The Football Season Has Arrived

It is always a wonderful time at the Blake house when the football season arrives. The last few years we have kicked off the season with training camp. This year I went to Chicago so kick off was last Saturday when we embarked upon our first bus road trip to the Metro Dome to watch the Vikings play the Steelers in a preseason game. As luck would have it, Tom (not me) managed to find the rowdy group on the bus (Steeler fans) and what could have been a dull 4 hour bus ride became an adventure. Here, let me show with photo's!



First we met our friends Teresa and Byron at the bus.

Then Tom met Super and became instant friends.

They had a lot in common like a cooler of beer. After

a few beers they became friends of everyone sitting

within 5 rows of us. This is good considering

the content of the conversation. A few card tricks

and dirty jokes kept everyone entertained.

As the cooler begin to quickly empty I noticed that Super

wasn't looking too super!! I explained to him that road

trips are like a marathon not a sprint and he might want

to pace himself. I don't believe he listened. Two hours

into the trip it was very obvious Super wasn't going to

make it to the Dome without incident. With his head

hung low I warned everyone around to watch out.

Almost on cue Super awoke and was only saved by the quick

thinking of his girlfriend Diane. She threw the lid off

their cooler and Super threw his head into it where he remained

for at least the next 10 min. heaving his guts out. I'm not to

sure about time since I immediately made an exit to the

front of the bus where I stayed until departure.

We arrived in enough time to be out in the tailgate area.

This is where the football energy lives until kick off. It

is wonderful to walk around and just look at all the different

ways people have decorated themselves with their teams

gear. The weather was awesome at about 75 degrees.

The Vikings played a good (not great) first half. The score

I believe was 10 to 6 at the half. By the end of the third it

became clear that the Vikings offense had stayed in the locker

room. Tom was not longer watching the game but he was

very glued to the other show going on.

As Viking fans will love to tell you, they are almost

always winners. So the Vikings being the Vikings

with a million opportunities to do anything did nothing

and in the closing seconds lost the game. Tom was so

upset and depressed that his Vikings lost I just had to

snap a quick photo for you all to see the sadness of it.

As they say in book land ~ that is the end of the story.

But, we aren't in book land so as we say in football land

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!

South Dakota State Capitol

After eight years of living in South Dakota I finally made it to Pierre which is the State Capitol and where the State Capitol building resides. Pierre is a very small city and resides in the middle of the state ~ no where land. The town is very old with not a lot going on other then all that wonderful state legal stuff. It isn't a very attractive city but the surroundings around the Capitol are beautiful. Tom and I had gone to Pierre for a hearing in Federal Court but arrived in enough time to get a small tour of the Capitol. I had remembered to bring my camera but I had not remembered to charge the battery so the photo's below are from my cell phone. Not a great quality but better then nothing.

Happy Birthday Susan - Chicago

Any time is a great time to take a vacation with a girlfriend. There is nothing like spending time with my friend/friends. Time with a friend allows me to be me!! I have no responsibility to anyone and best of all it allows me to let the little girl out to play without judgement. So when one of my dearest long time friends, Susan Bokorny recently had a significant birthday it gave us a wonderful reason for a girls trip!!! Susan and I met when I first went to work for one of the largest law firms in Phoenix. At that time I was going through a divorce and Susan was going through her stuff. Sometimes when life is the hardest the best of things happen if you can be open to see it. Susan is one of those best of things. We have been friends for over 20 years. We know each other on a level that is deep and meaningful. We have shared a lot of joy and a lot of heartache. Without Susan and her trickery Tom may never have gotten up to bat but that's another story for another blog. To this day she claims loss of memory and now after all this time I have to believe her!!! LOL Susan now lives in Houston and going to Chicago just seemed like a great destination for us to meet. It is one of the eight places I can fly direct!!! We spent five wonderful days together talking, shopping, talking, eating, talking, sight seeing, talking, walking and oh, did I mention talking?? The following photo's are just a few of the 50 or more I took.
PS YOU MUST SEE THE JERSEY BOYS!!!

The first night in Chicago we had drinks on the shore of
Lake Michigan. Perfect weather and prefect place.

The following morning we jumped on the double

decker bus and headed to the Sears Tower (below).

It was another perfect weather day. These are photo's
from the 103rd floor of the Sears Tower.

On the street the city is coming to life.

Trumps new tower is almost finished.




















No trip to Chicago is complete if your female without a stop
to the Big O studio or store!!

















We took a wonderful architectural tour of the city in
a boat on the river. They served the best Margarita's
we found.

















It just isn't a girls weekend without room service of our
favorite creme brulee with coffee!!!!

















If you love sports you can't go to Chicago and not spend
time at a game at Wrigley Field. It was another perfect
weather day and the game was close and exciting. The
Cubs moved into first place in their division with that
game.





















Sold out as always. They love their Cubbies.

















I love these crazy old bridges that are such a part
of Chicago.



















The Sears Tower from the water.























These last two photo's are from Navy Pier on top
of the ferris wheel.

Canada

The drive to Canada turned out to be a gift. When April first told me she was going to Canada to live for a few months and that I was the one driving with her ~ I wasn't very excited. I drive a lot. I had just spent so much time on the road that the thought of spending 3 days on the road to drive back from Lake Powell and turning around to drive to Canada, did not excite me. However, I wasn't about to send my daughter and grand-dog across country alone. April and I went over the miles and hours that it would take to get there. I told her to give us at least 4 days and she gave us 5. This turned out to be the blessing. We realized the day before we took off that not only would we have time to stop and visit my friend Lynn (who is family to us) in Michigan but we would be able to spend a whole afternoon. The first day we drove through Chicago. Don't ever do that if you don't have to. Drive around it. Trust me it will save you time regardless of how it looks like it will be the shorter way. Traffic was horrendous and the toll booths didn't make it any better. We spent the first night on the east side of Chicago in Indiana. Not knowing anything about the area we quickly found our self in the industrial area at the HO Hotel. It was not as bad as it could have been but it wasn't a place that made you feel very secure. We actually did see a Ho going in with her customer as we drove up. We could have, should have kept driving but we had no idea where to go and would we find something worse?! Note to everyone ~ always check Trip Advisor before making reservations for a hotel on the Internet. April and I had planned to get up do a quick run then shower and hit the road. After an almost sleepless night the only run we did was to the car to get the heck out of there. By noon we were driving into the drive of Lynn's house. What a sight for sore eyes. Seeing Lynn was like coming home. She is so much a part of my past and present. The kids and I adopted her & her family as ours shortly after their father and I divorced. We spent holidays, birthdays and weekends being with the Terry family. They embraced us with open arms. April had not seen Lynn since she moved from AZ 3 years ago and I hadn't seen her in over a year so as you can imagine it was a wonderful visit. Lynn and her brother Jon put on a very nice BBQ that night which included Sandra (Jon's daughter) Judy, Kimmie (friends) Kimmie's husband and Don.
Don is Lynn's boyfriend that April and I met for the first time. He is a great guy and it really made me feel good to see Lynn full of love and family in her home. The next morning we were on the road and found ourselves in Canada. We had decided to drive strictly by what the Garmin said so when we ended up cutting through Canada it took us by surprise. Once again, we found a blessing by this since it took us 30 miles from Niagara Falls. With plenty of time on our hands we made the adjustment (sorry garmin for recalculating) and drove the 30 miles to see one of the ten wonders of the world. We didn't stay long but it was a sight to see. I hope to go back and take the boat ride at the bottom. Note to everyone ~ if you go and stay ~ make sure you stay on the Canadian side. Back on the road we spent the night in Rochester N.Y. The taste of Rochester was going on and the lead band was Foreigner. April and I finally managed to get a run in and our days at the Ho Hotel were behind us. The following night we were in Maine and we ate at Skipper's. It was my first taste of fresh seafood and it was heaven. We arrived in Fredericton the following day. Her new landlord turned out to be a wonderful woman about the same age as me. She immediately made us feel welcomed and wanted to be of any kind of help she could. Everyone we met in Fredericton could not be more helpful. Frediction is beautiful and the pop. is about 40 thousand. Canada is so lush and the growth is so thick. The fresh seafood and produce is amazing. I couldn't have dreamed of a better place for April to be if she was going to go so far away from home. Since I left, Lynn (April's landlord) has been truly awesome to April. She stops by and walks Izzy when April is working late. She has also had them out to her lake cabin for dinner. She is going to babysit Izzy while April takes her birthday vacation. The day I flew home I had a heavy heart leaving my girls behind and so far away but I knew that they were in a good place with good people surrounding them. It was all I could ask for.

Our first night on the road at Ho Hotel Izzy found herself.
April and I laughed most of the night (good diversion)
because she kept going back to
make sure she hadn't left. LOL

















Sandra and Izzy bonded right away.






















Judy, Sandra, Lynn, ME, Izzy, April and Kimmie. It's a girl thing :)


















The girls take in Niagara Falls.























Rochester New York where taste of Rochester was in
in full action when we arrived.

April and I left Izzy in the hotel to go to dinner while

in Maine. Needless to say, she thinks the beds at Hampton Inn

are pretty fantastic!

April and Izzy in their home away from home.

This is the new school (Meritus U) and the building in which April is

currently working hard to get open by September.

These are photo's of the St. John river that flows through the

center of Fredericton. On a clear day it is absolutely beautiful.