Week 1 - Catching up with US Friends

Our arrivial in US was normal, flight on time, luggage on time and were very tired on arrival in Chicago.  Nev had booked the Hilton at O'Hare airport which was an easy walk from the terminal.  It was midnight by the time we settled down to sleep.

An early morning collection of rental car was pretty easy also - well easy for me as Nev caught the rental car shuttle and collected the car - a Jeep Liberty - from Alamo and returned to the Hilton to collect me and the luggage. 

We considered it a reasonable deal at $2100 total for 30 day hire, which included one way drop off fee, insurance, road side assist, third party insurance and a full tank of gas (petrol) at $3.50 per gallon.  We soon discovered that was an excellent price as most gas stations were asking $4.00 plus as we left Chicago heading to Wisconsin.

Our first stop was with friends in Reedsburg, Patti and Bob, who ensured were we were comfortable and truly well fed. Plus we were well entertained by their gorgeous playful kitties - Yogi and Toby. One of the highlights when we visit this area is dinner at the Dell Bar in Wisconsin Dells where once again we enjoyed the company of our friends Patti and Bob and Marsha and Jim.  Shrimp De Jonge - my favourite, with spinach salad and hot bacon dressing - how could you not be in heaven with that menu.

An afternoon visit to our neighbours at Christmas Mountain was both wonderful and sad as we exchanged stories of our lives since we had last met.  Jean is lovingly looking after her beloved Grover who is suffering from dementia.  However he does look happy and she is looks as gorgeous as ever. 

The next visit was to Rome - Lake Arrowhead - moving north in Wisconsin to visit Steve. And there he was on our arrival at the entrance to his home with Linda (who we missed unfortunately due to her prior commitment) with a wonderful pot of BBQ and black bean soup, not to mention a very nice wine to boot.  We sat and chatted and ate and chatted and still had time to visit the Wisconsin Cheese Factory in the afternoon.

We left with a huge bag of cheeses and after finding Route 66 unexpectedly in Wisconsin we were so amazed we had to head back to Steve's for a glass of Argentinian Malbec. As the afternoon drew to an end we headed off to the Lure for a leisurely dinne by the Petenwell Lake - gorgeous as the pink/grey clouds refelcted over the water, the numerous bambi's watched over us from the wall as we enjoyed the local cuisine. Next morning we awoke (late) to incredible aromas wafting from the kitchen - Steve had cooked up an absolute treat - wonderful eggs, bacon, bagels, juice and coffee. So with bellies filled yet again to beyond the brim we departed for Oconomowoc.

Meeting up again with Mary in their new home and immaculately landscaped gardens was an immense pleasure for me especially as she had completed her Master Gardeners course after me and went on to become President of her group of over 600 members.  I was in absolute awe of the varieties of hosta - she had dozens - and her iris, day lillies, numerous perennials,  As always Mary had prepared the perfect luncheon for us, a delicious cheese and meat platter with the most incredible dip served with fresh veggies and followed by her very own rhubarb dessert and fresh fruit salad.  How spoilt are we!!  It was great to meet their son Mike but we were sorry to miss husband Tom who was flitting around the world on a business trip. 

Way too soon we were heading off towards Chicago where we we set to meet friends from Ohio who had driven over 600 miles to spend some time with us.  Janis and Tom. Angela and Doug, neighbours from Lexington had been celebrating A&D's anniversary the night before and were suffering flu effects (?? yeah us Aussies are pretty gullible!!).  Our hotel, the Palmer House Hilton was just superb - check it out here http://www.palmerhousehiltonhotel.com/ .  No, we are not going to mention the Carmichael's getting lost in their hotel earlier. Too many hotel rooms, too many numbers - enough said!   After enjoying a great dinner at The Luxbar we all headed off to Blue Chicago where we settled in for the evening. 

Ooooh scary eyes and we hadn't had a drink at that stage.
It seemed all too fast, not enough time to catch up on all the happenings over the last 8 years, but it seemed like yesterday that we were all partying in our neighbourhood.  The best neighbours!!

And next morning, Sunday May 6th, the big adventure begins........