Whatever the weather

I’ve been keeping an eye on the weather these last few days, with a couple of outdoor events in my diary.  Our friend James shared a brilliant new weather app with us which has proved remarkably accurate.  So, when we set out for Wales on Friday morning, where I was judging a competition in Glamorgan and saw what we were heading into, we took a deep breath.

Rain.  Lots of it.

Not that we needed an app to tell us about five minutes later!  I was glad my Hero had offered to drive, needless to say.

The thing is, when the time came to go home, we had to go back through it all again!   

Thankfully, on Saturday morning, the storm had passed through for the village festival which we’d all been looking forward to for so long.

Or had it?  We took refuge in the bar for a short time as the rain pelted down again.  Oh, don’t we love an English Summer?

Thankfully, it cleared enough for us to enjoy watching our friends on stage (they were on before Dick and Dom) and having had the forethought to bring our picnic chairs with us, we didn’t have to crouch!

And the cheese and leek toastie from Hobbs was the best!

You wouldn’t believe what time this traffic jam formed in Wales yesterday morning!  Sometime around 6.15am I was making my way to Llanelwedd for the Royal Welsh Show where at least the sun was shining.

The car park had wonderful views but was a little far from where I needed to be.  I spent a few minutes editing my kit, thinking it might be a good idea to take a smaller, single bag down with me, but better not forget anything!  As I did, the woman in the car parked next to mine was doing the same.  She had the added challenge of dressing the part too, for she was an equestrian judge and confirmed that yes, she judged classes where she needed to ride each horse herself as part of the judging process, as I’d seen them do at Moreton Show.  Oh my goodness, riding an unfamiliar horse in such a public arena must be tricky at times – at least I don’t have to prove my capabilities beyond applying my wit and wisdom to my comments!

Thankfully, just around the corner, I came across a chap in a pickup truck, providing a shuttle service to the showground, so I hitched up my skirt and hopped into a vehicle far better suited to jodphurs and wellies!  Never mind…diolch yn fawr!

I didn’t need to report in until 7.45am, so I had time to wander about and watch the goings on.  I love this time of the day, when there’s so much happening and yet the place is so quiet.

I knew where the kettle would already be boiling, too!

Fuelled by tea and ably assisted by excellent stewards, we worked our way through the entries and identified the winners.  It was a busy morning but so much fun working amongst friends, catching up with their news, sharing stories and admiring the marvellous work in front of us.  I’ll share more of that in another post, but for now, suffice to say I love what I do!

By lunchtime, I’d completed that part of my work and went out to enjoy the sunshine.  It was a glorious day and lovely to see so many people enjoying the show.

I always enjoy watching the livestock judging and hearing a few squeals coming from the small ring nearby, I walked over to see what was going on.  Shall we say the pigs were having fun?

Normally, the judging is a stately affair with beautiful animals being led calmly around the ring by their owners.  Today though, a few of the pigs had other ideas!  Once one decided to scamper off, then so did another…

It was only when seeing these very pigs on the BBC last night that I returned to my photographs to take a closer look and sure enough, yes, there is Kate Humble and the BBC crew filming the fun too.

After lunch (the most delicious roast Welsh lamb!) I went over to the DyfedPowys police stand (family connections there) and as I did, found myself walking alongside a heavily armed officer from the South Wales Police, looking rather out of place in such a countryside setting.  As we walked, I chatted to him about his role there, though actually I found it more interesting observing the reactions he provoked from the crowd.  Clearly many were uncomfortable at the sight of three such armed officers, some were upset and they provoked a few yobbish shouts and verbal aggression from a few.  I dislike seeing armed officers in such settings, however much I appreciate the work they do, so I thanked him and moved along, wondering what my father in law would have made of such a presence?

The trade stands were there in force but I can’t say there was a lot to interest me.

Though some of the visitors were wearing amusing T shirts.  Don’t you love rural humour?

Keeping an eye on my watch – I needed to return to the hall at 2.30 to chat with competitors who might want further information from me – I heard a cheer from the crowd by the main ring, so went over to see what was happening.  Surely, those sheep (however cute) were not the cause of such a reaction?

Hmmm…what was going on in that smaller ring though, to the left?

It was Lorenzo the Flying Frenchman, warming up his act for the main event at 1.30! 

Loud music, a full house in the grandstand and a real showman working up to sixteen horses at times, no wonder the crowd went wild!

It was time for me to return, though and having fulfilled all my obligations, I was ready for home.  As I went, I spotted these fun bits and pieces in Adra.  Not sure about the camping logo but I liked Barod am Antur!   No, I don’t speak Welsh but thankfully, I had a translator by my side

I went off in search of a man with a pickup truck then, passing a few competitors getting the final touches to their beauty treatment.

Actually, around the corner there was a bit of a salon!

The work goes on from dawn till dusk – though judging from the noise coming from the Young Farmers bar, it’s not all about work here!

Thankfully, I found the man and his pickup truck and returned to what must surely be the car park with the best view around.  What do you reckon?

Time for home.

Heading home

We always want to make the best use of every moment of our time in a distant place, especially one we love.  So, with flights not leaving until late afternoon/evening, we had a morning to play with.  What should we do?  Go to the beach? hardly the weather for that.  Go for a jog?  Ha!

The challenge was to find somewhere close-ish to the airport, where we could relax and not worry about traffic conditions later in the day.  The thing is, having been here on several previous occasions, there wasn’t that much we felt we hadn’t seen before.  We wanted a simple, neatly packaged, worthwhile “experience” to keep us occupied for half a day or so.

But internet searches proved fruitless.  My Hero identified a couple of small towns which might be interesting, but we didn’t want to shop and in our experience, aimless walks at this stage of our trip prove frustrating and not that enjoyable.   More by luck than skill (though I’m going to claim the credit anyway) I hit upon the Chicago Botanic Garden which met all our criteria and fitted the bill perfectly.

Just 45 minutes from O’Hare airport, I can’t understand why it doesn’t show up in any lists of suggestions about what to do on a long layover there.  The lists are full of casinos, bowling alleys, shopping centres…and yet an hour or two in a gorgeous, year-round garden seems to me to be the perfect pre- post- or inter-flight activity.

We began with an orientation tour of the whole site on board a trolley, which made stops by the highlighted areas.  We had no time to see everything.  Really, I doubt that anyone could on a single visit.  Suffice to say that it whetted our appetite.

The garden is huge and features a couple of large lakes and several distinct areas, including this Japanese garden.  Our guide emphasized how different it looks as the seasons change, especially when the snow falls.

A large area of the park is a natural prairie through which there are pathways cut and guides to follow.

Non-native plants have been removed and what remains is the natural landscape as the settlers would have seen when they travelled through this region.

It wasn’t at all how I expected.  I think of “prairie” as grassland, but this was so much more.  Gorgeous!

The next stop was near the bridge to Evening Island.

There’s a bell tower over there and occasionally, there are evening concerts when people are invited to come, bring a blanket and sit on the grassy slopes opposite to listen.  Nice idea.

Our tour returned us to the visitors centre, from where we set out on foot to explore the gardens closer to hand.  It was warming up, the earlier rain shower had passed through and we were enjoying our morning.

The water gardens were just lovely.  We are having ongoing problems with our pond at home and were so envious of the immaculate presentation and gorgeous flowers in this one.  Mind you, we don’t have a chap in waders to maintain it by removing individual leaves…

I loved these peculiarly textured leaves!

All around the garden, there are sculptures.  I’d have walked right past this one had there not been a couple of people taking a photograph.  It conveys movement really well, don’t you agree?

I’m not a gardener by any stretch of the imagination, but I knew immediately that this was not an English garden!  Isn’t it lovely, though?

The waterfall area was a popular (and cool) place to be.  Interesting to note that this garden is affected by blanketweed too.

My Hero was rather envious of the means of dealing with it!

There was time for a closer look at the Japanese garden, then, so we crossed the Zigzag bridge and followed the pathway.

Occasionally, it’s reassuring to discover that we don’t have the exclusive rights to hooligans on this side of the Atlantic.  I always think of American people as being more “up front” than we British, so it was interesting to see that although there was a distinct air of disapproval, just like us, no-one said anything.  We tutted and moved on!

There remained one distinct area of the garden which we had not seen.

Sitting by the entrance was a chap wearing a fun T shirt. I think my Hero needs something similar, don’t you agree?

The landmarks of America in the Model Railway garden were all created from natural resources and I was especially impressed by the accuracy of the lettering on the Seattle market sign.

We enjoyed spotting a variety of features from previous road trips!

One of us might just have felt a little homesick

It was getting near to the time we ought to leave.  The planes flying overheard were a reminder of the rest of our schedule and with the “just one more photograph” thought, we made our way to the car.  We’ll certainly be back here, possibly in similar circumstances, for it was an ideal place to spend our last few hours of our time in Chicago.

Mary’s flight was leaving a few hours before ours, so we said our farewells at the Departures drop off and waved goodbye. 

On our way out of the airport area, look what we passed.  No, we did not stop!

My hero and I mooched around a local mall for an hour or two, people watching and trying hard not to buy anything.  OK, so the $10 Gap T shirt was simply too much of a bargain to leave behind, especially as I’d looked at it at full price ($29.99) just a day or so ago!

But it was soon time for us to leave as well.  We returned the car to the AVIS lot, marvelling as always how people arrive there with a car still stuffed full of all kinds of things (bedding, groceries, clothes) and proceed to empty what looks like their life out onto the car park.  Those who know my hero will not be surprised that we simply take out our suitcases and walk away, leaving an empty car

So ended our tenth road trip.  1743 miles through four US states (no new ones this time!).  What fun we’ve had.  What stories we have to tell!

How lucky we are.

We are home

Lest you think we are stuck somewhere mid-Atlantic, we made it to the airport last evening and flew home without any unexpected events.  Not on that plane, of course!

Washing machines are humming away in California and Gloucestershire right now and tomorrow, when I’ve got my brain into gear, I’ll share the details of our last morning in Chicago.    It got off to a great start with that stack of blueberry pancakes.

I even finished every last bite.

Last day in Chicago

Not our last morning, though, so it was a difficult decision: Banana-Nut Waffle or Blueberry Pancake.  I guess the pancakes will be tomorrow’s choice    Needless to say, the Corned Beef Hash fan has no such dilemma.

The hotel usually has a large flower arrangement in the lobby, but right now, there’s a Gauguin-inspired display.

Alongside the large vases of (real) mangoes and leaves, there are some interesting painty plates.  This is my favourite.

Closely followed by this one.

Don’t ask how I know they are “real” mangoes*

Just opposite here, there were some lovely reflections this morning.  Far more interesting than a party, even if there was a hummus dip on offer

We had a clear plan for this morning.  As usual, though, it involved a walk along the Magnificent Mile.  Lovely!  (though actually, that photograph is of the view down Rush Street and not of the Magnificent mile at all…just thought I’d better admit to that <g>)

The Architecture Tour boats on the river were full on this warm Sunday morning.

Our target for this morning was the American Writers Museum (no apostrophe!)

Brand new for this season, Mary had read an article and thought it worth following up.

First stop was the Children’s Room, where displays of Charlotte’s Web and Little Women proved great reminders that some of our favourite books were written by American authors.

Around the corner was a lengthy timeline, with almost too much information to take in on a single visit.  Opposite was a wall of a hundred authors, highlighting their principal works.  The museum was almost completely interactive, so these boards were there to be turned to find out further information.  Above is the “box” labelled Dale Carnegie, How to Make Friends and Influence People 1936.   Some boxes played music when opened, others had a short video or a photograph to illustrate a point.  Of course, there wasn’t time to open every box, so we chose those which piqued our interest most and thanked heavens that there was only a few other people there, so we could do as we liked.

Thankfully, I had one or two favourite American authors and didn’t feel too ignorant!

So I focused on those I knew and did my best to extend my knowledge as I went along!

As we went long the timeline, we kept hearing a rousing chorus but couldn’t work out where it was coming from until we came across this.  So we stopped and listened a couple of times!

We enjoyed a diversion in the form of a display about Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and thought we should write our own Road Trip novel.

Actually, there might have been inspiration in some form here?

The photographs certainly had a ring of familiarity about them!

Perhaps the most fun was on the interactive screens, one of which was an electronic version of the magnetic poetry. 

My challenge was a preponderance of prepositions and one, single adverb (carefully)

In particular, I liked the display of local authors, hanging on a kind of clothes rail.  I made a note of that one as a potential starting point for a future exhibition!

Having done with the museum (which we enjoyed and felt able to linger as long as we wanted) we crossed over to the park and joined the crowds in the sunshine.

I was the only one brave enough to venture under the Bean, since it was shoulder to shoulder under there, as you can see.

Enough of the crowds and the heat, then, we escaped the park and headed into the Loop, in the hope of finding a cold drink in a cool place.  Thank you Dunkin Donuts.

It was a slow stroll back to the hotel then, past the old Marshall Fields department store on State Street.

We found amusement in the windows of the hotel with the window seats and matching cushions in every window.

We joined the crowd by the tall building bearing the President’s name and the “Real/Fake” installation in front of it, taking a picture along with them all.

I made a short detour to check out Guppy Bags at the Patagonia Store** a little further up Michigan Avenue and returning to the hotel, reflected on our days in Chicago.  We love this city!

Tomorrow at this time, we’ll be at the airport, going our separate ways after another ace trip.  But hey, there’s still one more breakfast at Tempo to look forward to and who knows what we might find to do tomorrow?!

* I might have given one a squeeze

** As a means of following through the NFWI resolution agreed in Liverpool last month

Right back where we started

Almost three weeks of road tripping and we’re headed back to where we began.  Green Bay has been a real joy.  The people are delightful and there’s a real sense of place here, even if it does come dressed in green and yellow!

We hit the interstate this morning, aiming to make the journey as trouble-free and uneventful as we could.  We’ve driven part of it before, when we began our road trip in Milwaukee, so from time to time we spotted a familiar landmark.

After four hours or thereabouts, we were approaching the city.  We’ve driven this route once or twice before, knowing which exit to take and best of all, that we’d soon be there.

There it was again, the Murakami sign which started it all three weeks ago.  Can it really be so long?

Gazing through our windows on the 18th floor this time, we smiled and felt glad to be here in Chicago again, even if it does mean our road trip is almost over.  I spotted some folks on the roof opposite having a bit of a party, it being the 4th July weekend and all of that.

I couldn’t resist zooming in to see what was going on!  (naughty….I know)

I kept my finger on the zoom button and snapped again – Mmmmmm, hummus!  ;-)

Dragging myself away from voyeuristic activities, I got my act together and we made our way down to Michigan Avenue, where things were a little busy.

 

We took a look in the American Girl Place, interested to see the doll of the year and her companion, which Mary had heard about but not seen yet.  Sure enough, there was Tenney, a musician and her friend Logan, together with a variety of instruments and music cartridges to play in the amplifier.

Personally, I preferred Z-Yang, imaginative film maker with a slightly geeky vibe.  Much more interesting and characterful!  But this is no shop for those with mere pocket money – we’re talking considerable investment here!

Speaking of investment, we mooched over to Eileen Fisher, who had sent me an email this morning with news of extra special offers and additional discounts this weekend.  But I’d already looked around last time we were here and more or less knew that this season’s style wasn’t for me.  As we sat in Starbucks opposite, I thought how dull their offering looked.  I mean, those olive green jersey trousers in the window, with a plain white T shirt and cropped denim jacket?  No thanks – and a 15% discount on investment level prices leaves them way too expensive for this time.

So we headed for our favourite popcorn shop!

I took the same photographs I always take when I’m here and still loved looking at the view.

On the way back, feeling the heat a little, we took a look in Crate and Barrel, where the Inspired Kitchen was themed in copper and marble.  I love Crate and Barrel, even if the copper/marble vibe isn’t for me.

We were really spinning it out a bit, so we’d be hungry enough to drop into Giordanos on our way back.  Having had no lunch and no snacks, we were hungry.

But we still couldn’t finish.

So lovely to be here again!