Hit the Road Again ???

I think we need to come up with Trip II. Debbie put this tidbit into my pscyhe last night.
What say you ladies???????????

 

We had a great day so far. Each day has had it's "Murphy's Law" as we call it but we've had an absolutely fantastic time. Today we took out the ATVs to the area surrounding Nancy and Dave's farm. We saw an antelope and some of the beautiful grasses surrounding the farm. At one time buffalo roamed free here and Nancy pointed out the buffalo wallows. To think about people crossing our country for the first time, is mind- boggling.
We also passed an antelope during the ride. She watched us, so we think a baby was nearby. Mac and Odie ran out with us.
Each of us took a turn riding the 4 wheeler on the dirt road. Warm sun, fields of wheat, friends. It doesn't get better than this!!!!!!!!

The fireworks last night were great.

Day 4

Day 4; Stayed in Belle Fouche, SD last night, went hiking to Devil's Bathtub, saw Bridal Veil, hit the road for Mt Rushmore but had car trouble. Cool thing was change in plans had us stopping to smell different roses. Stopped at a cool little eatery in outside of Deadwood (at Frankie's Hwy 385 diner) and had a great dinner. Had a picture taken atop of a ginormous rocking chair.

We had to by pass Mt Rushmore for tonight because of car trouble, hoping to do it tomorrow. We're staying in a neat little lodge tonight. Just came from the hot top, having some juice n gin.

Day 3

Day 3: we left MN and drove, drove, drove. We drove over the MO river, drove by the Corn Palace....stopped by the ranch where they filmed Dances With Wolves, stopped by Wall Drugs, met up with Nancy's family, went to Deadwood (which was dead). Exhausted. No cocktails. Angie provided drink of the day: pomegranate juice, apple juice and Captains. On the road about 8 hours.

end of day 2

Well this post is coming to you from the road we are in Wisconsin traveling west towards Minnesota. We have about 5 hours to get to our hotel. The sun is setting after an absolutely day.

We began the day with breakfast at the hotel. With the help of the hotel concierge we made reservations for the 10 am tour of the river and lake. Wendell a has been in business for 75 years. I think I can speak for the entire t and l group when i say the tour was well worth the fee and the time. The tour gives a great amount of information about the history of the buildings. You also can appreciate the beauty of the lake.

Then, we went to lunch at Portillo's and Barnelli's and had their famous Italian Beef with Jon and Karen. This was a delectable sandwich, spiced nicely and served on a crusty french roll. We ate outside and everyone enjoyed.

After lunch, we said our goodbyes to Jon and then walkted onto Olde City. Olde City is a lovely neighborhood in Chicago. We browsed several shops and then drove by Wrigley field. There had been a Cubs game and it was an afternoon game, and so we landed in lots of traffic, but we got a good view of the outlying Chicago surroundings.


I am actually finishing this post Thursday morning from Minnesota. ( Fairmont, Hampton) We arrived sometiime after 2 am CST and opened a bottle of vino as a nightcap.

Another wonderful day of smiles, laughs and fun, and great conversation.

Day 1

Day 1 has come to a close; it was a great success. We (MaryAnn, Cheryl, Debbie & I) arrived in Chicago and Nancy picked us up. We checked in to DoubleTree and did an impromptu (accidental) tour of downtown Chicago thanks to Nancy's TomTom navigation system (i.e., we got a little lost trying to get to our destination). :-)

We had original Chicago style pizza at Giordano's. It was INCREDIBLE. Afterward, we walked Millennium Park and walked down to Lake Michigan. It was stunning. We went past Grant Park (which was hosting Taste of Chicago). The temp was beautiful, sunny, sometimes chilly!

We had a tapas dinner at Emilio's then went to the top of the John Hancock tower, 96th floor, for cocktails. The night view of the city was stunning. Note: the wait staff was beyond rude. We actually saw another patron having a heated discussion about the service with the manager. They automatically embed an 18% gratuity in the bill...so what's their incentive to do a good job? Our server was beyond rude. If the manager wasn't busy with another customer, we would have shared out insight with him. Aside from that, the view made it all worth it.

It was a great first day; we had lots of laughs. Looking forward to Day 2. :-)

Giordano's Pizza

We had a wonderful Chicago style pizza and salads, too. Karen, Nanner's daughter in law joined us. Now we're off to see more of Chicago and hopefully Kathy Straub later

At the Airport

Cheryl, Debbie and I , aka Jersey girls , are at the airport on the first leg of our journey.
NANA HEY HEY it is great to hear from you and I'm glad you're tuning in!!

Coffee, tea and we are good to go.

We all decided we overpacked, but oh well!! Nanner I hope you have a trailer for all this stuff!

One more day

In 12 hours, we'll be on our way to Chicago! I have no clue how to pack 8 days worth of stuff into one little black carry on sized bag. The girls are torturing me already! The meanies are forcing me to pack light! What to do? Good news is that it's not a business trip or the winter time! :-)

Two More Days!

Can you believe it? Only two more days until our trip! Nancy has already left...she and Dave are wonderful. They've driven from their farm in NE to Chicago so that we have a vehicle for our journey. They are currently visiting their children in Chicago. On the way, Nancy managed to flush her keys down the toilet at a rest stop in MN. According to the Facebook post, she seemed to be taking it in stride. I would have had a meltdown. Note to self...on trip...stop to smell the roses (not rest stop toilets).

Nancy has also been a wonderful "travel agent" and trip planner. Here's our itinerary:

Tues 6/29: Chicago: all kinds of stuff--Chicago style pizza, Millennium & Grant Parks, John Hancock tower for evening cocktails, Magnificent Mile, etc. etc.

Weds 6/30: More Chicago and hit the road, heading for MN late day; Binney's run first!

Thurs 7/1: Head for the hills...Belle Fourche, SD: Drive through Spearfish Canyon, view Bridal Falls, Canyon, Nightlife in Deadwood YEE HAH!!!

Fri 7/2: Devil's Bathtub, Mt. Rushmore, Needles Drive, Sylvan Lake, then head for Custer, SD through Hill City

Sat 7/3: More sightseeing, head for NE and Nancy's farm through Wind Cave Nat'l Park

Sun 7/4 & Mon 7/5: Nancy's & Dave's farm in NE; horseback riding at Nighswonger Ranch, fireworks in ScottsBluff, 4 wheel and hike Westwater Canyon, Oregon Trail Wagon Train, Bayard for some good old fashioned NE steaks! Moo! Scottsbluff Monument, Chimney Rock, Wildcat Hills (Can I get another YEE HAH)!!!

Tues 7/6: Head for Denver, meet up with Leslie Pinkham

Weds 7/7: Depart (3 to Philly and 1 to Boston)

Another phone call closer to our T and L trip

Much has happened since we really began getting serious about this trip. I for one, have lost my daughter, tragically and unfairly. Now, I am needing this trip not only as a reconnection with friends, but as a way to try and put things in perspective.

We are all looking forward to the trip. Since I have been to none of the places we are going to, it's very exciting to think about all we'll encounter.

We will have a taste of quite a few states within a week and be immersed in life in a totally different part of the country.

I am so looking forward to this week for many reasons, mainly because I get to share it with my friends.

Chiming in

Okay, so I hope this is the right place to add some input to this T & L All Girl Breakout, (as I like to put it). Nanner here, otherwise known as Nancy S Petersen NSP.

The "girls" are making this thing happen because, I wanted to show them the great untamed WEST. HA HA!! I live out here where Indians still live on Reservations, and Cowboys still chase, uh, cows, and our best and most direct form of communication is sending up smoke signals, because the cell service and internet connections are not always reliable.

There is a marked difference in culture from the world of paved roads, tall buildings and asphalt parking lots, to the dirt roads that lead to vast fields of wide open prairie, broken by strips of wheat and millet fields, and down into the valley of corn and dry edible bean circles on irrigated farm land. I agree that this will be a journey of a lifetime for all of us beginning in Chicago and moving west to the Black Hills of South Dakota, then on to our humble little place in the heart of the panhandle of Nebraska.

I am so excited to have them visit, and thrilled to meet them in the big, booming town of Chicago (I love Chicago). A week doesn't seem long enough to really see and experience it all, but we will make it happen.

Have not purchased my ticket to Chicago, yet, but will this week. Nailing down some dates with my kids who live in the heart of Chicago.

Girls from WDHS class of 76, LET'S DO THIS THING!!! (Bring yer cowgirl boots, and a good hat :) The sun beats heavy and the snakes strike low, or something like that....

We're getting there: Tickets purchased

Today, three of the T&L group purchased their plane tickets! Whoo hoo! MaryAnn (MAP) Deb BG (DBG), and Patty (PS). We're still hoping Debbie PC will change her mind and join us. We are also hoping that Carol's damn divorce doesn't get in the way of her joining us! I know she hopes the same. MAP and DBG will leave Philly and PS will leave Manchester, NH on Tuesday June 29 and meet in Chicago. We think that that Nancy (NSP) will already be there to meet us. We hope to catch up with some area high school classmates while we're there. We added an extra day to our trip so that we can visit with Leslie Dierolf Pinkham (LDP) in Denver. MAP and DBG will fly Denver to Philly and PS Denver to Boston on Weds, July 7th. Hopefully, soon we'll know how many others will be coming along so we will know what size vehicle to rent in Chicago.

Ok so I'm supposed to be working on a research project right now. Instead? I'm doing this blog and just finished filling out my 2010 March Madness bracket! Back to work for me. :-(

I'm really looking forward to this trip!

The Journey Has Begun

In 2007, I gathered with old (no pun intended) friends in NJ for a "30 Something" reunion (given that our high school graduation date was 1976. What's a year or two between friends, anyway? Admittedly, I was nervous. I moved to New England, specifically NH, about 20 years earlier and lost touch with most of my former high school classmates. I made the 7 hour drive to visit family and to attend the reunion.

I was amazed at how great everyone looked! Most of us "aged well", especially the women! Some of us got to talking about turning 50, how we used to think 50 was so old. I don't recall where the idea came from but we talked about a road trip, just women, to go visit our friend, Nancy, on her farm in Nebraska. That was 3 years ago.

Yesterday, several of us gathered on a conference call and finally put our plans in place. The beauty of Web 2.0 technology and social networking, specifically Facebook, enabled us to stay in touch and facilitated our plans.

The interesting thing is that I didn't really hang out with these wonderful women in high school. I knew them, but they weren't part of my very small circle of friends. I say small circle not because I wanted it to be exclusive in any way, but because it was what it was. My peer group was pretty much my field hockey girls: Lynn Rich and Donna Dorshimer. More later on high school peer pressures and people's assumptions. Bottom line: high school was and still is a tough time for kids.

MaryAnn Marino Potts and I lived in the same neighborhood and went to St. Matthew's School together in first and second grade. I began public school in the third grade.

Debbie Press-Costello (who unfortunately had to drop out of our trip yesterday because of her jet setting world travels takes her away from her place of employment...you know...she had to pace herself ) and I were friends in early elementary school.

Carol Lind Zeoli and I were also friends in later elementary school and junior high.

I knew Debbie Burness-Gasparovic in high school, liked her, but we never really hung out.

I knew of, but really didn't know Nancy Snyder Peterson.

After the 30+ reunion, I discovered that I have more in common with these wonderful women in adulthood than I did in my youth. We've been getting to know each other little by little via Facebook and email. I find what little I know of their lives already amazing. I look forward to learning more about them.

It should be a really cool trip. At the end of June 2010, we plan to fly out to Chicago and meet there to begin our journey. We'll see the city and then hit the road in a rented van to see the sites, including Mt. Rushmore, on our way to Nancy's farm. We hope to connect with other former classmates along the way.

This is the beginning of our chronicle, our excellent adventure, our Thelma and Louise 2010 style trip. Stay tuned.

Getting ready to get on the road

This trip has been a long time in the "We should do this" stage and now we are moving into the planning stage. It is exciting to be planning a week with women who I have reconnected with over the past three years. I can't express how much I am looking forward to connecting and reconnecting with new and old friends. The journey is already fabulous, and I'm excited to be traveling to a part of the country that I have never visited.

Our lives crossed paths during our high school ( and for some elementary years), and for many of us, all of us, here or there at class reunions. Since our last reunion in 2007, many of us have been in touch and through Facebook actually, we've reconnected with more and more.

We all realize now that we had more in common with each other than we previously thought and our common tie is bringing us on this girls only- class of 76 journey!