Chicago state of mind.

For some reason the Billy Joel song "New York State of Mind" makes me happy. Perhaps it was because we took a trip there last year and it brings back good memories or maybe it is because I like Billy Joel but every time I hear the song I think of how fun living in a big city would be. That is if I could live exactly where I wanted and make the money to afford it. I don't need a penthouse on Park Avenue or Lake Shore Drive, just a cozy place that is in the heart of it all.

Jimmy and I had a getaway weekend. We went to Chicago. We stayed at a beautiful hotel, the Palmer House. The hotel was built by Potter Palmer in the late 1800s as a wedding gift to his wife. What a gift!!

If it were not for Hilton Honors we could have never stayed there. The hotel was beautiful, the prettiest place I have ever stayed. Our room was big and had a view of the lake. We were treated very well. We felt like royalty.

This is the entrance to our hotel.

On Saturday we walked along the lakeshore and took a water taxi to the planetarium. The water taxi is neat because it is fairly inexpensive plus you get to see the whole downtown from the water. Saturday night we went out to dinner and then to a little bar.

Us taking the water taxi from Navy Pier to the Planetarium.

One of the great views from the water taxi.

Goofing off in the planetarium.

On Sunday we walked down Michigan Avenue. It is very similar to 5th Ave. in NYC. It has tons of upscale shops and normal ones too. We also walked out on one of the beaches. It is just like being at the ocean.

Me with The Kiss at the Hershey store....he was so cute!!



See ya later Chicago.....

First signs of fall and a geography lesson

Admist, the shore of Cox Lake stands one lone tree bursting with color. Jimmy and I happened upon our first sighting of fall on Sunday while hiking at Gov. Dodge State Park. The tree was very beautiful standing by itself among the green trees.

Our day trip to Dodge Park was fun. We hiked, took pictures and got lost. We made a 2 mile mistake that I blame on Jimmy and that he blames on me. Well, truth is, we both read the sign wrong, turned left when we should have turned right and ended up walking 2 miles out of the way.

Some history on Dodge Park: For those who don't know, most of southwestern Wisconsin is hilly, I won't go as far as mountainous but it looks very similar to the Wilkesboro area of North Carolina.

Why is this section of Wisconsin hilly and the rest of the state and mid-west flat?In the last Ice Age four glaciers covered the midwest and for some quirk of nature did not cover southwestern Wisconsin. The glaciers basically mowed down all hills and mountains from Canada to Kansas moving rocks and making everything flat, except for a section of my new state. Because the glacier did not touch this area the park has some of the oldest land, 450 million years old to be exact. (according to a brochure I read)

Well that is your geography lesson for the day. I will keep you updated on the fall color.

Alas....the seasons are changing.

Oh no....what is that I see...leaves falling from a tree on campus. Which only means fall is here and winter is just around the corner. The season that I am trying my best to ignore.

The leaves will be changing soon. Most are still green but with a chill in the air I know it won't be long. I can't believe it is almost fall. I woke up to 42 outside this morning and went to work with a light jacket. By lunch time the sun was out and it was around 65.

I actually love fall. The cool crisp air, the colors, pumpkins. I use to love spring but being in financial aid, spring is almost bittersweet. The weather is beautiful, the leaves are coming back, flowers are blooming and parents and students are yelling, "I didn't get enough financial aid, my dreams are over".......you get the picture.

I am very excited about fall. I have heard that the Wisconsin fall is very beautiful. There are lots of hardwood trees so hopefully the colors will be bright.

Stay tuned...I will post pictures once the leaves start changing.

Fun Weekend

Jimmy and I just had a very fun weekend. On Saturday we went to the Madison Farmers Market which is an event in itself. We brought home, two pies (cherry and apple), corn, cheese curds (they are very good...trust me), tomatoes, cucumbers, cantelope and green beans. We had such a nice morning.

Then on Sunday we went hiking at Devil's Lake State Park. If I ever need a dose of the North Carolina foothills and hiking trails this is the place to be. We hiked two trails. East Bluff and Balanced Rock. Both were fairly difficult.

Some views from the East Bluff trail.



Just me being a shutterbug.



Jimmy showing off....


This is Balanced Rock.


This is me trying to unbalance, balanced rock. You know I was not nervous taking this picture at all. I didn't think twice...it was fun. But when I just posted this picture it makes me a little nervous...just me and a 500 foot drop.



A shout-out to Sara Becca, Keith and Bruno. Good luck moving. Can't wait to see your new place. Love you!!

Bye bye, for now.

Our place... quick video

A few people have requested a video tour of the apartment. Since blogger.com won't allow long video and since I tend to be very long-winded this is an almost silent and very quick view of our place....

Pope Farm Park

Today Jimmy and I visited Pope Farm Park. The park is about a mile from our apartment. It was beautiful. The parked was given to the town of Middleton by the Pope Family to be kept has a "farm park" The main goal of the park is to preserve farming by reminding people of its importance to the world. Another goal of the park is to preserve the prairie and glacial land formations.

Jimmy and I have developed a whole new vocabulary concerning topography: kettles, moraines, glacial ridges. All of which were created when glaciers covered this part of the country. Fortunately, the glacier did not flatten Wisconsin as it did Illinois. Here the glacier pushed land to form moraines and glacial ridges. It also formed kettles which is when rubble was on top of the glacier then the glacier melted and created a hold or sink area.

The farm includes grassed walking trails through many types of fields: corn, barley, wheat and soybean. There is also a field of sunflowers.

Here are the pictures from our walk:

As you enter the park you walk up a gravel path lined with a rock wall. There is a picnic area at the top of the hill.

This is a view while walking the trail.



The left is corn, the dark green on the right are soybeans.



This is a view of the sunflower field. They are facing opposite the camera. Their flowers follow the sun.
Here they are! All facing me. They were so pretty.


This is a view of the Middleton country-side.
Here is Jimmy reading a sign about the land formations. If you look closely and I mean very closely you can see the Lake Mendota. You can actually see the capitol from here as well but the camera just doesn't capture it very well.

bye bye for now. anna

Things that go bump in the night....

Last night around 9 Jimmy and I were watching tv when we hear very loud booms around the apartment. I mean the noises were HUGE. They shook the walls and windows of our apartment. We thought that since we live near a quarry that maybe they were doing explosives that night. But the noises wouldn't stop. They kept going. It was scary.

We both were running to the windows but could see nothing, no flashes, no fire, no toxic plume.

Being in Apex when the EQ chemical plant exploded made us think that the sounds were dangerous and that we should call the police or something. Are the apartments blowing up? Has a gas line erupted. Has another chemical plant blown up? Is the town going down in flames? What is happening!! What do we do????

Well thank goodness we did not call. The sounds that we were hearing were fireworks, not the store bought NC kind either. These were honest to goodness 4th of July style fireworks going off over our apartment complex. The reason why we couldn't see flashes or flickers of light was because they were right over us. Which is also why the apartment was shaking. It may not seem scary but it was. Imagine hearing all of those noises with no explanation of what was happening.

We are not sure where they came from or who was celebrating but please warn someone next time. I expect them during July 4 but not on August 6.

Go to blonde board Anna and Jimmy......