June | 2014 | Livin' Hard

My parents, Bade and I went back to Capital Reef National Park to rappel through Cassidy Arch. One LARGE caution for anyone planning to do this hike, DO NOT do this hike at this time of year. We hit right when a new hatch of gnats came out and they nearly drove us insane. I have never experienced bugs this bad. They were biting us while we were moving/hiking, even through multiple layers of Off! spray and Deet. When we finished this hike, I had over 30 bites just on my face.

Other than the mental battle of dealing with bug bites that you can do nothing about, the hike was really fun. There are around 10 rappels. The first two rappels are both 140 feet with the rest varying between 20 feet and 80 feet. Many of the shorter rappels have awkward and tight approaches. The temperature outside was in the high 80’s low 90’s, but being in the slot, the temperature was perfect. The entire hike takes between 3-4 hours (for 4 people). We took around 5 hours, but we had to wait for over an hour for a group of 13 semi-newbies who had started the first rappel just as we got there.

This last weekend Bade was sent to Chicago to receive a Stevie award for his company. His work was kind enough to send me with him so that we could make a mini vacation out of it. We stayed from Thursday to Sunday.

If you are a night-out-er, and enjoy things such as clubs, drinking, plays, musicals, dancing, or symphonies, then you will really enjoy Chicago. There is a great night life there to keep you entertained with different night activities all week. Or, if you LOVE museums, then you will enjoy Chicago since there are many different types of museums that you can visit throughout your stay. However, if you are more like Bade and I, not the night life type or the museum type, then you can see nearly all that Chicago has to offer you in just a few days. Below are some of our favorite non-night-life, non-museum-lover activities.

Architecture Tour
The highlight of our trip was a boat architecture tour along all three branches of the Chicago River. We went with an hour and a half-ish tour from Wendella Boat Tours. We took an evening tour (starting at 6:30) which barely had any people so we could roam around, change seats, and make ourselves comfortable. The ticket agent told us that the tours are often less busy in the evening. Plus, mid-way through our tour we had a view of the skyline with the sun setting behind it.

Art Institute of Chicago
Although we are not museum people, we did do the Art Institute of Chicago. We only spent a few hours here, but it was fun to see the artwork. Bade really liked the armory wing, especially the Italian show armor. I really liked the miniature rooms, and the Picasso’s and Monet’s that I recall learning about in school.

Cloud Gate (the bean)
The bean sculpture in Millennium Park, Cloud Gate, was fun at all times during the day. It was the least busy in the morning, so you could get a picture without many other people in it. The middle of the day was the busiest. In the evening it isn’t as busy as the day time, and not as empty as the morning, however, this was our favorite time of the day. Seeing the buildings reflecting in the background was fun and pretty.

Skydeck of Willis Tower
The Skydeck was a fun evening outing. We got there just before the sunset, so we were able to watch the full sunset from the top of the Willis Tower. If I were to do this again, I would probably go during sunset, that way, when at the top, the city lights are on, and I could stay long enough to get the awesome buildings-lit-up pictures.

Divvy Bikes for Transportation
On our last full day we rented Divvy bikes to get around the city; we wish we had done this sooner. Bikes are much better than walking everywhere, and way better than fighting traffic in a car. You grab a bike, ride it for 30 minutes or less, and put it back. It’s only $7 for a day of this. The main downside to this is that there isn’t a bike return near the Oak Street Beach (which is the most happening beach in Chicago).

Oak Street Beach
We didn’t have time to stop at the Oak Street Beach, although we really wish that we did. There is a dock/pier really close, so there are tons of boats and yachts that people are just hanging out on that are docked or anchored, so there is lots of music. There is an actual beach, not just concrete. Fun street vendors and food stands are there, as well as little activities such as volley ball, juggling tables (we went past this on national juggling day), and more. This is the beach that you want to go to if you have time to spend a day at the beach.

Weekend Festivals
We checked the Chicago Event Calendar and there are TONS of festivals and park events. The Blues Festival was going on while we were there, which was fun to listen to. You could hear the music streets away from where the festival was being held, which gave the city a nice bluesy feel.

Lincoln Park Zoo
If you have time to spend a day at the zoo, the Lincoln Park Zoo is a fun outing, especially if you have kids. The zoo is free, and there are some divvy bike rentals just outside the park so you can get there easily. Check out the training schedule so that you can catch some of the daily training of different animals. We saw the seal training and silver back gorilla training.

Chicago Food
If you want some authentic Chicago style food, the two things that we did were deep dish pizza from Gino’s East pizza, and a polish dog from Portillo’s. If you do Portillo’s, get some custard, you won’t regret it. If you do pizza, note that Chicago style pizza is more of a casserole, and it takes some time to cook. Plan on waiting for your pizza for about 45 minutes. Also, if you eat at Gino’s East, DON’T order the pretzel bites. If you really want to order the pretzel bites, ask for a salad dressing for dipping sauce, NOT the spicy mustard sauce it comes with. The spicy mustard sauce is 3-point terrible; (1) it tastes terrible (2) and has a terrible kick a few seconds in that tickles your nose (3) then has a second kick about 20 seconds in that nearly melts your face off, forcing you to make a terrible face that encourages your significant other to keep laughing days later.