November brought us all around the country, but half of the month was spent in Chicago and it was grand! It was really great for Dave to get to meet my dad's side of the family, as literally everyone lives there absent my dad. Chicago has a special place in my heart both for the nostalgia of visiting family there as a child, but also for how fun downtown Chicago is! You can find literally anything in downtown Chicago, and I love that! My grandfather was gracious enough to host Dave and me for nearly two weeks, and we all thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Grandpa Corvin and Paddy-Whack were good fun, and it was sad to say goodbye after our two weeks, but first let me show you what we saw while we were there!
To begin with, the drive up from Indianapolis was complete with a visit to the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. I love that Indiana has dunes, a secret to a few too many Hoosiers. At any rate, the north side of Indiana, that touches Lake Michigan, is home to some fantastic sand dunes. Dave and I stopped for a lovely hike through the dunes as the sun was beginning to set. The lighting against the dunes made for a splendid walk, but I forgot how tiring hiking in sand is!!
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| Indiana Dunes! |
Once we arrived in Chicago, grandpa was really excited to take us to the Bahá'i temple on the north side of Chicago, and I was equally as excited to go because he has told me about it for a while now and yet I'd never made it. I knew literally nothing about the Bahá'i faith, but learned a lot about this very peaceful group of people. I also immensely enjoyed their house of worship, I had never seen anything quite like it. The drive to the temple was equally as impressive because the colors were still changing on the trees, and we got to take Lake Shore Drive the entire way there, the road which follows Lake Michigan. The drive passed through Northwestern's campus as well, a campus I'd never seen but always heard was quite beautiful, and sure enough it was. Needless to say, this was a lovely day spent with Grandpa complete with lunch at the famous Portillos!
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| Bahá'i temple |
Dave and I also spent a lovely day walking around downtown enjoying Millennium Park where the famous "Bean" statue is. We made a massive loop around "The Loop" of Chicago, seeing not only the Bean but also the epic downtown library, Art Institute, and a gorgeous walk along the lakefront going by the Aquarium and the Field Museum. Pictures..
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| Dave and me with the Bean |
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| Dave's artsier version of the same angle |
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| I pose real nice. |
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| Hey Chicago! |
On a colder day, Dave and I decided to check out the Lincoln Park Zoo, as it is free and admittedly who doesn't like seeing exotic animals despite your stance on zoos. So we enjoyed the zoo as well as the neighboring Lincoln Park Conservatory, which was filled with all kinds of fabulous plants, both tropical and otherwise. This was a great way to spend an afternoon! And then my Aunt Ruth was ever so gracious to give Dave and me a $25 gift card to Maggianos, a yummy Italian restaurant downtown, so we then treated ourselves to a fancy meal and gosh did we feel fancy!
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| Mosses excite me a great deal. |
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| Dave and a bear having a stare off! |
On yet another day, my grandfather insisted that we take ourselves to one of Chicago's famous museums. His generosity was very kind and we hummed and hawed over choosing between the Field Museum of Natural History, the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, and the Museum of Science and Industry. Being fortunate enough to have visited all of these fine establishments over the years, I put the decision in Dave's hands, and he wisely chose the Field Museum. We spent an entire afternoon wandering around the museum exploring the plethora of exhibits. We actually got quite tired after a while, because we realized there is only a certain amount of new information one can absorb before they hit their personal limit. Nonetheless, this was a lovely day!
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| My favorite exhibit at the Field Museum was about Native Americans |
And finally for our stay in Chicago, the trip was obviously centered around my good friend Trista's wedding, which I had the honor of standing up in. It was really great to arrive to Chicago two weeks before the wedding so that both Dave could get to know Trista, and vice versa, but also so that I could spend some quality friend time with Trista! Trista is a fitness instructor/personal trainer, so a lot of time with her was spent taking classes, which I loved! Then came the wedding weekend!! The wedding weekend kicked off on Thursday, with Trista's bachelorette party, which was good fun, having pizza and drinks with all of Trista's friends. Then on Friday was the rehearsal dinner, but not before a 9am bachelorette themed workout at the yoga studio that Trista teaches at. A 9am yoga class was a bit rough being out so late the night before, but it was good fun! Then the wedding party all met at the venue later in the day to practice for the big event. I had a pep talk with the groomsman I was to walk down the aisle with that he was under no circumstance allowed to let me fall from wearing high heels, or else! So clutching to his arm tightly we made it through the rehearsal. Then came a lovely meal at Le Colonial, where Trista and Brody had their first date. The food was exceptional, but even more so was the company! Dave and I enjoyed having the excuse to dress snazzy and followed the dinner with a visit to the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Building. We took in the city views and then headed home.
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| Black on black on black. |
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| With the Windy City! |
On Saturday was the wedding, and the morning started with blow outs for all of the bridesmaids at a hair salon called Dry Bar. I had never heard of a blow out prior, but holy smokes can people do marvels with a blow dryer! Plus, who doesn't like getting pampered? Post hair appointments, we all returned to Trista's wedding suite at the W hotel and finished getting ready, i.e. makeup, touching up our hair, etc. Then came pictures! The photographer was a couple from Indianapolis, and they were really fun! The wedding party got to ride around on a trolley throughout the city taking photos, and then ultimately arriving at Salvatore's, the venue. The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, and brought tears to my eyes. Watching someone you care about find their match and share vows in front of their friends and family is a really beautiful thing to be able to witness. The ceremony was then followed by a cocktail hour, a lovely Italian meal for dinner, and then a killer reception! It was a night I know I surely won't forget, and I was so thankful to get to be a part of Trista and Brody's big day! Hopefully this link works if you want to see more pictures, but here are the few highlights I've snagged. It was also a nice mini reunion for a few of us from college because I met Trista while at Arizona State nearly 10 years ago now..!
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| Trista and me! |
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| Friends! |
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| Brody and me! |
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| Freshmen roommates! Kennan and me! |
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| Mini ASU reunion - Meagan, Trista, Kennan, and me |
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| Another of Trista and myself! |
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| Me and my hot date! |
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| We really liked our name tag :) |
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| Feeling sassy on the dance floor! |
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| One final one of all the ladies! |
After Trista's wedding we had breakfast the following morning with all of my family, which was a nice treat. My aunt Ruth, her husband Tom, and their kids Gabrielle and Tom, my uncle Dan and his wife Lisa, their daughter Rachel but unfortunately Nick was away at Purdue, my uncle Joe, but his daughter Tori didn't make it to this Sunday brunch, at least she made it to the one prior, and then of course grandpa, Dave and me. Post breakfast Dave and I got on the road back to Indianapolis. We were sad to say goodbye to everyone, but we had to head onward to the next adventure. We were even sad to say goodbye to Paddy Whack, but we know we will be back soon!
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| This cutie looking at the birds. |
After a quick stop over in Indiana, Dave and I headed back west with the goal of meeting my parents in Zion National Park for Thanksgiving. We had made plans to stop at the Petrified Forest National Park for a hike, the Grand Canyon, then to Las Vegas for an evening, and then ultimately meeting up with my mom and dad in Utah! We hustled our way across the country until reaching Arizona to explore the Petrified National Forest. It's crazy how long you can live in a place and still have yet to explore everything. We had an absolutely amazing day spent in the forest, and Dave captured some stunning photos especially at sunset...
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| Somewhere in Texas having lunch on the side of the road. |
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| Our couchsurfing host in Albuquerque had a room full of hammocks, pretty cool. |
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| Red dirt! |
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| Petrified wood! |
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| Desert sunsets are spectacular. |
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| More.. |
And then after the Petrified Forest we spent the night in Flagstaff before heading to the Grand Canyon the following day. Dave meticulously planned out our trip to the Grand Canyon, and everything went off without a hitch! We went to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon and hiked down the South Kaibab Trail to the Bright Angel Campground where we unpacked and spent the night. The following day we headed towards the Indian Garden Campground, arriving around lunch time where we had some lunch, a nap, and then a hike out to a gorgeous vista. That evening, after having dinner and a round of bananagrams, a park ranger was giving a talk about the big horn sheep, which we attended, then headed back to our tent for a good nights rest. On the third day we packed up after breakfast and took the Bright Angel trail back to the top of the canyon, and when we reached the rim we felt mighty accomplished!
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| The sunset driving to Flagstaff. |
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| Day 1 hiking. |
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| Day 2 breakfast |
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| Day 2 views! |
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| Self timers are pretty neato! |
The same day as exiting the canyon we then drove a few hours to reach Las Vegas. The stark contrast of waking up in the bottom of the Grand Canyon, and then falling asleep on Las Vegas Boulevard was quite amusing to Dave and me. We managed to find a Groupon to stay in Circus Circus for only $22, so we were pretty pleased with the fact that we snagged a room on The Strip! After passing by the Hoover Dam and then pulling into our hotel, we revitalized over a dinner of hummus and chips, then had some ciders and walked the strip. Dave was in awe of the glory that is Las Vegas, or should I say atrocity.. Anyways, we had a lot of fun wandering around the different casinos and seeing "the sights." One of Dave's favorites was going into the Venetian, as there is a Grand Canal running through the hotel and it is creepy how easily they can make you feel like you're walking the streets of Venice.
We woke up the following morning in Vegas, and still wide-eyed at all of Vegas' glory, Dave requested we walk around some casinos that we missed the previous night. We checked out New York, New York, Tropicana, and MGM Grand. Dave also wanted to take his chances at playing a slot machine... his $1 investment granted him a return of $8! He was well pleased, and then said he'd treat me to a lunch of french fries, I'm one lucky gal! After our celebratory lunch we then headed to St. George, Utah, where we spent the evening before finally heading to Zion.
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| The Hoover Dam is shockingly big every time! |
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| The Grand Canal |
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| Pretty hilarious photo Dave snapped. |
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| "Our spot." |
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| The smile of hope! |
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| HE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
On Thanksgiving day Dave and I finally arrived to Zion National Park, where we met up with my parents for what was a lovely weekend. My parents generously planned an entire weekend in Zion for the four of us, and it was truly spectacular. It's always amazing to me how many diverse and equally gorgeous National Parks are in the U.S. Having gone from the Grand Canyon then to Zion, both of which are canyons, they looked so different and evoked different emotions. Essentially Zion is an inverted canyon, with towering walls around you, and whenever different light catches it, different colors will pop. Thanksgiving day we went on a nice hike, and then had a good meal in the lodge. The following two days were complete with more epic hikes, more terrific food, and good company. On Sunday we had to say goodbye to Zion, and we all headed down to Phoenix. My weekend left me feeling grateful for America's National Parks.
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| Happy Thanksgiving from Zion. |
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| More views! |
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| All smiles! |
November was quite hectic, but so great! From Chicago to Arizona to Utah, we had such a good month. Dave and I both feel so lucky to be able to see and do what we've seen and done. But after November it was off to Phoenix to stay with my parents for a month where we would not only visit but also make up for some of our lost finances!
