Run! Ruunnn! Ruuuunnnnn!!! (for your life) Pt 1

I PROMISE, I will explain that title in due time.  :)  So HERE it is!  The blog post that tells you all about my trip to visit my dear, dear, Twin Pea, Brae.  To get full effect of the feelings of the trip, we will start at the before of the beginning.

Monday, October 1st: I am running all around like a headless chicken making sure that things are together not only for myself, but for the three men that I am leaving behind to fend for themselves.  They usually manage pretty well, but never for such a long time before.  I made trips to the store for easy cook meals.  Made sure that the laundry was cleaned, folded and expertly put away. Cleaned the house from top to bottom and reminded them that if they picked up a little each night, it wouldn't get out of control.  I also packed extra changes of clothes in the diaper bag in the car, made sure movies were available to take to work and packed up the toys that keep them happiest the longest.  I had all this done by 11am, and good thing, too, because it was then, when I sat down to take a bit of a breather that I got a SHIVER.  A shiver. In my 80 degree house in central Florida, I got a shiver.  I filled with dread and knew instantly what that meant.

                                FEVER!!  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

There was a quick dash all around the house as I put on layers of clothes, dug out the comforter, brewed some tea and downed OJ and tylenol in record time.  For the next two hours, I looked like this:
 

image from the internet

By 5:00, my sister had shown up, and I had yet to squelch The Beast.  I was irritated.  But you see, I had been waiting on this trip for MONTHS and not going was simply NOT an option.  So I pulled myself out of bed, took a shower, re-dosed with tylenol and spent the final few hours with my family.  My sister and I left at about 9 to head to Orlando since I was leaving from that airport.  They charge you out the wahzoo for the convenience of leaving from Gainesville.  Plus, Orlando to Chicago was a straight shot, no stops. :)

A quick drive down there, which I spent asleep, and then another shower at my sisters house and some rearranging of packing after I raided her fab shoe collection... I hit the sack again.  Newly dosed with fever reducers and some Aspercreme for my wrenched back.  I had pulled something on Friday getting the tables for the sale on Saturday (which did NOT go well, by the by) and had just been ignoring it.  Now I was being a bit of a baby.  And pointedly so.  How DARE The World try to make me sick on the eve of my trip?!?!

Tuesday, October 2nd:  We awaken, get dressed and dash off to the airport.  Cassie tries to get me checked into my flight and after several minutes of stabbing in the itinerary number, a not-so-helpful TSA person decides to tell here that she needs to use a 6 digit letter code, not the 12 digit numerical.  Then why do they even offer you numbers on the screen?!?!  We finally get that punched in and read the words:

"You are too late to check in for you flight."

                 EXCUSE MEEEEE?!?!?!? 

This just will not do.  There were words.  There were glares.  Eventually, the TSA officer checked me in manually and gave me my boarding pass.  Then Turdface Magoo informed me that the counter was closed for me to check my bag and that I would just have to see if it would fit as a carry on.  Uh..... not happening.

I have to be left at security and this is only the second time I have flown, ever, and the first was nearly a decade ago.  Shit sucks.  And my flight leaves in 32 minutes.  *sigh*   I continue to eek along in the ever so slowly moving line and finally it's my turn to strip off my shoes and other things that I can conceal my death ray in.  I flop it all up there and then prepare to walk through the metal detector.  No.  No metal detector.  Come through this monkey machine instead, where you will be scanned and put up on a screen.  You want your whole body to come out a "Yea!  Go-go Gadget Green."  Nerve racking.  And I pass the sign that says, you may choose to have someone accompany you at any time during your screening.  I snort.  Works out swell for those with a buddy system.  I am cleared and then I get the gruff, "Ma'am, is this YOUR bag?"  I am sure I look a little horrified thinking that, surely, someone has smuggled something awful into my bag.... Nope.  The man just wants to confiscate my brand new can of shaving cream.  The brand new can that nobody would have cared about, because that bag was supposed to be checked.  *sigh*  They send my bag through again and I am certain that they have just robbed me of ALL my flight catching time.  I have to dash to the shuttle, impatiently wait for it and then dash across the terminal to my gate.  Which, of course, is at the end.  And I am dashing with two bags... when I should only have one.  Thankfully, and apparently, they will check your bag at the plane!  Which they did for me and everyone was very kind.  I must have resembled some sort of frightened woodland creature!  :D  But I boarded. We flew.  I slept.  And arrived in Chicago nearly 30 minutes early.

I get off the plane, let Brae know I am in town, locate my bags and then go wait for her.  It was cold.  Certainly not Midwest standards cold, but for getting on in upper 70's weather... the lower 60's I got off in was cold.  And I was still sick.  Pooooo.  When Brae came to get me, I was all bundled up in my jacket, with gloves and a steaming hot cup of coffee.  Pumpkin Spice Latte to be specific.  :)

We went back to her house and the lounged about for a few hours while I realized that I was still being beat up by this elusive fever.  No other symptoms, just fever.  But it made me very tired.  I mustered up strength anyway and she took me to see a couple things before we went to have dinner.  I mostly loved the drives up and down the suburb streets.  The houses there look nothing like the houses here in Florida and the autumn leaves were breath taking against them.  So much to look at outside the window!  And too tired to wield a camera.  For shame.

Our first stop was at the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette, Illinois.  You can read more about it specifically here: http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/   It really was a beautiful temple and the grounds were an amazing sight.  I like their message of the oneness of humanity and the oneness of religion.  Like it should be, I think.  Here is 

a shot of the front of it:

                                 

I also got some shots of flowers and some close up shots of the great detailing on this building.  Had I been feeling better, there would have been more.

Gorgeous place.  :)  

Our next stop was at the Lighthouse, which is located on Lake Michigan.  The property was also quite beautiful and the art house next door made me smile, too.  I am a sucker for brick covered in ivy.  :)

And I feel like that is long enough post for today!  I will share the some more tomorrow.  Although, you all are competing for time with my close friend here in Gainesville, who's days are numbered.  She is moving at the end of the week.  :(