A Day in Crystal Lake, IL

 

After breakfast we decided to go to walk the Lake Loop Rd at the Three Oaks Recreation Area. It is a reclaimed old quarry which has been converted to a very nice recreation park.  We had thought to walk around the lake but it was already in the upper 80s and very humid.  So we just did a short walk.

Redwing black bird

We did a few errands along the way.  We went back to Trudy's to cool off before we headed out again. 

This time we went to lunch at the local co-op grocery store that Trudy and Dale helped to get started. We split a sandwich and I had some curry potato soup. Trudy had the seafood chowder.  After grocery shopping we headed home.

Our next trip out was to Trudy's church.  They have a small art display of textile and paper artists on the theme of "Make a Way", on the concerns about the suppression of the right to vote and how important voting is.

Cool stained glass at the First Congregational Church of Crystal lake.

They have a refrigerator out front of the church.  People of the church can donate food to it and anyone in need can come take food.  

In front of the church

Back home again, before we went out to the Crystal Lake Nature Center.  JuellaMae is going to be staying with Trudy for a few days and Trudy was checking this place out to see if it would be a good place to bring JuellaMae.  

Very active cute little turtles.

We went into the butterfly room. It is a new addition to the Nature Center.  I only saw one live butterfly. I think that JuellaMae will like this place.  Lots of fun activities and informative.  

At home Trudy cut up a watermelon as we thought of ways to use it for dinner.  She had some leftover pork loin and the watermelon.  We went out to the close grocery store to pick up feta, mint, avocado for the salad and grinder rolls for shredded BBQ pork sandwiches.  What a feast.  It was a very nice dinner.

We decided to check out the concert in the park. We took our chairs.

We were in the shade and there was a breeze.  It was almost pleasant.

We went over to stick our feet in the water. This was a different lake than the Three Oaks Lake.  Both were very popular places.

One last trip out was to go to the gas station.  Trudy is going to drive me to the airport tomorrow!! What a gift.  It is about 1 and a half hour drive to the Midway Airport.

We ended the evening watching some of the news, with our popcorn and beer.  What a full day.

Portland to Chicago

 Nathan, George, and I scheduled to join the Singers for our annual family reunion in Ohio Wednesday to Sunday. I decided to tack on a lay-over in Chicago so that I could visit Trudy before the reunion.  

I was up at 3 am so that I could shower and have my morning cup of coffee. At 3:30 am I scheduled a Lyft ride to get me to the airport.  Lyft was at my place in 15 minutes.  I was at the airport by 4:15 am.  Plenty of time before my 6 am flight, especially since I was doing carry-on, I had my boarding pass, and I had TSA Pre✓. I basically walked right through security.  I had time to have some breakfast while I waited.  

Portland artwork.

The flight left about 10 minutes late.

Some Chicago airport art.

Once I got to Chicago I had to find where the CTA platform was so that I could catch the orange line to downtown Chicago.  I must say that the signage was not terribly good, but people were very friendly and helpful with getting me where I needed to go.

A very old mural.

I took the Orange Line to the Roosevelt stop. (21 minutes) My tap to pay worked just fine.  I did not need to load my Ventra card.

I transfered to the Red Line  I had to wait about 15 minutes for the next train. It was 92 degrees and humid. Ugh.

I was on the Red Line for 42 minutes.  I got off at Howard.  It was the end of the line.  Then I waited for the Purple Line.

I was on the Purple Line for only 3 minutes. I got off at the Main St stop and Trudy was there waiting for me, IN THE HEAT!!  So I did not have to find my way.  We had decided that I should head to her daughter, Jessica's place.  It was less time on the train and this way I could also see Jessica and meet JuellaMae (Trudy's granddaughter) . Trudy had driven to Jess' place.

We walked to the preschool to pick up JuellaMae and then walked on to Jess' home.

JuellaMae

Jessica made Trudy a lunch.  I had eaten my lunch on the plane just before landing. We watched JuellaMae while Jessica left to go pick up Micah who is 9.  Micah's mom is also a single mom and they help each other out.

Trudy and JuellaMae

Jessica and JuellaMae

JuellaMae and her tiara

The neighbor's cat.  I accidentally hit the pulse mode and took 44 pictures of this cat!! Luckily, they were easy to delete.

We put together a puzzle and then Trudy and I left.

We stopped at the Baha'i temple to take a little tour.  Amazing place!!

We watched a video about the building of this temple.  

A close-up of the decoration, cement mixed with crushed granite.

The Baháʼí Faith is a 19th-century monotheistic religion founded in Iran by Baháʼu'lláh. It teaches the essential worth of all religions, advocating for the unity of humanity, the elimination of prejudice, and the harmony of science and religion.  A lot of the messages were very relevant for today.

This prayer was written in 1912 but it is needed today.

Currently, there are 8 temples around the world.

Sharon, Debbie, Jeanne, and I almost visited the one in Delhi, India (top left) a few years ago.  But we were fogged out that day. 

This is a great place for wedding photos.

On our drive we passed this building with gorgeous murals on all sides.  We went by too quickly to take a picture so I had to look it up once I got to Trudy's.  The Northbrook building is a commercial building on Lake Cook Rd. 

We got to Trudy's around 6;30 pm.  We had dinner and relaxed.  We did a short walk around the neighborhood pond.

Trudy's place is the right half.

Still too hot to be outside long.