Sweet Trip

I just got back from my Sweet Trip to Minneapolis.  What fun!  It was a fantastic time with my BFF and my BFF#2.  So I have to tell you all about it.  First of all DH took me down town to the train station.  It is always interesting to see all the characters waiting for the train.  Luckily the train was on time.  I have my ticket that I was able to purchase and print on my computer.  All the seats were facing the back so that's how I rode to Chicago.  It was pretty uneventful but there were several people that provided entertainment along the way. (Fishnet slacks?)  The train starts to slow down as it goes through the Chicago suburbs.  I had an hour and a half between trains. I wanted to visit the French Market which is a collection of about thirty places to eat that is very near the train station.  I walked all around the train station but didn't see it. I saw half a dozen food trucks but nothing that I really wanted.

 Then I walked over the river and around the block.  No French Market. I saw the Willis tower that is the tallest building in Chicago. Or at least it used to be the tallest.

 Finally there was a Panera and I decided to get lunch there.  Rats, I wanted to see the French Market.  I am going to Chicago again next week, maybe I can figure it out by then.  The next hurdle was to get a Metra ticket and find my commuter train to Fox Lake where BFF#2 is picking me up.  I get the ticket and even talk the guy into giving me the senior rate.  I really am a senior but I don't have this special card that entitles me to that rate.  Just around the corner from the ticket counter is where you get the commuter train.  So I sit and wait for boarding to be announced.  But people are just walking out and getting on the train.  Maybe they don't announce boarding.  So I walk down and get aboard.  The train isn't busy since most people don't go back to the suburbs this early.  We leave the station but there are so many stops (13) along the way.  The areas get nicer and nicer the farther from downtown Chicago.  We come to the stop at Round Lake.  The conductor tells us that we all have to get off and a bus will take us onto the next station which is Fox Lake.  As we are getting off the train there is a policeman across the street with a rifle.  Whoa, what is going on?  We crowd too many people on this little bus (even the train crew had to get off) and get a police escort to Fox Lake.  Along the way are so many police cars and policemen armed with rifles (or big guns, whatever).  What I find out later is that a policeman was shot and killed by 3 men in Fox Lake and there is a manhunt going on.  Roads are closed, trains are stopped.  I am very happy when we pull up to the Fox Lake station.  I see BFF#2 waiting for me there next to two more policemen.  We are glad to get out of the area.

We go to BFF#2's house to pick up some stuff, get some gas and then we are off to Wisconsin.

Wisconsin is very green rolling hills.
We wanted to stay in Madison but something is going on and no hotel rooms are available.  So we have reservations in Spring Green.  The hotel is older but nice and has a Craftsmen style Frank Lloyd Wright design about it.

This is one of the pictures in our room.
This is a big Frank Lloyd Wright area as he lived here for many years and you can tour his house.  We didn't take the tour, maybe next time.  It is really hot and I am tempted to jump into the hotel's swimming pool with my clothes on.  But I don't.
The hotel had its own little restaurant.  BFF#2 and I had a hankering for pizza and they had it there.  They also had some ice cream sandwiches (very good!) and some Push-Ups.  I haven't seen those for a very long time.  Pizza and ice cream made a great dinner.
BFF#2 and I plan out tomorrow as we are going back to Madison to pick up BFF at noon.  There are a couple of quilt stores we want to hit before heading to the airport.
We are pooped.  What a crazy day!
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