Boulder Hill 2

Tuesday, July 27th
We drag things up from Scott's basement and load them into the rental car. Things of note: big tools, like a circular saw and a big sander. After dragging things around in the morning, I declare "I want to go to a nice independing, outdoor cafe for lunch and have a smoothie." To which Scott responded, "The Chili's or the TGIFriday's?" In the Boulder Hill area, small, independent cafes are not as plentiful as in Chicago, or any other major metropolitan area. The only places that can afford to build in the middle of nowhere are big chain stores. Oh well. We ended up having lunch in a diner around the corner.

Afterwards, I drove in to Chicago to have dinner at Fiesta Mexicana with Julie, Holly, and Brian. (Notice a pattern of favorite dining places yet?) It's always a good time when you get to see friends, even when they start arguing about politics.

Wednesday, July 28th
I got up early in the morning to drive down to Indianapolis to see Caille. She was back in the US with Chris to plan the final details for their wedding in December. I picked up my bridesmaid dress (mine is a light gold/cream color) and picked up a pair of shoes. It was really great to see Caille, since she's moved to England and all. She's finished getting her Masters of Education (or whatever you call it in England) and has a full time teaching gig lined up for the fall. After we run wedding errands, I drove back up to Chicago. I had dinner with my family, and then went back to Scott's ancestral home for the rest of the night. Scott's mom had added a velvet-clad mannequin to the General Store. It's the kind of thing that you'll see gliding down the hallway in the middle of the night. Spooky.

Thursday, July 29th
Got up nice and early to make the drive back to Binghamton. We ran into a lot more construction on the way back than we did on the way there. That slowed down our time by at least an hour (~12 hours total.) Scott did most of the driving back since I'd done most of the driving to Chicago. We got back nice and late and made pasta for dinner. Afterwards, we headed to Scott's local Irish pub for some drinks. Scott wore what Rich calls his Indian Casino shirt. On the way back to the pub from the State St. scene, we passed a guy who was biking past us. He gave us a nod like "Oh, yeah..." It was funny. To me at least.

Friday, July 30th
We return the rental car at 8:02 am. We'd driven over 2,000 miles. Thank goodness for unlimited mileage. We walked to the library, and around town a little bit. Scott and I played a game of chess in the Cyber Cafe West. I won! (twice) Scott won originally, but allowed me a redo. Rich came up that evening for dinner, and we made the Brazilian Shrimp Stew. It was still delicious.

Saturday, July 31st
Back to Princeton! I'll get to stay in one place for 2 weeks. Yay!