Bec & Dave - April 30

In late April, Nadine's sister Becky and husband Dave traveling to visit us in Chicago!  We had a big secret to keep quiet (we were pregnant!) so we needed to balance that with the weekend of music and partying we had planned.

Bec and Dave arrived on Thursday and we welcomed them with heading to local brewery to grab some drinks.  It was music themed, so it was perfect!

On Friday we drove into the city and headed to the Chicago History Museum for a tour of the "Amplified Chicago Blues" exhibit.  It was a perfect start to learn about the blues music traveled up the Mississippi River to Chicago, and then needed to be played louder (aka, Amplified) for the larger crowds to hear, and thus the electric guitar was infused into the music!  And greats like Muddy Waters called Chicago home late in his career.  We also walked around the rest of the museum to learn that Chicago was named after a native onion plant!

Next was a visit to the Goose Island Brewery from some grub and drinks.  From there we selected where to catch a nighttime blues show and picked Chicago Blues.  We got there early to get good seats and played cards to pass the time.  The band featured an amazing harmonica and a older woman vocalist from Mississippi.  After the show we headed home and slept in!

On Saturday, we headed into the city again!  This time we caught an afternoon Metra train and arrived into the heart of the city.  It was a sunny day, we walked towards the Bean and saw Millenium Park!  From there we grab some beer and pretzels at Berghoff's, a famous German restaurant!  We quickly stopped into Nadine's work and then caught a train up to Wrigleyville for some BBQ & Blues.  The crowds were manageable, but it was certainly busy at the Cubs were playing an afternoon game.  We then headed back into the city on a packed subway train (bc the game had ended!) and headed for Buddy Guy's Legends.  We got there early again, and got seats right next to the stage!  In fact, the main act was getting ready and asked our table to buy him some drinks, pretty cool!  Nadine and Dave couldn't stay out as long as Bec and Dave (remember, pregnant!) so we caught a cab home around 1a...but Bec and Dave stayed out until the bitter end!  They took a cab home and arrived about 4a, nightowls!

The weekend was a blast and Bec & Dave flew out on Sunday.  We only rested a little bit, as we were hosting Tanya and Manny the following weekend

Thursday - Drinks at the nearby Mikerphone Brewery

Bec and Dave!

Friday - Chicago History Museum & Blues Exhibit!

Drinks and grub at Goose Island Brewery

Nighttime show at Blues Chicago

Saturday - Train ride into the city

The Bean!

Buckingham Fountain

BBQ & Blues in Wrigleyville

Packed Subway train with Cubs fans!

Music at Buddy Guy's Legends

Dave A's game - April 17

During a work trip in mid-April out to San Francisco, while Nadine was on a 2-week trip in Asia, Dave decided to go to an Oakland Athletics baseball game!

Dave has been an Oakland Athletics fan since he was little...because Grand Rapids, Michigan had a minor league baseball team (West Michigan Whitecaps) associated with Oakland from 1994-1996. Dave also played for the Grand Rapids A's during the summers while he was in High School.

The game was a sellout because it was the 50th Anniversary Game for the Oakland Athletics!  The crowds were massive and what was really awesome...is that the tickets were free and you could sit wherever you wanted!  First come, first serve.  And nobody got into fights over seats.  It was great...not to mention that Oakland beat the Chicago White Sox.

I went by myself, but that gave me the freedom to walk around the stadium where ever I wanted.  I even grabbed some seats behind home plate to catch the final out of the game...what a great night!

Oakland is one of baseball's worst stadiums.

50th Anniversary Game

Photos of places I sat during the game

View of Oakland Coliseum from BART Station

Dave Redwood: April 15

x

Crater Lake

Redwood Nat'l Park

Drive-Thru Tree

Dave Oregon: April 14

While Nadine was in Asia, Dave spent two weeks out in California.  For the first time he didn't go home over the weekend, and so he decided to go visit his cousin Jack Krzeminski who was living in Ashland, Oregon at the time.  Dave already had a rental car from work, so the trip would be very affordable!

After getting on the road a little early on Friday, Dave was cruising down I-5 and was going above the speed limit and was pulled by State Police!  Luckily they let Dave go, but they could tell it was a rental car...as Dave had forgotten to close the gas tank lid during his last fill up!  After that, the drive was quiet but very beautiful driving in Northern California for the first time.  Dave got to Jack's around 10-11p and it was right to bed, as we had a 5k to do in the morning!

On Saturday, we got up early for the 730a race in nearby Medford!  The weather was overcast but dry!  We each ran great times, with Dave just missing getting under 20 minutes!  After the race, Jack and Dave grabbed some breakfast back in Ashland just outside Southern Oregon University, and Jack showed where he worked at Wilderness Poets.

Then we decided to take advantage of the sunny day, and head up to do a short day hike on the famous Pacific Crest Trail.  Our legs were tired, but the hike was flat and very scenic.  After the hike we headed back into Ashland for some delicious beers.  We then joined Jack's work mates for a Chinese Tea Ceremony, complete with a custom-made log for the tea, some singing by a friend named Magic, and all the hippie things that make Southern Oregon great.  We ended the night with some dinner at another local spot and then headed back to get some much needed rest!  Dave had to drive back to San Francisco tomorrow, but there were several sites to see on that drive!

Pulled over by Police for going over the speed limit...luckily no ticket!

After the 5K, with our medals!

Just missed going under 20 minutes!

Photos from our day hike on the Pacific Crest Trail

Nadine Asia - April 10

x

x