Girls Weekend with Eva Galena, IL - July 2020

Shawna and Eva - Galena IL

While Keith remained in TX for one more weekend to spend time with his family, Shawna did a girls weekend with Eva, a colleague that Shawna works with at Cigna.  We spent the weekend in Galena, IL which is a very cute town half way between our houses and is about a three hour drive from Chicago.  We stayed at The Goldmoor which is a nice inn located about 10 minutes outside of Galena.  Shawna stayed in one of the cabins while Eva was in a room in the main lodge.  Shawna arrived around 6pm on Friday evening and after cleaning up, we went into town and had dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes which was a nice restaurant with a mixed menu - Shawna had a fish dish which was tasty.  After dinner, we went back to the hotel and drank wine on the Adirondack chairs that overlooked the river (turns out that Shawna got bitten pretty badly by bugs - did not notice it at the time but definitely felt it the next day!).  

Goldmoor Inn

On Saturday, we went for a two hour walk along the river and then cleaned up at the hotel.  We had an early lunch at Victory Cafe and then walked around town after which we relaxed at the hotel.  In the afternoon, we went wine tasting at Fergedaboudit where we sat outside and listened to music - the wine was better than we expected. We then went to see the outside sculptures at West Street Sculpture Park and had some laughs at not only the junk turned into sculptures but also the descriptions that went along with each! That evening, we had an early dinner at Vinny Vanucchis which had yummy Italian. We then went back to the hotel for the rest of the evening where we drank the rest of the wine (three bottles - yikes) and played a question game that Eva brought - due to our long winded answers (and side stories), we only made it through six questions!

West Street Sculpture Park

Not surprisingly, due to our wine drinking the night before, we moved a bit slowly on Sunday.  In the morning, we did a one hour walk with goats with HoofIt - it was fun and the walking was definitely the right pace for a hangover! We went back to the hotel to clean up and pack and then went into town and had much needed burgers for lunch at Paradise Bar & Grill.  After lunch, we parted ways and drove back to our respective homes.  It was a great weekend - so much fun talking, laughing and exploring a new part of IL!

Goat Walk

LA and TX Road Trip - July 2020

Before we took off to drive to Louisiana

We took the week of July 4th off and drove to LA and TX to see our families.  We were supposed to be in the Azores but Covid messed up those plans.  So we found the closest next best thing!!

We rented a one way rental and left early on Sat morning to make the drive down to Louisiana.  We packed the car with our luggage, food and 9 large bags of clothes that we donated to the women's shelter at which Jean volunteers.  The drive took 14 hours with stops (we only stopped for gas and bathroom breaks) and surprisingly, it went by faster than we had expected. We listened to music and some podcasts (Shawna's first time listening to podcasts) and called a few friends to pass the time.  We packed all of our food and drinks to limit the stops so we had lunch and dinner in parking lots - eating salad and hummus with veggies.  We arrived at Shawna's mom's house around 8pm - we chatted with her mom, ate a piece of cake that she made for us and then went to bed.

At Shawna's Mom's House

Honny (Shawna's Mom)

We spent Sunday to Wednesday at Shawna's mom's house. Because of Covid, we didn't go out and do very much.  Keith worked and Shawna cooked and hung out with her mom.  Since we were still on our diet, we worked out each morning and we continued to eat healthy food, with the exception of the cake that we had each day!  On the last morning, Shawna was not feeling well and was concerned it might be Covid so she spent four hours waiting to be seen at the urgent care but thankfully it was just a sinus infection.

On Wednesday afternoon, we drove to Texas and arrived around 9pm at Keith's parent's house.  We had a glass of wine with them and then went to bed.  We spent the rest of the week there until Sunday morning.  On Thursday, Shawna made lamb with couscous and salad along with an almond cake to celebrate Jean's birthday - Keith's siblings and Lily joined us for dinner.  Earlier that day, we had lunch with one of Keith's employees and his wife and their kids.  

On Friday, we had planned to go to the lake but decided against it since Frank was going to be there and we didn't want to risk getting him sick so instead we rented a pool in someone's backyard which turned out to be great.  Margaret and Graham joined along with Owen, Josie and Lily.  When we arrived, we had lunch of cheese and meats with bread and fruit.  The kids played in the pool and then Margaret and Keith challenged them to a round of volleyball.  For dinner, Graham grilled some yummy burgers and after we ate, we packed up and went back to Jean and Dick's house.  

Dodds Clan

On Saturday, we went to see Peter, Jenn, Jordan, Michael and Peter's parents at Peter's house.  We had lunch with them (brisket with salads) and then hung out in the pool for a while.  That evening, we ordered in Indian food and Graham joined us.  

On Sunday, we left after breakfast and drove down to Austin as Keith needed to go see some properties down there.  We had brunch with Jeff and Nina and their kids at their house - they made quiche and breakfast potatoes which were tasty.  Before we left, Keith participated in a pie eating contest with them which was quite funny and disgusting at the same time!  That evening, we had dinner with Nancy, Hall, Tracy and Dave - we sat outside at a restaurant near their house.  It was great to be able to catch up with friends.

Otchis Family

Tracy, Dave, Nancy and Hall

On Monday, Shawna worked from the hotel (we stayed at the Westin in downtown Austin) and then flew home (first flight after Covid had started) while Keith stayed in TX for the rest of the week visiting properties in Austin, San Antonio and Dallas.  He was able to spend the following weekend with his parents and then he flew home on Sunday.  On the Friday, we met up with Peter and Khris (buddy from high school) for drinks and dinner.  And on Saturday, he caught up with Rebecca with a walk around White Rock Lake and then that evening he had dinner again with his parents and siblings - Graham made dinner for the family.

Keith and Rebecca

Keith, Peter and Khris