Days 6-9

If you actually read my post on day one you know that I said I would post less and less on this blog during our vacation.  I would have posted more but we were so busy with so much I was too tired to stay up late to write and I was too busy during the day.  This is a brief summary of the last 4 days of the trip.  Two of which were spent in the truck getting us back to Lubbock.

Day 6 started at 06:00 with a walk with my dear bride down by the river.  We hit up a Starbucks and had a lovely stroll in the morning chill.  At 0800 Kendra had to go into a final sales meeting and at 0900 I took my Monther-in-law to breakfast.  We, and the other wives, started our brunch buffet before the men returned.  I led Kathy through the line and got her food, sat her down and then got my own food.  A fairly good buffet with fruit, potatoes, build your own Caesar salad, eggs, ribs, bacon and sausage.  Good vittles.

The rest of the men came in at 0930 and they all went to their wives, gave them a kiss and headed to the buffet.  I sat there waiting for my love and she never showed.  I felt lonely and left out.  I sat in the middle of the room surrounded by happy couples greeting each other with kisses and hugs so I got up and moved back toward the buffet line.  There was my sweet, standing at the doors.I went and got my kiss.

Everyone finished breakfast and headed for the elevators to get ready for their perspective tours that day.  Kendra and I would go on a Frank Lloyd Wright tour while others went on a architectural river tour.  The lines at the elevators were quite long so I suggested we take the stairs.  18 floors.  If you know my wife you know she never backs away from a challenge from her husband.  So up we went.  It was a good work out and we got up there with enough time to dress, grab a camera and head downstairs.

31 one of us including a pregnant women loaded on a bus and headed to Oak Park.  We had three docents who would lead our tours split into 3 groups.  All three were very nice and two spoke well about Architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright.  The third had a voice that grated on my soul.  Monotone and raspy she was given the nickname "Captain Obvious".  As an example, we were all sitting on the bus leaving the area headed back to Chicago and she had been talking non-stop for 15 minutes without inhaling once and an ambulance past us going the other way.  She said, "That ambulance must be going to a hospital" and then she continued her ramble about rendering all the souls in hell submissive to her will.  Or she could have been talking about architecture, not really sure.

Anyway, the tour was great.  I felt funny walking around neighborhoods with groups of people but I got some decent shots for the lighting being horrible.  See the shots, here Frank Lloyd Wright Tour.  The biggest surprise of the day was being invited into a William Drummond house.  That's when it got really weird.  I did manage two crappy photos from chest height but it just felt wrong.  Our pregnant tourist did manage to fall asleep in the bus and missed the last part of the walking portion.  She got a good nap though.

We returned to the hotel, souls still intact, just in time to dress for dinner.  It was in the ballroom and as good as it was the more impressive item was our seating assignment card.  I grabbed the small envelope that said Mr and Mrs Patrick Mitchell, table 23.  Yes I got top billing. the envelope had our tickets for "Motown".  Beyond that, after dinner the VP of the company stood up and said, "It is raining and we are walking to the theatre which is just a block away so once you leave the ballroom there are 175 umbrellas on a table. Grab one and enjoy the show.  So we all got up and walked down to the Oriental theater.

The show was good.  That is to say Act 1 was fantastic.  Act 2 was merely OK.  Act 1 was packed full of great singing and dancing.  Act 2 was acting and some iffy songs.  The Finale was very anti-climatic.  After the show Kendra and I went for another walk looking for ice cream to no avail.  I did get a call from a neighbor in Lubbock about a plumbing question so that was different.  Our latest night yet.  We got to bed around 0100.

The last morning in Chicago we walked down to St.Peter's Church about three blocks away and attended one of the best masses I have ever attended.  Holy cow, if you can make a Sunday visit to down town Chicago get to that mass.  Starts at 0900.

We got back to the hotel and finished packing for the trip back to Downers Grove.  Our car picked us up and this time it was not a Chevy Impala but a Lincoln Town car.  Much better.  We picked up our truck, the kids and headed to Naperville to a hotel for the night.  On the way I was able to drive by my grandparent's old house in Westchester.  The neighborhood brought back memories of summers sitting outside with my grandpa watching the planes approach O'Hare.  We made a few people nervous driving slowly down the road but we didn't stay long and we headed back to our small hotel room.  Really, this was a tight fit at this hotel.  The queen beds appeared strangely like full beds.  Miriam and Kendra in one, Bridget and I in another and Sean on the floor.

We woke early and made our way toward Oklahoma City.  12 hours in the truck.  The kids did great.  By the end we were a bit sick of each other but we made it.  Kendra drove for a couple hours in the middle and I took a nap.  We got to our hotel at 2000 and so we could relax a bit I got two rooms.  The girls in one and Sean and I in the other.   I was on a true Queen size bed and Sean....on the floor.

The long Monday allowed a more comfortable ride into Lubbock.  Only 5 hours and without incident we pulled into our drive at 1400.  The trip was over and both Kendra and I started to work almost immediately.  Kendra got 90% of the Laundry done and put away, she got the Gross receipts taxes done and entered an order while I started on playing catch up at work.

2313 miles and 38 hours 20 minutes 33 seconds were spent in the truck.  We had fun as a family and Kendra and I had fun together.  We have never been away from our kids for more than a night since Miriam was born.  My children will be moving on their own soon enough and I love to spend the time with them.  I have never seen a need to get away from them.  I only wish I could have taken them with us.

I did get to spend a maximum amount of time with my wife though and that makes it one of the greatest vacations ever.

Until next time,

Cheers.

Day 5 Chicago

If you are one of the two people who have read my blog you know I skipped day 4.  This was because there was not a whole lot to say, we took a Chevy Impala downtown when  we were expecting a stretched town car.  There was no time to argue as we had to get down town.  Checked into our hotel that is just across the street from the river and the Trump building and went down to the Trade show that was hosted by a company that Kendra and her dad represent who are putting on this shindig.  

At the trade show I stood back and let my wife talk to those companies in attendance.  Not that I don't understand the technology, it's just that I don't care.  I don't rep these items but Kendra does and she was asking the questions.  The funny thing is that while she was talking, the men talking to her had a hard time focusing on her.  They so desperately wanted to focus on me, I, however, never gave them the chance as I stood back as the trophy husband.  Funny on some level but serious on another.  They only took her seriously when she talked the talk.  My experiment to see how people treated Kendra worked well but I left her side so I was not a distraction.  Hard I know, I am an incredible distraction. 

There was an open bar and I introduced Kendra to something I might have thought twice about before doing so.  Bourbon.  Knob Creek Bourbon, on the rocks.  She took a sip, smiled and said, "Ooh, I could get use to that."  I drank Sprite as they didn't have N/A beer.  No worries, I can even make that look cool.

We had a long day so we retired early to our 18th floor room overlooking the back of some building.  Sweet I know, but nice none the less.  We were in bed and asleep by 22:00.  For me a restless night and at 03:00 when I awoke, I said, "Oh shoot" and I got up and got dressed.  I grabbed my camera and headed outside.  I walked around until 06:30 when I made my way back to the hotel.  The streets were empty and it had rained so the lighting was fantastic.  I did get some cool shots and I have posted 4 on my Photography website. Patrick Mitchell Photography & Imaging Studio.  There are probably more to come but editing on a laptop sucks without a graphics tablet so I let it stand at 4.

At around 08:00 Kendra and the men got on buses to head to the New York Blower factory in La Porte IN.  At 09:30 I met the other wives and we took a stroll down Michigan Ave for shopping.  I was hoping to find a nice hat but ended up just buying socks.  I forgot my dress socks so I went into Brooks Brothers and bought a pair.  I also bought some souvenirs for Miriam and Bridget but mostly I walked.  After my early morning hike I hiked some more.  It was exhausting.  At 12:30 I made my way to the Hancock Building and up to the 95th floor where they had a nice buffet lunch for us girls.  We had a private dining room on the opposite side of the building from the elevators and the walk was odd.  The building sways in the wind and I've been in tall buildings before but it felt like I was a wee bit tipsy.  The most unusual thing I saw was a spider on the outside of the window.  Wondering first what would happen if it fell, knowing gravity effects smaller object differently than larger.  More importantly I wondered, how the hell it got up 95 floors.  Oh, and the view wasn't bad either.  

At 13:30 I steeled my aching feet and took off back down Michigan Ave toward our hotel.  Arriving half an hour later I went straight to my room and promptly fell asleep.  Kendra woke me at 15:30 and we relaxed a little and started to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was at the Chicago Field Museum.  Oh my Lord what a dinner it was.  For those of you who don't know the grand hall of the field museum houses the largest most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus in the world.  She is called Sue.  Tables had been laid out in the center of this great hall and Sue was watching as we ate.  There was an hour and a half cocktail hour before hand upstairs and then a company photo on the stairs in the background of this photo.  This was a complete pain as they were trying to get 300 people who had been drinking from the open bar to follow the photographer's orders.  This took 20 minutes and annoyed a lot of sober people.  After the photo everyone sat and we had dinner.  The food was fantastic, the company was nice but the setting overshadowed all of that.  I was in awe.  Really.  And that is saying a lot.  After dinner the Company had some more awards to hand out and then everyone had an additional hour of cocktails.  And what do you know.  Kendra got some more whiskey.  Dear God, what I have I done?

A note about my wife.  There are many beautiful women in this world.  Yes, I have made it my mission to meet every one of them.  Kendra is, however the most incredible woman I have ever met.  Her talents run so deep that after 18 years of marriage I still encounter some new ability in her.  I know I can do anything, I mean anything.  I still need practice knitting but there is nothing that I can't do ( I mean this literally, not "You can do anything you want if you just put your mind to it.")  You ask me to something and I can do it like I've known it my whole life.  So can Kendra.  She doesn't think she can but she underestimates herself all the time.  In a room full of post graduate engineers she is intimidated and says she is only faking it, but when she holds a conversation with one or more of them she knows her stuff and they know that so they don't blink and eye.  If her and I were an encyclopedia set I would be A though M and she would be N through Z.    I think what intimidates her the most is that what she does for a living is something she never thought, in a million years, she would do. So somehow her mind is telling her that she isn't "smart about this stuff."  Anyone who has talked to her knows otherwise.  

Kendra is gentle but she is tough, she is kind but she is firm.  She hates to adventure out of her comfort zone but will try anything.  She is the most loving person I know. And last but not least, she is beautiful.  I am proud to be her husband.

Tomorrow:  Frank Lloyd Wright Tour and Motown.

Day 3 848 - 1236. The Day the Music Died.

Probably the most uneventful day of our trip so far.  Our music composition came to a grinding halt after a conflict of artistic differences tore the band apart.  Miriam will be filming the "Where are they now" in the next couple of days.  However, instead of dwelling on the downside let's back up and start with the night sleep at Kendra's aunt Amy's house.   

In a very large basement the kids were told to find themselves a spot to sleep.  The choices were a couch, a couch pullout, a futon, or a giant beanbag,  Sean chose the floor, Miriam on the couch and Bridget on the giant beanbag.  While I wrote the post from the day before I watched national Lampoons Vacation as it was very appropriate.  The kids ran around outside and played some ping pong and Kendra visited with her aunt until sleep over took us and we all crashed...at 21:00.

We woke up and started day with no coffee, some cereal and fruit and headed out of Columbia.  Columbia, MO home to the University of Missouri Tigers with over 26,000 undergraduate students and I couldn't find and goddamn coffee shop.  Rolled all the way through town and no friggin coffee.  No Starbucks, no "Hppie Cofffee Dreams".  Not even a "Dan's Shitty Coffee".  We drove for two hours to Springfield before we were able to find a Starbucks.  There we made a head call and I got my crappy espresso then we hit the road again.  We didn't stop anywhere for sightseeing because we had 5.5 hours on the road and storms were heading our way.  

Our only touristy stop was in Louisiana, MO at a Mississippi river overlook and here is the obligatory photo.

We drove over a collection of rust neatly arranged in the vague configuration of a bridge.  I puckered my ass so hard I sucked up my own wedgie.  Bridget on the other hand was so excited to be driving over such a large body of water she was screaming and laughing all the way.

More rolling hills through Illinois and speed limits of 55 to 65 drove me nuts.  That and the rozzers every 5 miles was enough for me to hand the driving over to Kendra.  She took the wheel for about an hour and a half and I took a nap.  I awoke rested and a little calmer at the God awful speed limits.  We were, however, heading straight for the storm that had been moving down from the North.  We got caught in a microbust and the wind buffered us hard yet we barreled through.  The clouds were showing promise of a tornado but no funnel appeared.  It rained on us all the way to Downers Grove and though annoying, it did manage to wash all the bugs off the front of the truck.

We dropped Miriam and Bridget off at one of Kendra's Uncle's house, and Sean, Kendra and I took off to her aunt's house.  I was worn out and was unable to write last night.  But I got a good nights' rest and Kendra and I are headed to downtown Chicago today.

Today:  Limos, Hotels, Tradeshows.

Day 2 Mileage 681-848 Laura Ingalls Wilder's Home

The following was posted in the widows of our rooms in the The Weaver Inn B&B in Mansfield, MO.

If you look at the photo closely you'll notice we are in fact 30 feet above the pavement.  Also, take note of Yesterday's post and you will see that out this window there is no fire escape, ladder, rope or magic carpet.  Although there was a nicely printed note telling us to remove the slip covers from the pillows before sleeping on them there was no instruction on rappelling down the side of the building in case of fire.  I did not push this issue as Kendra threatened great bodily harm.  So we put our life in the hands of God and fell asleep.

05:00 arrived quickly, I did not have to jump to the street below through the night, and I awoke to the soft blue glow of the morning light.  This is odd as we live a stones throw from the Mountain Time Zone and it doesn't get light until 06:30.  We were up and running by 07:30 and had a small breakfast downstairs.  We loaded Little John (Our Truck) and check out at precisely 08:53:23 and made the short trip down the road to Laura Ingalls Wilder's Home.

So that I do not bore most people who don't read, hate history or like the Dallas Cowboys and Tottenham I'll skip what we learned at Rocky Ridge Farm.  It was an educational and informative experience and I recommend it to anyone looking for a some Americana.  However there is one topic I must bring up and that is the star of Rocky Ridge Farm.  Bridget Anne Marie Mitchell

Bridget was dressed in her Prairie Dress.  Kendra originally made the dress for Miriam but has now passed down to Bridget. Up early and as excited as I've ever seen her, she had her hair put into 2 ponytails and the dress on complete with, properly period, bonnet.  As soon as we showed up Bridget became the center of attention.  Dressed perfectly for the time and the cutest thing on the planet people were actually wanting to take her picture.  After tours of the two houses on the property and some wandering around the day climaxed with Bridget on a grass covered hill running down with her arms in the air and bonnet flapping in the breeze.  Yes I filmed it.  Yes we had multiple takes and yes I got the shot.

At the entrance to the Rock house, The Wilder's retirement home, we met a turtle and he was instantly named Hushbar Diglity the Fifth.  Yeah it was that kind of turtle.

We ate at the local Greasy spoon called, of all things, Ma and Pa's Kettle.  It was food.  We took off and headed North to Columbia, MO. 

Along the way we stopped off in Jefferson City, MO at the state capitol building.  This was wholly uneventful

other than stepping right into the Missouri pool called humidity.  Of course the reflection of the light off the Large Limestone structure was blinding so all was well.  It was a quick tour of the outside and then back in Little John for the last hour to Columbia and Kendra's aunt's house for the night.

The last hour of any drive is the most energetic.  This evening there was more music composition.  we took our base line of "Turkey" and "Hobby Lobby" and added some lyrics.  The first verse is, "Boone County Boone County we're on our way to you".  OK, so yeah, you need to hear it but it's really good.  Well, maybe not really good but at least it's good...I think Miriam recorded some of our session so we'll come out with the "How it was made" video before we release the single.

Tomorrow we are off to Downer's Grove, Ill.  5 hours in Little John and we are close to our final destination.

Day 1 Miles 0 to 681.4

For the next 10 days I will slowly post less and less on our first family vacation in 10 years.  For that I am sorry.  I am also sorry for my misspellings, bad grammar and general lack of refinement in these posts.  I do not have time to give them to my editor, Kendra though I am sure she will correct me when she reads them.  the posts are, in short, to share what this crazy family of mine gets up to when stuck in an SUV for 17 hours is like.

Our first leg of the trip is From Lubbock, TX to Mansfield, MO. and by far our longest day in the car on the way to Chicago.  We started at precisely 06:40 and a little bit and headed east.  The first hour of any road trip is always the most awkward as we all settle into our seats and try to remember what we forgot at home.  
Sean sat in the third row and said nothing, Miriam fiddled with her phone and ipod Kendra and I talked and Bridget brewed a surprise.  An hour into the trip she became flush and a little car sick.. I pulled over, made her more comfortable and gave her a plastic bag.  She belched once and let loose grabbing the bag just in time to throw up on target.  Well in the target bag.  We pulled over again and Kendra tied the bag up and put it on the running board.  She made Bridget a little more comfortable and we took off again. The bag is somewhere between Crosbyton and Wichita Falls.

After that everyone put on headsets and either watched movies or listened to books.  Kendra is re-listening to the latest Outlander as she just finished it and wanted to reread in case she missed something.  I was listening to Dune, 1996 recording by Scott Brick.

Just outside of Wichita Falls I gave Kendra the wheel and we bounced our way into Oklahoma.  If you've never driven through Oklahoma and want to know what it is like then you simply need to go fin your local orange barrel construction site, shove a load of bricks in your pants and have someone jump on your back...for 5 hours.  It has been the  same for the last 200 years.  Construction never stops.  We spent $13.50 in tolls on toll roads.  The money going for Orange barrels I guess because they never fix a damn thing.  Fortunately the kids leaned over while buckled for a while.
At around noon I get a call from a new printer I am using for some of my photo work and the girl tells me there is a problem with my artwork that won't work on the book.  After making her cry I jump on my computer and open a VPN to my home computer, open Photoshop and edit my artwork while driving in Oklahoma using my phone as a hotspot.  Against all odds it worked.  I was able to get the artwork to her and we are back on track with the book 2 weeks late.


Just outside of Oklahoma City I took the wheel again and Kendra made some PBJs on the road.  Well, on her laptop.  She then did some work while I continued my book.  Bridget watched some movies with headphone on and every now and then a chuckle would burst from her mouth.

Somewhere along the way I discovered that if you say "Turkey" over and over in 4/4 time you can add "Hobby Lobby" from a second voice every 2nd bar and it sounds pretty cool.  If you can continue to say "turkey" after your partner says "Hobby Lobby" without cracking up.  This music composition lasted an hour or so never really finding out just how awesome the music would be if we could finish a phrase.  Miriam told me to shut up a couple times and then ended up filming us at some point.

Once you take the headphones off the kids the bickering begins and my blood pressure goes up.  I did limit myself to less than 3 curse words in their general direction so it wasn't bad for sitting in a truck all day.

Exactly 10 hours and some odd minutes after leaving we arrived in Mansfield, MO and checked into the Weaver Inn B&B.  In the Roseroom.  We went next door to a Mexican restaurant and then back to the
B&B for some cookies and tea.  Kendra and I sat on a nice bench in the small town of 1200 residents and listened to 3 voices bicker at each other.  Ah, Bliss.

Tomorrow:  Laura Ingalls Wilder's home and Columbia, MO.