things that I bought: A turtle, picture frame, bull, key chain and olive oil.
Barecelona Spain: After our cruise ended we spent a day in Barcelona, we stayed at a little hotel on Las Ramblas. I had a great time, I haven’t been to Barcelona since October 2004, so it was fun to show the husband where I went and what I did where. Nothing much has really changed about the city.Things that I bought: a turtle and sangria