March Madness!

Sorry if that just manipulated you into looking at this post!  It's not so much about basketball as it is some of our meanderings during Reading Week where we were able to visit some of the folks in Chi-town.  We were bummed not to get to see all of you but we hope to be able to visit again soon and to pick up with some of you whom we were unable to see!  We miss the area where we spent so much of our lives.  But I'm glad that we are still going back and we pray we will continue to get to do so.

Maybe you don't all want see photos of yourselves but it is our pensieve (please see Harry Potter references if you are looking at this dumbfoundedly or just take our nerdy words for it) as well and we cherish these memories and want to be able to withdraw the watery, ethereal substance of anamnesis into the forefronts of our reflections, so here we go:

anticipating a good SAGA run!

Best College Salad Bar in the U.S. 8 years and counting!

nothing reminds me of the good ol' days in SAGA like their abundant gourmet mayonnaise section.
yes, it made all of those days in the ugly BGC worth it (not that I disliked the job, just the building!)

SAGA group date!

Amigos Locos, more like it...

The LOVE!!!!!

Worst...and yet best celebration of Pi Day ever

Dinner with our hospitable hosts!  We miss you all dearly.  Except Scott, we see him all the time.

Because there must always be a goofy portrait to accompany a serious one.
It is pointed out that Noel's presence is represented here by the Guinness bottle.

Fellowship of the Cheese

The Dolly Sods area was first explored by the Fellowship of the Cheese during a brief period of Seminary angst in 1746 to find the limits of West Virginian lore from the British Crown. The area was generally avoided as too impenetrable until the late 1800’s. Charlie Treichler wrote an early description of the area, published in Gmail in 2010:

"In West Virginia, via Maryland en route from Ambridge, Pennsylvania, is a tract of country containing from seven to nine hundred square miles, fairly well frequented , yet so savage and inaccessible that it has rarely been penetrated even by the most adventurous, like Geoff Mackey, who has yet to explore any place via backpack and camping tent. The settlers on its borders speak of it with a sort of dread, and regard it as an ill-omened region, filled with inbreds, panthers, impassable (except to Noel who decided to tumble on into them despite the dangers) laurel-brakes, and dangerous precipices ie big rocks. Stories are told of hunters having ventured too far, becoming entangled, and perishing in its intricate labyrinths...or stolen by the hillbillies, verdict's still out. The desire of daring the unknown dangers of this mysterious region, stimulated a party of  [handsome] gentlemen and two gentlewomen . . . to undertake it in October, 2010. They did actually penetrate the 'disgusting' country as far as the landmines allowed, and returned with marvelous accounts of its savage grandeur, massive quantities of pulled muscles and troop bonding to be found there.  All was recounted at Piper's Pub in the urban Pittsburgh, any embellishments likely owed to Irish Car Bomb ingestion."

Sometimes, Noel leaves for urban backpacking adventures...

which makes Greg look like this

Noel had never been to West Virginia before and she was terrified, her only experience with WV is the movie Wrong Turn. And as you can tell from the title, WV was the wrong turn.  So, I take back my bias of West Virginia as the incest bred terrifying hillbilly state...at least for now. After all, it was really beautiful.

I hope you can read this sign. If not, here it is: WARNING: Highly Explosive LIVE BOMBS from WWII training can still be found in Dolly Sods.  Do not touch!  Happy Trails.

The Fellowship--sorry, Wes!  My backpack was too tall.

 

The Survivors! Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed the journey.

The Move

6,000 miles and gabillions of bird poops, dust storms and intermittent rain later, we arrived in Elmhurst, IL
Pseudo home sweet home where the Pechanios took excellent care of us...even though we proved to possibly be the most difficult houseguests they've ever had...more on that later!

Well, here's the dirty car:

 Then we picked up the truck and the moving party began

Special thanks to Phyllis, Jenn and Matty for all their help, sweat and tears
(just kidding...unless you did actually cry)

 On one hand, we felt like, "awesome, all our stuff fit in this one unit" but at the same time, we said, "man, we've got a LOT of crap"...and we're only in our 20s...more stuff to Freecycle, I guess (yes, that was a shameless plug...go check it out, it's green, it's free, it's cyclical...what could be better?)

 So proud, so muscular.
In his favor, we did manage to fit all our stuff into the 16 footer, just perfectly.

 

 Sorry about the really dirty windshield...imagine driving with that thing.
Also sorry for the short supply of photos from this trip, things like time constraints, a UTI and not traveling with the truck the whole time held us up.  But, we arrived in Ambridge to about a dozen folks on the lawn ready and willing to help, even after having moved about 3 people earlier in the day.  The whole truck was unloaded in about 45 minutes and there began our relationship with our new community.  Alleluia.

 And that's just the beginning...

Last leg of the trip- pt. the end

Where the buffalo roam...or rest o' the trip pt II

And then the next thing we saw was this...sca-ry!


Jackson Hole Home


Through the tent...


Oooo...aahhh.  The Grand Tetons...and a river in Yellowstone

Right before we saw the wolf, I took a picture of the above spare tire cover...an omen!

Old Faithful was not actually so faithful...we waited forever but it was glorious!
Check out the insides of the smoke and boiling water below!

The other hydrothermal features!!!



EEEEEWWWWW.

Bill and his hoard of bison friends

Bisons on the side of the road



Goodnight Wyoming, Goodnight Yellowstone.