Weekend Road Trip: Part 1

Last weekend was ROAD TRIP TIME!!!

I left work promptly at five on Friday to go visit my friend Jenna, who lives near Chicago. Seven hours later, I arrived.

Don't ask.

Part of it is that I take the long way there because I don't do Chicago traffic. Part of it is that I have mad skills in getting lost. And this was how I felt about it: Cal, my GPS, took 237 miles (exactly) to figure out what I was trying to do. He was okay with me for the last 95 or so. Seriously, Cal?

Oh! And when I exited near her house, I had to swing through a non-attended toll booth. I had my exact change ready, but I failed to pull up close enough to the little cone thing that looked like it had been ripped from a dog's neck. So there I was, at 11 pm, chucking change at a cone - with my non-dominant hand, no less. It was comical.

Needless to say, by the time I arrived at her house, I mostly wanted to SLEEP. And I did. In a fa-a-a-bulous bed.

Saturday morning, I got up and started baking cakes for Jenna's birthday party. (Because everyone knows no girl should have to make her own birthday cake.) I was PUMPED because she owns a fancy pants Kitchen Aid mixer. I was in culinary heaven. (And my jammies. Sorry.)
I baked the cake, and Jenna's husband decorated it. He did a great job. I was impressed. It was better than I would have done!
Doesn't that look good? (It was. Trust me.)
Excuse my brillo pad hair. Humidity, you know. Anyway. Jenna and I loved the birthday food. Chili, chips and salsa, fresh fruit, and of course - the cake. Happy birthday, dear Jenna! (I elected to take pictures rather than sing.) After the eating portion of the party, Jenna's brother-in-law (he's the one with the baby strapped on) decided it was time for a good game of Bocce. I'd never played it before, but somehow found myself agreeing to try. (Wha????) So Jenna's husband, Frog, and I were a team, and then Neil and his wife, Emily,were a team. I apologized to Frog up front that he got stuck with such a loser. (Hello! Did you NOT read the game night blog post? I never made it out of the negatives in Dutch Blitz?) Remember this picture from the weekly recap? Yeah that's Neil with some pent-up aggression toward the rookie!! Turns out it was warranted. Frog and I won. Because of this winning shot...thrown by yours truly. Oh yeah baby. After that, it was ON. Neil handed the baby over to his wife, who then had to bow out of the game. Neil SAID he was going to take me as a teammate until he found out Frog's friend Will was going to play. He snatched Will up as a teammate, and I again apologized to Frog. And I played hard. I had to represent for the girls, you know!
I wasn't kidding about it being hard core playing. Turns out Neil shouldn't have been so quick to give me up as a teammate. Frog and I won the second round, too. Just sayin'. And the third round...but who's counting?

After losing three times in a row, he suddenly didn't find the game quite as appealing anymore, so we were done. That freed me up to play with the lovely Miss Adelaide:

And that's the road trip...part one.