What's happening in my world…
Karen and I were chatting today about going to tonight’s Huntsville Stars ballgame. Karen went to setup some tickets for us and learned the game was already in progress, because it was a day game.
Well, Karen was off and running to get Katie Beth packed up and loaded into the car with provisions.
Allison Tofflemire was already at the game. So, Karen and Katie Beth had someone to join for all the fun.
Karen said they had a great time and the Huntsville Stars won, too.
My wife (Karen Allen) and I took Katie Beth to see the ducks at Big Springs Park in downtown Huntsville, Alabama. She loved it to say the least.
Katherine even went so far as to step into the water with her shoes. Mind you, she doesn't walk so this was more of a stumble into the water. After her shoes got wet, we removed them and let her put her feet into the water. She didn't mind the cold at all. She kicked and splashed the water while laughing. Karen took lots of pictures so you should see some online soon.
Katherine enjoyed the ducks and fish. I wasn't sure what to expect for her reaction to the ducks. Every time I threw bread to the ducks she crawled after it and tried to put it in her mouth. She was even trying to get it out of the water. I think she liked the fish dibbling on her fingers in the water. Her excitement kept the ducks at safe distance that is safe for the ducks.
Karen, Katherine, and I headed over to Joe Davis Stadium to watch the Huntsville Stars play the Mississippi Braves in a double header.
It has cold with the temperatures in the mid-50’s. It has better than opening day, which was cold and windy. But, we were bundled up and stayed warm.
We enjoyed the game and picked up a book of “Pick-A-Day” tickets, which I think saves us a little money on future games. Oh, I almost forgot. We got free koozies at the game. Weee!
Tomorrows games looks to be better because the temperature is going to be around 76° F.
Well, the whole family is heading out to catch the opening game of the Huntsville Stars versus the Mississippi Braves. We need to get there early, because I believe they may be giving out T-shirts at the gate. Buffalo Rock & WTAK 106.1 FM are sponsoring the 2008 Schedule T-Shirt Giveaway.
Our baby girl, Katherine Elizabeth otherwise known as Katie Beth, went to games last year, but this year will be different. She is more active so we are not sure how long she will last before getting bored.
But, we hope to see the whole gang including Allison & Steve Tofflemire, Dave Gallaher, Anna Blair, and everyone else.
After our visit to Chicago, we settled into the Sleeper Car Lounge in Union Station to wait for our train. We have never had access to the lounge in a station. Most stations don't have Sleeper Car Lounges. The lounge provides you with a nice place to wait and free access to food and drinks.
After we boarded the train, we settled in our room and made plans for dinner.
We took Katherine to the Observation Car were she enjoyed watching the world go by the train. She has now been on both sides of the Mississippi River.
Everyone has enjoyed Katherine. She smiles and laughs with almost everyone we meet on the train.
In the morning, we had a quick breakfast and packed up the items in our room.
Hertz picked us up at Union Station in Denver and we were on our way to Colorado Springs.
Karen and Katherine enjoyed the heated pool at the Antlers Hilton. I have even been swimming after work with them.
Tuesday:
Karen and Katherine enjoyed the heated pool at the Antlers Hilton.
We went to the Blue Star restaurant the night the we arrived. Karen had the blueberry salmon, which she loved. Katherine smiled at the hostess and waitress before falling a sleep at the tables. I had the pork shank; I looked like Henry the VIII. I had Bristol Brewing Company's Pumpkin Ale, which I enjoyed.
Wednesday:
During the day, Karen and Katherine went shopping around downtown. She may have over done it, because her leg was hurting that night. There is a independent hobby and game shop. they have lots of models and adult games like Settlers of Canton and Ticket to Ride (www.gamesandhobbies.com) as well as other neat games and such. Like bow and arrow sets with suction cups. They looked like something from the 1950's.
We had pizza at Il Vicino. Karen had one of their homemade root beers while I had the real beer.
Thursday:
John and Kelly Smith invited us to join them at Jack Quinn's Irish Pub for dinner. I work with John. John wanted to take Kelly to hear the great Irish folk music. John and I both had the Irish Breakfast, which is great. Karen had the Fish and Chip. I believe Kelly had the Cottage Pie. John told us ghost stories.
Friday:
I wrapped up my work today. I still have a few things to handle when I arrive back in Huntsville, but everything will come to a good end.
We had thought the Christmas Parade of Light was tonight, but it is tomorrow so we went to the Phantom Canyon for dinner. Katherine wanted attention and the restaurant was full of stimulus. Karen and I had to take turns with Katherine so that we could each eat.
Saturday:
We went to the Book Sleuth Store, which is were Karen loves to purchase used mystery books. The owner of the store gives Karen all sorts of ideas on new authors to try. He remembers books and authors and eccentricities such as pseudonyms authors use. We are bringing home a bag full of books including the latest Dick Francis in paperback., “Under Orders”.
The Christmas Parade of Lights is tonight so we decided to head back to Il Vicino for pizza, because the parade goes right in front. The parade is at night
Sunday:
We went driving to find snow to show Katherine. We ended driving up Pikes Peak and found snow around the 10 mile marker. We got some cute pictures of Katherine in the snow.
We decided to eat pizza again tonight, because we had a card for a free pizza so we decided three night wouldn't be that bad. And, we love pizza.
We arrived in Chicago and made our way to the ticket counter so that we could pay the remainder of our ticket. We learned that Amtrak has a Sleeper Car Club Lounge. So, I dropped off Karen, Katherine, and our luggage in the lounge while I settled our tickets.
I spent so much time with the ticket agent, that Karen called to check on me twice. I finally settled our tickets. It looked like the agent kept redoing the paperwork. I am going to have to check my credit card bill to see what was going on behind that counter.
After settling up, we headed out into Chicago to see the Sears Tower. Well, the Sears Tower is tall. But, the viewing area was closed, because of the overcast sky and no visibility.
We headed over to the Federal Reserve Bank's Money Museum. On the way, we walked by the Chicago Board of Trade, which is where commodities are traded like corn, wheat, etc. At the Federal Reserve Bank, we got our picture taken with a million dollars in $100 bills and we took Katherine's picture over a bunch of coins.
As we headed back to Union Station, we stopped for lunch at the Corner Bakery in the Sears Tower.
My aunts, Becky and Joy, sent us off from the Newbern train station. They were so nice to ride us to the train station. They stood on the train car’s platform waved as the trained pulled out of the station. It was so “black and white movie”. The picture is Katherine sleeping on Aunt Becky’s floor prior to us heading to the Newbern train station.
The train left the station almost as soon as it arrived. We had not gotten into our room before the train had pulled out of the station.
As we put our bags away, we could see that the pullman porter had already turned down our bed.
Katherine Elizabeth slept through most of the night in her car seat on the floor of the room.
The pullmen porter brought our breakfast to the room so we could get ready to disembark in Chicago.
As we neared Chicago, we could see the Sears Tower disappearing into the clouds. Wow! It sure is a tall building.
We arrived at Union Station, which is a famous land mark in Chicago.
Karen, Katherine, and I headed to Colorado Springs, because of my job. We decided to take the train with Katherine being so young. Also, train rides are a lot of fun.
We started out by driving to Dyersburg, Tennessee, which is where my aunts live and it happens to be an Amtrak depot.
We caught the train around midnight with Katherine sleeping through most of it. It was delightful waving to my aunts on the platform as the train pulled out of the station.
With Katherine sleeping, the first leg of the trip went quickly. We have never had her sleep for a long period of time in her car seat, but it didn’t cause any problems. Karen’s back didn’t have more problem than at home while sleeping.
We had breakfast in our room as we arrived in Chicago. It was enjoyable seating in our room during breakfast. We got to see the Sears Tower on the skyline as the city came into sight.
When we arrived in Chicago we finalized our tickets with Amtrak, we dropped our luggage in the Sleeper Car Lounge, and we headed out to see the sights.
We brought our GPS and turned it on to see what attractions were nearby Union Station. We decided to go see the Sears Tower, which was just couple blocks away. It ended up being closed due to the lack of visibility, but we later had lunch in the Corner Bakery on the first floor. We walk over to the Federal Reserve Building and on the way we passed the Chicago Board of Trade. At the Federal Reserve, we got to see a millions in three different piles including ones, twenties, and hundreds. The ones made up a 4 by 4 cube; while, the hundreds filled just a brief case.
After lunch, we returned to the station and waited for our train. The train ride to Denver was nice, too. We had dinner in the dining car with Katherine. She gets all of the attention. In the observation car, Katherine enjoyed the world going by at 80 miles an hour.
The ride from Denver to Colorado Springs was good, because it reminded us of the outlet stores for our return trip to Denver.
While in Colorado Springs, we had fun in the hotel pool, shopped for used mystery books, and Katherine saw snow for the first time. We enjoyed some good food and even the Colorado Springs Christmas parade.
But, the trip did have some problems. We all got colds. Bummer!
We enjoyed our return trip home, which included more snow in Chicago. My aunts were so nice for helping us with getting to and from the Newbern train station.
We hope to make the trip again, but Karen’s back is our top priority now.
The whole family is hopping on the train to Colorado.
I have to work in Colorado Springs for the week.
We are heading to Dyersburg, because my Aunt Becky and Aunt Joy (my dad's sisters) live in Dyersburg. Otherwise, we would get on the train in Memphis. The distance is about the same, but the arrival and departure times would be better in Memphis. But, we enjoy our time with my aunts.
Our Amtrak train ride will take us from Dyersburg to Chicago and then onto Denver.