weekend update, chicago edition

Well, we struggled to cram all of Stef’s essentials into just one car on Friday evening, and quickly decided that it would be necessary for Tim to drive separately with a second load on Saturday morning.

My original plan was to wake up early and see them off before their 10 a.m. departure. It never occurred to any of us that I might actually be able to go along for the ride until Tim mentioned it at about 45 minutes before he and Stef were scheduled to hit the road on Saturday.

Aside from watching the MSU-Minnesota game that night, I really didn’t have any plans for that day, so I decided to tag along.

The ride with Stefy was pretty uneventful, but I think she was glad to have some company for the drive (minus the 30-40 minutes I snoozed while we were in Indiana). We made it to her new digs a little before 2 p.m. (local time), and managed to take everything up to the apartment in just three trips with the luggage cart.

Tim’s high school buddy, Roger, and his wife Dodie (sp?) came over about an hour later while we were still unpacking with a few housewarming gifts for Stef. Since there were still a few odds and ends that Stef needed from the store, Roger and Tim took off to run some errands while the rest of us stayed and continued unpacking.

Once the boys were back I went with Stef and Dodie up to Walgreens and the local grocery store to pick up a round of food supplies to help stock the empty fridge. All of us were getting hungry by the time we made it back to the apartment, but luckily Stef’s friend Betsy had called and offered to get us a table at the restaurant where she works.

Our dinner was really nice, and I think we all appreciated the time to sit and relax for a while after such a hectic afternoon.

After the meal Roger and Dodie dropped us off, then went home. Tim and I set up some temporary rabbit ears on Stef’s TV since her cable hasn’t been installed yet (mostly so he and I could watch the presidential debates). All of us were pretty beat, so we just sat back and watched the dems go at each other for a couple hours before bedtime.

We all got up and had a relatively light breakfast yesterday morning, then went for a walk to trace the route Stef will have to take to get to her classes. The whole thing takes about 20-25 minutes on foot, so it’s not that bad. I have a feeling cabs will be hailed on rainy afternoons, but it’ll definitely be manageable on warm days like we had yesterday.

Speaking of cabs, we hopped one from DePaul over to Wrigleyville for a bite of lunch after our walk, then walked around the stadium a little bit before heading back to the apartment. It was already about 2 p.m. local time by then, and Tim and I wanted to hit the road.

While I was definitely sad to say goodbye to Stef, it wasn’t as hard as I had expected, knowing that I will get to see her again in two weeks for an extended weekend (more on that in a minute). She definitely has a solid foundation in this new apartment, and it seems like she has a strong support system in Chicago with several friends and relatives nearby to keep an eye on her.

Anyway, my drive back to Michigan with Tim went smoothly, aside from some patchy fog.

Pretty much as soon as I got home I started pricing out Amtrak tickets for my next trip to the Windy City over the MLK holiday weekend. I finally got around to booking my trip tonight, so the whole thing is already set.

This whole long distance thing will definitely be a challenge, but I think as long as I have my next visit in sight it won’t be too tough. Hopefully the train system works as smoothly as I’m imagining, because I have a feeling that will be the easiest/cheapest means of transportation.

That’s it for now — just counting the days until the 17th.