I think I must have set some sort of record for most hours spent in traffic over three successive days! Last Wednesday, a colleague and I flew in to LaGuardia airport in New York airport and endured the infamous New York City traffic jams which took us about two and a half hours to travel 26 miles to the hotel!! On Thursday afternoon, we left our client at 3:30pm, and suffered the same fate.... arriving back at the airport just before 6pm! Good thing our flight was scheduled for 7pm! Unfortunately, the inconveniences didn't end there, as our connection from Philadelphia to Cleveland was delayed by an hour and a half, and instead of arriving at 11pm, our plane landed in Cleveland at midnight. By the time I got home, it was after 12:30am and I knew I had to wake up again in a few hours to embark on our drive up to Green Bay!
So on Friday morning we left at 7:45am and headed westwards toward Chicago, and then north to our destination. After about 6 hours of driving, we finally saw the skyline of Chicago, which got me all excited! Unbeknown to me, we would be getting plenty of close up views of Chicago's skyscrapers when we got stuck in their painful traffic jam which lasted a minimum of 90 minutes, of stop start driving on their highways :(
To make a long story short, it took us eleven and a half long hours until we pulled up in the Edgar's driveway! It was wonderful having the family come out and greet us! Nathan bonded instantly with the Edgar children, and I think that some lifelong bonds have been formed between him, JP, Liam and Clair! Together they had some great adventures and made many memories together. On Saturday, the McCarthy's spent the morning with the Edgar's at Heritage Hill, a State Park filled with history from Belgian settlers. Later that evening, after dinner, some of us went to go and kick a rugby ball (something I haven't done since High School days) at the local high school! This was a great way to work off the calories from the delicious meals that we were given! Once we returned to their home, Liesel's other aunt's family were picked up at the airport and the reunion was sweet! The house was filled with 15 relatives, each enjoying the company of the others!
On Sunday, we first headed to the Edgar's church, which was enjoyable. Then it was home for lunch, and later, off to Lake Michigan! The Edgars have a 3-person kayak, which we took out on to the beautiful blue lake. Nathan, myself and Uncle Terence went for a paddle down the coast line and back, and this was the highlight of my (and Nath's) weekend! The rest of our time at the lake was spent in the water, throwing a frisbee, or hitting a volleyball! Even Nathan got to try out some of his newly acquired swimming skills! Unfortunately all good things had to come to an end, and we had to return for dinner and our last night in Green Bay. Nathan was very emotional as we bade farewell on Monday morning, and started our long drive home. On the upside, I avoided Chicago completely, and the traffic flowed well for the majority of the trip! That, combined with Nathan's improved bladder control, cut our trip down by one and three quarter hours, arriving back home after only 9 hours and 45 minutes!!
Photos will be posted shortly!!!!
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