Grumpy Gaithersburg and Whirlwind Washington

We decided to stay outside of Washington DC in Gaithersburg MD because the hotel was much more reasonable. While it was much more reasonable for our wallets, it certainly was not reasonable in the eyes of my mother. The guests at the motel represented a wide cross section of society to put it kindly. To put it less kindly, several of them were lounging around outside their rooms and weren't completely covered by conservative clothing. There was also a train that run all night long right outside that caused the entire room to vibrate. None of the dogs were very happy with the arrangement and since the train woke them up every time it passed, none of us were able to sleep very well. We were excited to spend time with Kim's mom, even when we found out that Gaithersburg offered little to do but eat. Luckily, that is one thing that all of us are quite experienced in and we managed to squeeze more meals into the visit than I would be comfortable admitting on here.

The three of met went to Applebee's for dinner on Thursday night. Based on our waitress and the people we ran in to at the motel, we ventured a guess that Gaithersburg wasn't known for its hospitality. No one smiled in the entire restaurant and when we stopped by Target to pick up a few things, we were overwhelmed by the grumpy faces and borderline rude behavior. We cut the night short because there was a major thunderstorm, which would throw all of the dogs into a state of panic, hiding under sinks and in bathtubs.

On Friday, we spent the entire day restaurant hopping in Gaithersburg, with the exception of the 16 minutes that was spent sweating profusely as we took a paddle boat in the shape of a swan around a duck pond.

 It was awesome to just hang out with Kim's mom, but we were still curious about some of the DC attractions.

No one could sleep with the trains passing through so frequently, so Cathy was ready to head back to NY by 8am. We decided to do a DC whirlwind and attempt to cover The Museum of Natural History, The National Archives, and The Museum of American History... all in the 2 hours between 10am (when the museums open) and 12am (the time we'd have to leave in order to check out on time).

We found a parking spot in front of the Museum of American History, so that was our first stop. The museum contained an incredible collection of artifacts dating back to the revolutionary war. It was a great way to be able to visualize history. Some of the highlights were General George Washington's uniform:

The original Star Spangled Banner:

Part of the Berlin Wall:

Railroad Hall:

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers:

And Miss Piggy:

Next we walked the short distance to the National Archives to view the Bill of Rights, Constitution, on Declaration of Independence. No pictures were allowed and it took a while to enter the building due to security.

Our last stop was the Museum of Natural History. We saw (truly) stuffed animals:

The dinosaur exhibit:

And the Hope Diamond:

I even took a picture with Easter Island Head:

After our whirlwind we had just enough time to grab some frozen yogurt before checking out.

Chocoholicville

Daniel had trouble sleeping while thinking about the dogs in their own room and he got up at 5 am to go check on them, cuddle, and take them for a long walk. I was completely oblivious to him leaving and I was snoozing in the very comfortable bed of the inn. I awoke to a very sweet text message and he headed back over to the room with the dogs in tow. They hung out in the air conditioned car while we ate breakfast.

What a breakfast it was! They made cinnamon rolls for us on request and served them with croissant french toast. There were berries in the croissants and everything was delicious. The day was off to a great start. When we explained what was going on with the dogs to the owner of the inn, she offered to let us keep the dogs in their own stall in the barn. We were hesitant but she told us we were welcome to put them in there for a bit and see how they liked it. We walked around to find a private stall where they wouldn't be bothered much throughout the day and we put them in. We walked around and fed the horses a bag of carrots. We didn't hear much whining coming from them and they seemed to be okay in the stall. The other dogs at the barn came over to check them out but didn't cause much of a commotion.

We headed back to the inn to move to another room since we were now blacklisted from Motel 6 and we were both really exciting about extending our stay one more night. We went back to the barn after about 10/15 minutes to make sure the dogs were still doing alright. True to their nickname, the escape artists, one attempt had already been made. When we got to the barn, a few people told us that Jane had jumped through the feed hole and George had tried to follow. The people were nice enough to grab them and put them back in the stall. We started to cover the feedhole with a wheelbarrow but the owner came out and offered to put them in another stall where he could cover the feedhole with some plywood he would cut out for us. Everyone was so very nice and helpful. We were constantly blown away.

Once we were sure they were secured in the other stall, we headed to Hershey Park for the day.

 I had very fond memories from going there as a child and couldn't wait to go back. It didn't take very long in the park to realize why my memories were so great. It really was an amazing park... for kids. Most of the rides were intended for children and very few of them were of interest to us (especially Daniel and his motion-sickness!!). We went on a few rides such as the classic Kissing Tower and the Reese's X-treme Cup Challenge. One of the highlights for us was the sea lion show.

I was also looking forward to reuniting with a friend from high school that I hadn't seen in 15 years. We were planning on meeting her and her family in the park sometime after 4pm. It didn't take us long to figure out that we should find something else to do for a few hours if we didn't want to walk the entire park twice. We decided to go across the street to the Chocolate World.

Over there we felt as though we were transported to a different world. We were completely surrounded by chocolate and it took much of our willpower to avoid eating everything in the store. Instead, we took the 12 minute tour of the chocolate factory which was a Disney style ride explaining the process of making Hershey's Chocolate.

We left with our free sample of chocolate and a little knick knack for our travel tree. Around that time it started to rain and we decided we should go back to the inn to check on the dogs. They were a little nervous being in the barn and Jane always freaks out during thunderstorms.

When we arrived back at the inn, we could hear George barking from outside the barn. We rushed to their stall to find Jane up on her hind legs and nose to nose with their neighboring horse. I wish we were able to get that on camera!!  We also found this note written on a dry erase board attached to the outside of their stall:

The rain quickly passed and we let the dogs run in the corral. It was hot and humid outside and the dogs were clearly still tired from their previous walk. We put them back in their stall and took a quick nap in the room until Danielle sent us a text message that they were at the park.

We headed back to Hershey and I was thrilled to see Danielle and her mom after 15 years! It's moments like that which make me appreciative of Facebook and all the technology that allows us to keep in touch with people regardless of distance. We also met her husband and their 3 kids. It was fun experiencing Hershey through the eyes of the children. It didn't take long before everyone was hungry and tired. All of us headed to dinner at Red Robin.

We finished dinner later than expected and were nervous about trying to walk the dogs. The night before we had taken a walk to the barn to try to feed the horses at night and found the barn in a state of total darkness. We were trying to figure out how we would get the dogs in and out of their stall to walk them. Our fears were quickly quelled as we approached the barn and saw the lights had been left on.

New fears quickly took their place when we realized that the horse who used to be in the neighboring stall was gone. The entire hallways were empty as though the dogs were being quarantined. Even the growling barn dog wasn't coming over into that part of the hall. We quickly assumed the worst and began hypothesizing all the things that could have gone wrong. The dogs may have escaped again. Maybe all the dogs were constantly barking at one another. Maybe the dogs were harassing the neighboring horse until all the horses in the barn became agitated.

I approached the owner of the inn who was working on his computer located conveniently across from the entrance to our room. I told him my fears and he laughed. He explained to me that on the nice nights, the horses stay outside. We didn't know that because it was raining the previous night and all the horses were in the barn. He told us that everyone loved George and Jane. People had been stopping by throughout the day to play with them, give them treats, etc. Apparently they were a hit. Again, we were relieved! We put them back in the stall and went back to sleep in our big comfy bed.

We awoke the next morning in time for breakfast which was fantastic again. This time we started with strawberries and bananas floating in pina colada mix. This was followed with blueberry crumb muffins, sausage, and waffles. Delicious! After breakfast we used the hose outside the barn to wash the dogs then walked them around the farm until they were dry. Jane even got to meet a couple of mules:

We figured this was perfect timing since they were already mad at us for making them sleep on the floor. Neither one of us wanted to leave and we spent as much time lingering around the farm as we could before it was time to hit the road again. We sat on the front porch swing. We sat in front of the waterfall. We wandered the barn. Then, we were back in the car and on the way to go meet my mom near DC.

Ain't love the sweetest thing?

Apologies for the delay in posting since Chicago, but we've been a bit distracted. Daniel told me he had a surprise for me in Hershey and I couldn't wait to find out what it was.

The dogs were getting restless as we were driving so we looked up dog parks to give them a chance to run around and burn off the steam they built up during our stay in Chicago. We found a place in Indiana with an agility course and decided it was well worth the twenty minute drive off the expressway to go check it out. We pulled up and it looked amazing! We were relieved that no other dogs were around and as we surveyed the area we saw lots of pretty scenery surrounding the park. We got the dogs and headed to the gate. They were very excited and could hardly contain themselves. We tried to open the gate and it was locked.  We looked around for another entrance and didn't see one. Then we saw the sign. Apparently we found the most exclusive dog park in the country. You have to pay for the tag that opens the gate. We considered jumping the fence but thought better of it when we saw video cameras. We were sooooo disappointed but made the best of it and walked the dogs around the pond.

An hour later we were back on the expressway. We knew the dogs weren't completely worn out but the weather was getting bad and we didn't have many options. The weather got so bad that we wound up stopping at a steak and shake just to let the worst of the storm pass. We definitely were not making great time! We realized that we spent about 10 hours going the 6 hours to Zanesville, the first city with a motel 6 after Columbus. When we got there, the motel 6 was sold out. What?!?! We didn't want to drive farther in the darkness and rain so we stayed at a Best Western. After our motel 6 streak, it really did feel best!

We woke up a little later than intended and we rushed to make it in time to Hershey for whatever it was he had planned. We got to the Motel 6 in Hershey and were disappointed to find that the entrances to all the rooms were inside and that we would be on the third floor. There is nothing quite like bringing two wound up Mastiffs through the hallways of a motel.  We got a weird vibe and the staff seemed super nosy. We were told that we couldn't leave the dogs alone in the room if they were going to bark. We didn't like the way this was going and although they usually don't make much noise, we considered trying to find them another place. We didn't have much time and decided to hope for the best.

We dropped them off and got back in the car. It was surprise time! I don't know what I expected. A meet and greet with a bear, elephant, monkey...that all crossed my mind given our zoo theme. I was really thrown for a loop when we started going down all these little backroads. Now I started to wonder if we were heading to see some long lost friend or family member. Then we come to a little fork that says the barn is one way and the inn was another. I felt a bit of relief when we headed toward the inn.

We were greeted by the owner and given a tour. It was beautiful and homey at the same time. By now I was extremely confused since it was way too early to be in a rush for dinner. I didn't ask questions. I couldn't. He immediately started putting yummy homemade treats in front of me. She showed us our room. Our room??? Now I'm really confused since we just left the dogs at the motel 6. There are roses, chocolate coveredstrawberries, and all the Hershey candy you can imagine scattered throughout the room. The bed was covered in silk rose petals.

We only spent a few minutes in the room before we were wandering around the grounds. ...of the farm! One path led to a pretty waterfall and coi pond. The other path led to a barn where we could feed horses, alpaca, donkeys, etc. I'll spare you the other details of our walk, but I am one lucky lady!!

A few minutes of walking around and the phone rings. It's Motel 6 yelling at us for leaving the dogs alone, letting us know the dogs are digging up the carpet and we need to get back there immediately so we can get them and leave. Uh oh. We apologized profusely, agreed to pay the fee to replace the carpet, and yet they were particularly nasty about the incident and decided to belittle us. They even asked if we were first time dog owners. They let us know they were going to report us to corporate for the damage and now we might be blacklisted from all Motel 6s (at least under Daniel's name). Here is a picture of what the dogs did:

We found a really cheap motel down the road where we left the dogs for the night after running them back and forth a few times to tire them out.

After that fun episode, we made our way back to the inn and fed the alpacas and the horses.

Then Daniel said it was time for the rest of the surprise and went into romance mode. He's a regular Casanova when he wants to be. He led me back to the room where I was quite startled to see someone else in there. A young woman was sitting in the corner by the fireplace and began to play the harp. She was playing All of Me and we began to dance. All of a sudden, he was down on one knee and holding a ring in front of me. He said some amazing things and I said yes, of course! Here is our first post-engagement picture:

We danced for a few more songs and then headed to a cute Italian restaurant in the Hershey Hotel for dinner. We were both so emotional during the actual proposal that we had to repeat the entire conversation over dinner since neither of us remembered it!! We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and they surprised us with a little dessert when they caught wind of our engagement.

We headed back to the inn... and I'll spare you the rest of the details of the night too!

Hiking Chicago

It felt good to arrive in Chicago, since the last major city we were in was Seattle. Not that we didn't thoroughly enjoy the great outdoors, it was just a nice change of pace to be back in a major city. 

And what a city Chicago is. I haven't spent much time here, and I have to admit I had a few negative preconceptions about the city. Those were quickly dispelled with Kim serving as my tour guide and showing me her favorite spots she used to frequent during her time in graduate school. 

We drove into the city from our motel in Glenview, and found a parking lot where we could leave the car all day for a reasonable price. We walked about a mile and half to get to the beach on Lake Michigan to go to Castaways, a busy cafe overlooking a lake. We shared a delicious lunch, and then took a stroll along the beach and watched the active volleyball scene.

We took a few pictures of the skyline during our walk:

Our next destination was Navy Pier, which was about a 2 mile walk. The pier itself is a mile and half long, and was absolutely packed with people. 

It was mostly a tourist destination, but they had a cool stained glass exhibit that was free:

We also liked this sign we found on the pier, which way are we headed next?

 Next up was a one mile walk to Grant Park were we found this impressive fountain:

And more great views of the city:

Millennium park was nearby, just under a mile, and it was one my favorite experiences in Chicago. The Cloud Gate Sculpture reflected spectacular views of the skyline and the clouds above:

 

 The Crown fountain was a big hit with kids as they got to cool off and play in the water that these faces spit out:

 And of course the Land of Lincoln would not be complete without this:

From there we headed into the heart of city and walked the magnificent mile and ended up at Ed Debevics, where the entire staff was playfully rude. It was a unique experience and our waiter had some fun with us because we shared a meal. 

After walking back to the car, we totaled over 10 miles walking for the entire day. We were exhausted and ready to go to bed, but not before stopping at Oberweiss and having some of the freshest ice cream I have ever tasted.

The next morning we met with some of Kim's friends and had breakfast at Nookies. 

From there we headed to an event called Taste of Lakeview that featured live music from local bands and food from local restaurants. Kim mentioned that one of her favorite aspects of Chicago are the many local low cost or free events like this one.

Wrigley Field was a mile away, so we had to walk there to check it out:

It was time to go back into the City and take Kim's favorite drive on Lake Shore Dr that gave us awesome views of the skyline and the water:

I requested some deep dish pizza while we were in Chicago and Kim took me to the original Lou Malnati's. This was my favorite meal in the city, and that was really saying something. This is a city of great food at reasonable prices. Here I am in deep dish bliss:

The John Hancock Center was nearby so we went to visit. 

We went up to the 96th floor for unparalleled views of the city and it's amazing architecture:

Overall the people were very friendly, the city was clean, and the food was amazing. I came away with a new respect for Chicago, and I owe it all to my wonderful and beautiful tour guide.