the russells writings: Chi-Town...

WoW! Taylor and I left on Saturday, July 19, out of Temple, Texas, on the Amtrak as we headed north bound to Chicago, Illinois! Have you ever ridden a train across the country? Neither had we! And that's why we did it... And we loved it! We met so many different people. All shapes. All sizes. All walks of life. All economic backgrounds. Our 26 hour trip turned into a 29 hour trip. We had a little Rommette which fit us perfect. If you are going to ride the train, you need to get over your patience problem and 'let's hurry up and get there' attitude. The train will get there when it gets there. Relax. It will all be good...

So we pulled into Union Station in Chicago around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and we were excited of what was ahead. We took a taxi to our hotel and were treated like Kings and Queens! WoWsers... I really screwed up staying at this hotel! After making the reservations several months ago, I called up and informed them that this was gonna be our first Honeymoon outside of Texas. I didn't know if they could 'do' anything, but I wanted them to be aware. Well, they DID do something. They upgraded us from a King Room to the Executive King Suite and sent up Chapaigne and Chocolate Covered Strawberries and chocolates to the room. The hotel is called the Ambassador East Hotel. It sits in the Gold Coast region of Chicago. The Gold Coast is the 3rd richest neighborhood in the USA. We had no idead! We loved it and were REALLY taken care of. We were two blocks off of Lake Shore Drive which runs along Lake Michigan. Which, by the way, is more like the OCEAN! Holy Cow! Have you seen this LAKE? Massive!!! I have never ever seen anything like it. It is B-E-A-UTIFUL! We could not believe that it was a lake!

We ate at some really great restaurants and met some really great people. One night we went to Gibson's Steakhouse and met a wonderful couple from the UK ... Paul and Karen. We got to know them and even hung out afterwards at a Piano Bar called Jilly's. This was their first trip ti Chicago as well. They were staying two nights in Chicago, then a couple of nights in San Francisco, renting a car and driving to Nevada, Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon. I am looking forward to hearing from them about their travels. They invited Taylor and I to England to stay with them. We have begun saving our coins...

We also ate at 3rd Coast Cafe, Edwardo's Natural Pizza (our favorite!), Gino's East Pizza (over rated!), Downtown Dogs (we loved the Chicago style hotdog!), the Pump Room which was in our hotel (very classy and fancy smancy), the Beachstro on the Oak Street Beach, Dunkin Donuts. Eating was one of our favorite past times in Chicago.

We saw tons of sites and sounds during our 4 night stay. I can't imagine being there in the winter. This Southern Boy is not interested in that AT ALL...

On Thursday, we rented a car and drove down to Bloomington. On our way down, we stopped and hung out with Rich and Jenny Jo Hartney and their boy, Reagan. It was really great catching up with them. The Hartney's used to be Young Life leaders here in Central Texas. They just got done with a 2 year tour in Korea. Reagan is a HOSS! He is 3 months old and weighs 19 pounds. And he hasn't even eaten any 'food' yet!

ADORABLE!!! Taylor and I really enjoyed Reagan... Maybe we will start looking into what it would mean for us to have one of these 'creatures' of our own! Hmmmmmmm...

Bloomington was a blast. It was so great to be there for Cedric. He asked me to be his Best Man! I felt honored to be in this role!

There was a whole group of old Young Life leaders and such from Central Texas that went to the wedding. Hartney's, Mike and Margaret Helm, Robb and Alyson Dettmer, Werm and Stephanie Holman, us and Josh McWhorter lives there now and is in school at Illinois State University.

Anyhow, I will write more tomorrow. I have lots to discuss / share about this YL area, kids, upcoming school year, leaders and what I am learning about marriage.

Stay tuned!

Random pics for you to enjoy...

Robb Dettmer, Rich Harntey and me