June 21, 2012 -- Minneapolis, MN

Yep, you know who.



This week has been hot and muggy, then dark and stormy (scary wind gusts and thunder/lightning in the middle of the night Monday, and part of the day Tuesday), but today was perfect. Probably because it's our second wedding anniversary! Time flies, doesn't it?

For those of you who are confused, and are wondering why we are celebrating our anniversary on June 21st when you SAW us get married on August 21st, we can explain. The legal wedding (which lasted all of 30 seconds) took place in a pub on June 21st, and was followed by dinner with immediate family members only. It was kind of a rush thing. No shotguns involved, but there was a matter of health insurance coverage ... such is life in America in the twenty-first century. Hope you are not excessively disappointed to find out that we were already legal when we tied the knot and jumped the broom in August.

June 16, 2012 -- lunch with Fred Waterhouse

You may have been wondering why La Crosse, Wisconsin, was on our itinerary. After all, it's not really much of a happenin' tourist spot. All that is true. However someone very special lives there: Fred Waterhouse!

Fred is one of the Dyer family's oldest friends, but Theresa had not seen him in about 30 years. We met up at The Hungry Peddler, a restaurant in La Crosse, with Fred, his son Michael, and his sister-in-law Sue Ann, who Theresa was meeting for the first time. (Note to the Dyers: She looks a lot like her sister Donna!)

Much fun was had over a delicious, plentiful meal. Memories and funny stories about loved ones living and dead were shared. But dear Dyer clan, we are sorry to report that no photographs were taken. However rest Assured that Fred looks pretty much the same, only a little grayer and maybe a little shorter. And while there are no photographs, we do have a picture of sorts to share.



This is a drawing of Fred which is signed and dated April 22, 1970. Fred surprised us all by pulling it out of his pocket during lunch and insisting that Theresa take it with her. Such a touching gesture, and so much appreciated.

June 15, 2012 -- Chebanse, IL to Onalaska, WI

Our trip to Wisconsin was pretty uneventful, which was nice. We were originally going to stop about halfway to LaCrosse, Wisconsin, but ended up driving to Onalaska which is the town next to LaCrosse. We stayed overnight at the Wal-Mart there. There was a lesson to be learned on this trip though: If you have a lot of allergies, don't park next to the lawn & garden display!

June 10, 2012 -- Field Museum of Natural History

We're kind of sad that we left the Field Museum for last, because we really would have liked to spend more than one day here. (Indeed, we've already planned our return!)

The first exhibit you see at the Field is Sue, the T-Rex. Sue is the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found, and is named after the scientist who found her. Isn't she gorgeous?



We enjoyed Sue immensely, especially the movie they showed about her life, death, discovery and subsequent “life” as one of the world's most famous fossils.

We saw other exhibits at the Field where photography was not allowed, but we've got lots of good memories of those: Genghis Khan, Extreme Mammals, and Images of the Afterlife, which featured a complete Egyptian mummy. And there are so, so many more we have yet to see ... but that will have to wait for another blog.

June 9, 2012 -- Navy Pier

We chose a spectacularly sunny, blazing-hot day to visit Navy Pier. Fortunately, it's cooler when the lake shore breezes blow, and there's lots to see inside the building as well as outside. Theresa's favorite part was the Smith Museum of Stained Glass Windows. Not only was it a welcome respite from the heat, but there was also a stained-glass window which depicted some Colonial-era foremothers including Anne Hutchinson and her very own 13x-Great Grandma Mary Barrett Dyer.
Scott's favorite? The Lake Michigan cruise, where he got some great photos of the Chicago skyline.

Our cruise director (whose name was not Julie, but I digress) is pictured here:

Not-Julie had loads of interesting things to say about the history of Chicago and the development of the lake shore. And ... she is young, yes? So young, in fact, that when she asked the question, “Can you think of a well-known personality from the South Side of Chicago?" and Theresa automatically responded, "Bad Bad Leroy Brown?" there was only silence in response. What, you didn't think of that either? Well, Not-Julie was actually referring to a more recently-famous South Side resident:

(Sorry, Mr. President!)
After the cruise, we were both exhausted as well as hungry and thirsty, so we went for a sit-down lunch at the elegant Riva Crab House. The food was delicious, and so was the local beer, 312 Urban Wheat Ale. (What, you thought we were going to forget to try the beer? Not a chance!) It was a romantic lunch, but it was also too hot to hold hands. This was the best we could do:

June 7, 2012 -- Adler Planetarium

The much awaited visit to the Adler Planetarium did not disappoint. It was a spectacular day and after a small parking SNAFU (cost is $29.00, cash only -- who carries cash? not me...) we entered the museum and planetarium. We saw several planetarium shows including a fabulous 3D feature about the Sun, took a tour of the night sky on the dome, and had a hearty lunch at Galileo's Cafe.

Adler trivia: The the bronze relief sculpture of the planets in the lobby of the Adler was inaccurate from February 1930 (the discovery of Pluto) until August 2006, when the International Astronomer's Union revoked Pluto's “planet” status, making most people very sad. I suppose it's good that someone is happy about Pluto's demotion!

June 3, 2012 -- Buckeye Lake, OH, to Chebanse, IL

We drove pretty much straight through from Ohio to Illinois today, relying on GPS to take us the shortest way. Know though, that “shortest” roads may not be “widest” ... About 30 miles of our trip was on narrow country roads, through cornfields and tiny towns. Beautiful, green, interesting, and most definitely NOT interstates. We're staying in a lovely, quiet campground that's nestled in a clump of trees in the midst of miles and miles and MILES of corn. (Arrow on this map points to our campground.)



To recap: This is pretty much what Illinois looks like, if you're not in Chicago:

June 2, 2012 -- Theresa visits Antoinette; Scott visits Max and Lola

I don't suppose it's surprising that when we gathered this afternoon, Theresa and Antoinette wore matching turquoise blouses and black pants. (Sorry there was no pic, but take our word, it was wicked cute.) Antoinette's friend Sam also joined us and we spent a marvelous afternoon chatting, playing with some overjoyed dogs who apparently receive NO affection whatsoever unless there's company, and going out for Thai food in Columbus.

May 31 - June 1, 2012 -- homebodies

Not much to tell, except that Fortune smiled on us when Theresa went to the grocery store to find the proper “step stool” for our WiFi antenna:

May 30, 2012 -- Theresa visits Antoinette, Max and Lola

Today was an ordinary workday for Scott. Theresa drove to Columbus in the afternoon to spend a few hours with her college classmate Antoinette, who is now a professor at Ohio State. (Go Buckeyes!) This was their first meeting in 27 years, but they recognized each other OK and had a great time reminiscing about life in Georgetown's Arts Hall and catching up on the past couple of decades. Also present were the charming Max and Lola, Antoinette's furchildren. (photo by Antoinette)