Tour de Natchez Trace

Thanks to my Mom and Dad we are now cyclists (well not really), but we are enjoying our new bikes!! My parents took up biking about two years ago and have really enjoyed it. N.E. Alabama has a great trail that runs north of Anniston all the way to the GA line called The Chief Ladiga Trail. They ride it as much as they can and have been encouraging us to take up the hobby. My dad gave Jason his old bike (it has been used maybe twice??) when we moved over here, but I still had not broken down and got one. My parents came over last week and suprised me with a new bike!! So now there are NO excuses!!

We started off last week by riding around Kosciusko and it was a lot tougher than I thought. We maybe rode 7 miles at the most. The Natchez Trace is a two lane road that runs from Natchez, MS all the way to Nashville. (speed limit is only 5o) The trace runs right through Kosciusko and is also a designataed "Biker's Route". Of couse Jason was ready to ride the trace last week, but I told him I wasn't riding until we bought helmets. Today we bought helmets and we're ready to conquer the Trace (haha).

Jason probably could have gone all the way to Natchez with his energy and stamina. He is in much better shape than me. I'm afraid I'm holding him back a bit. We started off with riding 5.2 miles down the trace and 5.2 back....then add about 2 miles back to our neighborhood. So we rode a little over 12 miles total. It isn't much, but a start!! We are looking forward to building up our rides each week and hope to make it to Jackson one day....we will see about that. Here are some pics below to prove that we rode and are being safe w/ our helmets.

The trace is full of wild life. I'm actually a little fearful I'll be attacked by a bobcat. Right after this picture was taken Jason saw about 10-12 wild boars. We see them often driving from Kosy to Jackson. Fortunately, they ran into the woods when they heard us.
The point of our turn around on the trace.

This picture cracks me up of Jason. He takes biking very seriously!!


Ready to go!! I'm all about safety with my rear view mirror attached and helmet. I even wore lime green in hopes drivers would see me.

Bunko Fun!!

Kayla, Whitney and me after Bunko...they
are some of the first girls I met when I moved
here. They are great friends :)

One thing I have learned since moving to Kosciusko is that these ladies really know how to host a fun Bunko party!! I was lucky enough to be invited as an "official" member of a Bunko group since I've moved to town. One of the first girls I met in Koscisuko, Kim Wiggers, ad invited me back in February to play as a "sub". I'm so thankful she did b/c I met some of the sweetest girls that night. They have all been so great and I've enjoyed the beginnings of our friendship the past few months. Unfortunatley Kim is moving back to Jackson, MS, so I have taken her spot in Bunko. I really owe Kim a lot for introducing me to everyone and her Bunko group :)

Bunko this month was at Rachel's house. She was a great host and everything was perfect. Her husband grilled some yummy tuna steaks!! They went all out and fun was had by everyone. The best part of Bunko is that it takes NO skill or strategy. It is just pure luck...unfortunately I was unlucky this time, but had a great time hanging out with everyone. Thanks Rachel and Chip for opening up your home and showing everyone a great time!! (Rachel and Chip have been great friends to us....they always go out of there way to invite us to events, parties, etc. Everyone's hospitality means more to me than they will ever know).

Our 2nd Trip to the 2nd City--2nd Day

2nd day in Chicago- Happy 4th of July!!

Our second day in Chicago was spent primarily in Wrigleyville watching the Cubs. Although they got killed by the Reds we had a great time. After the game we headed to Lou Malnatti's for some of the best pizza EVER! We had not eaten since 10:30 that morning and were starving. We then headed to Navy Pier to watch the fireworks. Unfortunately we were a block from Navy Pier when they announced they were not letting anyone else in the park. We spent the rest of evening roaming around the Chicago River trying to find the best view of the fireworks. We managed to see a few of them, but I failed to get any good pictures.

On Monday we caught the latest direct flight to Memphis and were able to enjoy a little shopping. We found some great deals at Filene's Basement. As most of you know, I love Macy's and ever since I left Birmingham I have missed it greatly!! Some people go to Bloomingdale's or Nordstrom's, but I choose Macy's. It was so great to be in her presence again ----all six floors of her (haha). We finished off the day like true Chicago tourists and stopped by Garrett's to grab a bag of their world famous popcorn (we choose The Chicago Mix--1/2 cheese, 1/2 caramel). Good time were had by all and we are looking forward to our next visit to The Windy City :)

Voted # 2 in Chicago for best pizza. Couldn't find # 1, but can't imagine it being much better.

View from our seats, luckily we were under the terrace. It wasn't any cooler in Chicago.

We went to The Cubby Bear before the game to try their famous Garlic Fries. Not great for your breath, but were very tasty.

I think Jason is ready to move here :)

Our 2nd Trip to the 2nd City

Some think Chicago is called the 2nd city b/c it is 2nd only to NYC. However, my husband, who is full of infinite knowledge (haha) informed me of the real reason. They call Chicago the 2nd city because the city was virtually rebuilt after The Great Fire. We decided to cash in some Delta sky miles and celebrate the 4th of July in Chicago. 2010 has been a very busy year for us, and this was a much needed vacation (although there was little rest). We arrived in Chicago Friday night and checked in our hotel, The Palmer House. I would highly recommend this hotel. It is a part of the Hilton family of hotels and was very convenient to everything. Since we have been to Chicago before, we threw in some new things to do but also enjoyed our favorite things as well. We were able to squeeze a lot in to a weekend trip and hated to see it end.

Here are some pictures of the highlights of our trip.

Day 1:

The beautiful lobby of The Palmer House. The ceiling was hand painted. The hotel

was given by Potter Palmer as a wedding present to his wife, and was the first American

building to have electricity, phone service, and an elevator.

I love the ornate Peacock Door.


Chicago is so beautiful at night.

If you want a fabulous steak, we would recommend this restaurant. Our neighbor recommended it to us, and we were very glad we took his advice!

On our way to stuff our faces. We had plans to stop by Flatwater (behind us)

after dinner to take in the scenery of the Chicago River, but we were

much too full from dinner.

Steve Miller Band performing at Taste of Chicago.

Everyone loves this!
Not sure what it is, but you can find it at Millenium Park.

Enjoying Taste of Chicago with Buckingham Fountain in the background.

It was very hot and crowded, but the food was well worth it!
Can you tell we like to eat??

The biggest hit of our trip was our visit to The Lincoln Park Zoo. Neither of us

our big "zoo people", but I had heard many positive comments about the zoo.

We were not disappoined. The zoo was beautiful, clean, and best of all FREE!

This Sun Bear best represented how we felt after our long day in the sun.