The Clam Rampant

Kasia September 22nd, 2008

As my post last night apprised you, we made it home safely. Deo gratias!

En route, we stopped at my dad’s house to drop off the GPS unit he’d lent us for the trip. (That thing was an absolute lifesaver. Canuck and I were so enamored of it that we’re going to register for one, just as soon as he can do the research on which one we want.) More on the stop at my dad’s later. It’s too much to tangle with right now.

For a little review of the weekend…

Thursday was reasonably uneventful. After being off half of Tuesday and all of Wednesday with a bad cold, I knew I had to go in for at least half of Thursday, if for no other reason than to convince myself that I wasn’t a Dreadful Employee for daring to get sick the same week I’d planned to take two days off for an out-of-town wedding. So I went in for the morning, picked up the Canuck from his noon train, and came back to work until 1:30. Then we booked over to my house so I could finish packing, went and got some dinner, and I dropped him off at Starbucks to wait out my two back-to-back ENDOW classes (Mulieris Dignitatem and Edith Stein). He got bored about halfway through and decided to walk up to the church, which he thought was less than a mile away. It isn’t…but he survived the walk in good cheer. 

Then we headed for Kalamazoo. All things considered, that leg of the drive was pretty uneventful, though because of construction it did take us a little longer than we’d planned to complete it. Got to Red Roof K’zoo a little before midnight (probably about 11:45), got checked in and settled, and tried to sleep; then took off the next morning for Chicagoland.

First, I would like to say that if the north stretches along 94 and 80/90 are any indication, Indiana is up there with Jersey for the rudest drivers in the country. I didn’t remember that from my previous trips to Chicago, but then again, I’ve only been the driver along that stretch a few times. I don’t remember anywhere near this level of rudeness when I went to Valparaiso to visit my friend at law school there, but that chunk of road had some seriously obnoxious jerks. So Indiana: you’re on notice!

Then we took 294 up to go get checked in at the hotel, but since it was still quite early (not even noon Central time), we decided to stop off at Marytown in Libertyville and visit the national shrine of St. Maximilian Kolbe. All I can say is: gorgeous church, but you can tell that the Franciscans’ charism isn’t hospitality. (Ahem.)

Off to McHenry after that to check in…and I had the silly thought of trying to take a nap. You know, since I’d been in and out of tears all day?

I had only been laying down for a few minutes when the drilling started.

So OK – no nap. Instead, we went across the parking lot to Dunnhill’s to get a late lunch and some peace and quiet.

Wow – already almost time to get to the church for the rehearsal! So off we toddled to Grayslake. Apart from the rehearsal being conducted on what I will call “Southern European Standard Time” (the groom in particular is not noted for his punctuality, and his trip was compounded by the fact that he accidentally backed into his future sister-in-law’s car on the way out), it was pretty uneventful…though by the end I was fully prepared to respond to the priest’s perpetual confusion about my status as a “groomsmaid” by saying “Yes, Father, the affront to Mulieris Dignitatem.”

Rehearsal dinner was in Mundelein, then back again to McHenry to try to sleep (and my post of Friday night). By Saturday morning, I was a wreck. Then my beloved called the hotel in Glenview (our Saturday hotel) one more time to see about an early check-in…

HALLELUJAH!!!

Oh, mercy! You do not even know how relieved I was to hear that we could check in at noon!

Off then to Buffalo Grove for my hair appointment, then lunch at IHOP, and moving along to Glenview to check in…back up to Grayslake for the wedding (with only a short detour to get change for the unexpected toll road), and out to Spring Grove for the reception.

Kit, we passed through Palatine several times, and it’s funny you mentioned it – we had just decided it must be the center of the Chicagoland universe, because last time we visited Chicago we stayed in Palatine, and this time we drove through it about half a dozen times…we’re pretty much figuring that if we ever move to Chicago we will end up living in Palatine, just because it seems to be the hub of the suburban universe there.  :-p

I cannot tell you how good it felt to go to bed Saturday night.

We changed our Sunday plans about a dozen times all told, but finally decided to drive home and go to an evening Mass on our side of town. Then the stop at my dad’s happened…and then I was really tired…so yeah. First time since I entered the Church that I’ve completely missed Sunday Mass. Come to think of it, only the second time since I started RCIA…

Post on my visit with my dad to come shortly…lunch is over and I need to earn my keep. And commentary on the actual wedding, and how I feel about one of my dearest friends being married, will come thereafter.

• Autobiographical ramblings , Chicago , My Beloved , Stuff I do , Travel
• Comments(5)

Kasia February 1st, 2008

My mother moved to Las Cruces last spring. We’re still recovering. I still need to tell the story of the Poppytrail…but that can wait.

Anyway, she’s wanted us (TBS, The Canuck, and yours truly) to come visit since…well, pretty much since before she even left. I haven’t had the money for a plane ticket, so it hadn’t happened yet. Well, yesterday she e-mailed to tell us she’d found some great fares on Travelocity from Detroit to El Paso (which is apparently the most convenient airport for visiting Las Cruces), and would we please check and see if we could take advantage of any of them? She even offered to reimburse the airfare. So, in the spirit of honoring one’s mother, and with the additional benefit of an inexpensive vacation – ok, yes, I’ll be glad to see her, I admit it – The Canuck and I are booked to visit Las Cruces in April.

However, our trip runs over a Sunday. Has anyone visited Catholic churches in Las Cruces? I checked out masstimes.org and found there are quite a lot, but I’d prefer a recommendation if possible. Oh – and neither The Canuck nor I speaks Spanish, so an English Mass is preferable.

Also, if anyone has must-see recommendations for while we’re there, I’d certainly be appreciative. I’ve already asked my mother to think about the best way for us to visit Mexico while we’re there, since Las Cruces is so close to the border, so she’s percolating on that. Does anyone else have any suggestions, for either side of the border?

I will say that this was my worst experience trying to use Travelocity ever. I’ve used Expedia with a fair bit of success, and I think I’ve used Travelocity too, but for some reason I could not get it to change the number of adults when I clicked on the “book now” from the e-mail alert, and I couldn’t find the same fares when I searched for two adults traveling Detroit to El Paso. Then, when I called their customer service number, I had the singular delight of speaking to a well-intentioned but not particularly proficient non-native English speaker who began every sentence with “See, ma’am…” He tried – he really did – but when I finally managed to get through to him with what my concern was, his response was to tell me to call the airline directly and consider Travelocity for my future travel needs. Not exactly stellar customer service…but then, it may have been the only thing I could do – I don’t know whether he had the ability to help me (communication aside). As it was, I found the same flight seventeen dollars cheaper on the airline’s web site, so all’s well that

• Family , Travel , Vacation
• Comments(6)