Jeff's B-Day!
Okay, here goes… with much prodding by SisX… ;-)
Well, let’s see….
Joe and I headed out Friday night enroute to Chicago. We had Mapquest directions and Jeff’s written directions; after a bit of research, we figured it would be quicker to use Mapquest for the first half of the trip, and Jeff’s directions for the second half. So we head out, looking for a highway that I will refer to as 53 because I don’t remember the actual number anymore. We were supposed to take Michigan Rd to 53 to I69 Chicago.
So… we travel for about 15 minutes before we realize that we haven’t as of yet seen 53 and we should have about 10 minutes ago. I decide to head back and take 465 to 69 instead. While I am doing that, Joe pulls out the Indiana map - and finds out that 53 never crosses Michigan Rd. So Mapquest is on crack.
When we get on 465, we discover that 465 actually merges with 53 about 10 minutes later. Sigh. So on we go.
We don’t have many problems; driving was very nice for the first portion of the trip. Nice, long straightaway. We do stop once or twice - so I can stretch my poor legs, and we can get munchies/drink refills. (Side note - one of the places we stopped at had religious graffiti on the bathroom walls. Stuff like “God loves you” and “Jesus saves”. Odd choices for bathroom wall graffiti, I thought.)
We get closer to Chicago, and end up on an expressway where we were going - I kid you not - 11 mph. Fun. In a construction zone. More fun. With lots of traffic. I thought I was going to die from asphyxiation.
Anyway, we got through that and proceeded to the tollway. This being my first experience with tollbooths since I was 10, I found the experience quite novel. What I didn’t find novel was the haphazard merging of lanes after the tollbooths - for those not in the know, they created more lanes to process tolls faster, then merged those lanes back to the original amount afterward. However, marking where the merge was to be was apparently beyond them, as there were no real traffic lines after the tollbooths - it was kind of a free-for-all. I nearly got sideswiped by some asshat in a little tiny car who decided to be in front of me.
Anyway, away we go. We take an exit as per Jeff’s instructions. Now, we have to take this exit, then take another exit off of this exit almost immediately. I missed it when Joe was reading the directions, and ended up being in the wrong lane and flying by it. So we kept going… and the exit brought us back to the same highway we were on. Why? I don’t know. I don’t quite get the exit-for-an-exit thing. Anyway, we called Jeff via my cell phone (or, rather, Joe did, as navigator). We were given directions to keep going, take X exit, and we’d be back on route after about 25 minutes. Okay, cool. No prob.
We do this thing. We get to the subdivision just fine, and after some small misunderstanding about which street in the subdivision to take, arrive at our destination. Yipee!
We meet up with Jeff only about an hour later than guesstimated, meet his parents (who were very cool, BTW), and drop our stuff off in the waterbed room. We managed to avoid the blood oath (see my May 27th entry).
We head out for a tour of Jeff’s workplace (and rundown of co-workers that was quite amusing), then have a late night snack/meal at the IHop, and much chatting.
Afterward, we head back to the house and I pass out.
In the morning, after a bit of time-related misunderstandings, and a brief IM chat with Tanda *waves*, we head out for breakfast at Walker’s. Very, very good pancake place. That seems to be pretty much all they serve - breakfast, centered around pancakes. I thought that they were very tasty, though. Very pretty building, as well - stained glass windows all over.
After that, we head back to the house and pack up for the b-day party at Rich and Noel’s. Yay!
We drove for a little bit before arriving in the subdivision-type place they live in. I do have to agree with Jeff that there is something faintly odd about the subdivision. All the buildings are too eerily similar… but that’s not quite it, as that is fairly common nowadays. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but something just was odd with the layout. However, Rich and Noel’s house was quite cool, and I liked it - and the shelves and shelves of books. I could have been quite happily lost in those bookshelves for a while… and I noticed some anime on their movie shelves as well. :-)
Anyway, shortly after we arrived, it started raining. And by raining, I mean a solid sheet of water pouring down from the sky. No kidding, it hit the side of the house with a distinct slapping sound that was like somebody threw a really big bucket of water against the house. Anyway, windows were closed, and we proceeded to play a few rounds of games (video and board games).
It soon became evident that the air conditioner was not working, and the house temp got up to 92 (if I remember correctly from a reading of the thermostat by Rich). It was very hot outside, and the windows were closed because of the rain, so there was little air movement. It was fixed sometime later, but for a few hours it was overly warm in the house. Anyway, not letting that stop us, we all enjoyed several games, and I loved getting to meet Jeff’s other friends (I’m sorry, other than Rich and Noel, I can’t remember anyone’s name - I’m horrible like that :-( ). Lunch/Dinner was spaghetti with homemade sauce (courtesy of Jeff’s mom), all of which was tasty.
We didn’t end up leaving until late (I couldn’t tell you what time, but it was about 5 am or so). I had dozed on the couch while Joe played Squidball on the PS2 and Jeff, Rich, and Noel played Goa. They had started the Goa game about the time we had started Chez Geek with another of Jeff’s friends; we had played two rounds (quite a bit of fun, I suggest others try it), then Jeff’s friend had to leave as he was dead tired. Jeff kept apologizing because he didn’t think the game would take that long - I didn’t mind, and neither did Joe, I just hope that Rich and Noel didn’t mind having two strangers in their house that long. :-)
Anyway, after that it was debated if we should head back to Jeff’s house or keep going. Noel even offered to pull the futon out for us (that was very sweet, BTW!). Ordinarily, I would have been up for about anything, and just dozed on the couch if I got too tired - but since we had a four hour drive the next day to get home, I wanted a decent night’s sleep. Oh, sorry if I was a little short with people - I tend to get a bit short-tempered when I’m tired. Hope I didn’t offend anyone. :-) I felt kinda bad insisting that we head back, but I knew I needed sleep to drive.
Anyway, we headed back to Jeff’s house. I was kinda rude and immediately went upstairs and passed out while Jeff talked to his parents. But I had had a great deal of fun, and was worn out.
I also want to extend personal thanks to Rich and Noel for putting up with Joe and I on Saturday - I am very glad to have met you, and had a great deal of fun. :-)
Part 2 will be coming soon - covering Sunday.
Well, let’s see….
Joe and I headed out Friday night enroute to Chicago. We had Mapquest directions and Jeff’s written directions; after a bit of research, we figured it would be quicker to use Mapquest for the first half of the trip, and Jeff’s directions for the second half. So we head out, looking for a highway that I will refer to as 53 because I don’t remember the actual number anymore. We were supposed to take Michigan Rd to 53 to I69 Chicago.
So… we travel for about 15 minutes before we realize that we haven’t as of yet seen 53 and we should have about 10 minutes ago. I decide to head back and take 465 to 69 instead. While I am doing that, Joe pulls out the Indiana map - and finds out that 53 never crosses Michigan Rd. So Mapquest is on crack.
When we get on 465, we discover that 465 actually merges with 53 about 10 minutes later. Sigh. So on we go.
We don’t have many problems; driving was very nice for the first portion of the trip. Nice, long straightaway. We do stop once or twice - so I can stretch my poor legs, and we can get munchies/drink refills. (Side note - one of the places we stopped at had religious graffiti on the bathroom walls. Stuff like “God loves you” and “Jesus saves”. Odd choices for bathroom wall graffiti, I thought.)
We get closer to Chicago, and end up on an expressway where we were going - I kid you not - 11 mph. Fun. In a construction zone. More fun. With lots of traffic. I thought I was going to die from asphyxiation.
Anyway, we got through that and proceeded to the tollway. This being my first experience with tollbooths since I was 10, I found the experience quite novel. What I didn’t find novel was the haphazard merging of lanes after the tollbooths - for those not in the know, they created more lanes to process tolls faster, then merged those lanes back to the original amount afterward. However, marking where the merge was to be was apparently beyond them, as there were no real traffic lines after the tollbooths - it was kind of a free-for-all. I nearly got sideswiped by some asshat in a little tiny car who decided to be in front of me.
Anyway, away we go. We take an exit as per Jeff’s instructions. Now, we have to take this exit, then take another exit off of this exit almost immediately. I missed it when Joe was reading the directions, and ended up being in the wrong lane and flying by it. So we kept going… and the exit brought us back to the same highway we were on. Why? I don’t know. I don’t quite get the exit-for-an-exit thing. Anyway, we called Jeff via my cell phone (or, rather, Joe did, as navigator). We were given directions to keep going, take X exit, and we’d be back on route after about 25 minutes. Okay, cool. No prob.
We do this thing. We get to the subdivision just fine, and after some small misunderstanding about which street in the subdivision to take, arrive at our destination. Yipee!
We meet up with Jeff only about an hour later than guesstimated, meet his parents (who were very cool, BTW), and drop our stuff off in the waterbed room. We managed to avoid the blood oath (see my May 27th entry).
We head out for a tour of Jeff’s workplace (and rundown of co-workers that was quite amusing), then have a late night snack/meal at the IHop, and much chatting.
Afterward, we head back to the house and I pass out.
In the morning, after a bit of time-related misunderstandings, and a brief IM chat with Tanda *waves*, we head out for breakfast at Walker’s. Very, very good pancake place. That seems to be pretty much all they serve - breakfast, centered around pancakes. I thought that they were very tasty, though. Very pretty building, as well - stained glass windows all over.
After that, we head back to the house and pack up for the b-day party at Rich and Noel’s. Yay!
We drove for a little bit before arriving in the subdivision-type place they live in. I do have to agree with Jeff that there is something faintly odd about the subdivision. All the buildings are too eerily similar… but that’s not quite it, as that is fairly common nowadays. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but something just was odd with the layout. However, Rich and Noel’s house was quite cool, and I liked it - and the shelves and shelves of books. I could have been quite happily lost in those bookshelves for a while… and I noticed some anime on their movie shelves as well. :-)
Anyway, shortly after we arrived, it started raining. And by raining, I mean a solid sheet of water pouring down from the sky. No kidding, it hit the side of the house with a distinct slapping sound that was like somebody threw a really big bucket of water against the house. Anyway, windows were closed, and we proceeded to play a few rounds of games (video and board games).
It soon became evident that the air conditioner was not working, and the house temp got up to 92 (if I remember correctly from a reading of the thermostat by Rich). It was very hot outside, and the windows were closed because of the rain, so there was little air movement. It was fixed sometime later, but for a few hours it was overly warm in the house. Anyway, not letting that stop us, we all enjoyed several games, and I loved getting to meet Jeff’s other friends (I’m sorry, other than Rich and Noel, I can’t remember anyone’s name - I’m horrible like that :-( ). Lunch/Dinner was spaghetti with homemade sauce (courtesy of Jeff’s mom), all of which was tasty.
We didn’t end up leaving until late (I couldn’t tell you what time, but it was about 5 am or so). I had dozed on the couch while Joe played Squidball on the PS2 and Jeff, Rich, and Noel played Goa. They had started the Goa game about the time we had started Chez Geek with another of Jeff’s friends; we had played two rounds (quite a bit of fun, I suggest others try it), then Jeff’s friend had to leave as he was dead tired. Jeff kept apologizing because he didn’t think the game would take that long - I didn’t mind, and neither did Joe, I just hope that Rich and Noel didn’t mind having two strangers in their house that long. :-)
Anyway, after that it was debated if we should head back to Jeff’s house or keep going. Noel even offered to pull the futon out for us (that was very sweet, BTW!). Ordinarily, I would have been up for about anything, and just dozed on the couch if I got too tired - but since we had a four hour drive the next day to get home, I wanted a decent night’s sleep. Oh, sorry if I was a little short with people - I tend to get a bit short-tempered when I’m tired. Hope I didn’t offend anyone. :-) I felt kinda bad insisting that we head back, but I knew I needed sleep to drive.
Anyway, we headed back to Jeff’s house. I was kinda rude and immediately went upstairs and passed out while Jeff talked to his parents. But I had had a great deal of fun, and was worn out.
I also want to extend personal thanks to Rich and Noel for putting up with Joe and I on Saturday - I am very glad to have met you, and had a great deal of fun. :-)
Part 2 will be coming soon - covering Sunday.