Winter 2012-2013

I feel it is only appropriate to do a post titled Winter 2012, since I failed to blog about our White Chicago Christmas, and then separately about our trip out west here to Washington.  The days go by and then just fade into each other.  And I miss a lot of blogging along the way.

The Winter started when I left my job at the YMCA and turned my focus to Christmas and our 6 month adventure to Washington state for Dave's training.  It didn't take me long to decide that joining Dave in Washington was the right thing for me.  I soon realized that he was grateful we were going with him as well.  Never thought about it that way, to be honest.   Even though I wanted to continue looking for work and stay focused on my "own path," nothing felt more important than being together after being separated so many times and for so much of 2012.

Christmas was a whirlwind.  After finishing work, I scrambled to get all the Christmas cards out, make Dr. and Vet appointments knowing we were leaving for half a year, do some Christmas shopping (but as usual, pretty much failed....I apparently do this better under pressure), blah blah blah.   We also put the tree up and decorated the house a bit in the first week of December, not knowing exactly what our plans were.  Winter at the Clark's :)

 

Clark Christmas Tree

 We left for Chicago on the 22nd (after they stopped worrying, they slept most of the way...see below) and had a wonderful week with Brandon, Julie and Hucklebutt.

When we got there we ordered pizza and walked to go pick it up.  Ellie's first city experience.  She kind of liked it, I think :)

We spent time with Julie's family on Sunday after we got there and went out to dinner at Nookies.

Nookies

  Christmas Eve....keeping with tradition, we got Chinese.

Enjoying Christmas Eve Chinese food

We woke up to snow on Christmas morning! It wasn't there the first time I got up to let the dogs out, but it was there at about 9:30!

All the stockings were hung with care

Baker Christmas Tree

White Christmas

We spent Christmas day at Julie's Aunt's house with her whole family.  Julie's little cousin Charlotte took quite the liking to Dave and they spent some time together.  Charlotte even bought him a Teddy Bear app for his iPhone.  A $15 app....unknown to him. Sneaky kids!  Dave pretended to be upset, but I later found out that he made his own Teddy Bear.  A pilot Teddy Bear.

 

Some goodies made for Christmas.  Grasshoppers, my Oreo balls and Julie's Christmas tree veggie pizza:

We also finally got to eat at the famous Kuma's Corner and got some delicious burgers and beer.

Then we went to see This is 40....funny...but not as funny as I expected.  Maybe if I was 40?

Even though we walk to a lot of places in Andersonville, the amount of food and spirits we enjoy always outweighs the physical activity.  Oops.  Just a sampling:

Indulgences included George's Ice Cream, Acre, and Simon's Tavern.

We always hate leaving, and ended up staying an extra day than planned.  The boys had more time for killing zombies, and Julie and I got manicures and pedicures with her friend Julie.  The dogs had some fun on this trip too.

We got back on Saturday, and spent the next couple days trying to get ready to leave and celebrating New Year's.  Dave and I got one last (at least for 6 months) dinner at our favorite Newport Grill for New Year's Eve and of course weren't disappointed.  There was a pianist playing and I was thinking "this is my kind of New Years."  I might as well be 40?

New Years Day we watched Michigan lose, and we began the 3-day drive to WA on Wednesday.  Of course last minute I felt like I needed to deep clean the entire house (as if it will still be clean in 6 months) and was totally stressing, as I do well.  I was surprised by the bittersweet emotion I felt leaving that morning.  Definitely knew I was going to miss our neighbors and friends and our house. Just not Kansas.  If that makes sense.

I feel like I should start a new post now, but here goes...

Day 1 of our drive was Wichita ---> Ft. Collins, CO.  We got there too late to actually visit any breweries, but I did some research as we got settled in the hotel and we found a bar & grill with 40+ craft brews from CO and elsewhere.  All we needed.  I enjoyed a La Folie from New Belgium and a Damnation ale from Russian River Brewing in CA.  Ellie did pretty good during her first hotel stay.  Although it was interesting and "fun" being on the 4th floor with 2 dogs.

Day 2, we started the drive to Bozeman, MT.  Gotta say, Wyoming was a little creepy! Really nothing to look at, middle of nowhere.  Wondered if we would ever come out on the "other side."  We stopped in Casper, WY for some Qdoba.  Forgot how YUM it is.  At some point I texted Brandon saying we "only" had 230 miles left..that day.  When I told him we were stopping in Bozeman, he (of course) asked if there were any breweries there.  Ha! Hadn't even thought to check because I figured it was in the middle of nowhere and....I don't know, I was tired.  As I looked it up (not while driving, of course...), I discovered that all of the brewery tasting rooms in Bozeman (4!) would be closed by the time we arrived.  But then I also saw there were 4 in Billings, which we were passing through in about 70 miles.  It then hit me that there was a lot of beer in MT! We ended up stopping at Angry Hank's Brewing.  I enjoyed a White IPA and Dave got the Golden Ale.  Unique thing about Hank's is that they sell about 90% of their beer onsite in their popular taproom, with the rest going to some local draft accounts.  They don't bottle at all, so we wouldn't run into this beer anywhere else.

In Bozeman we stayed at a charming Holiday Inn that felt like a lodge in the mountains.  Love!  I was liking the feel of Montana a lot.  We of course enjoyed some Montana brews.  I chose the Hopper Ale and Hop Juice IPA from Madison River Brewing Company.  2 thumbs up.

Day 3 was Bozeman ---> SPOKANE!  Day 3 was my favorite.  I was completely amazed by how scenic Montana is in the snow.  We stopped at MacKenzie River Pizza Co for lunch.  I had the "Face Plant" Doppleweizen from Bayern Brewing just 16 miles from the restaurant.  The closer the better.  Ok it's not JUST about beer.  Look at this:

Our first stop in WA was the dog park, right on the state line.  We got rid of some of the dog energy before getting to the Stratford and checking in and unpacking.  We then somehow mustered up the energy to meet up with our friends stationed here.  We started out at Barrister Winery, only open on First Friday.  Score.  First night in Spokane got a little crazy.  On Saturday we took it easy and then had dinner at the Rusty Moose in the lounge.  Cozy.  I had Fish Tacos and Dave had a Pot Roast. That I must go back for- amazing.  Sunday....took the dogs to the dog park here- so beautiful! It was like being in the middle of an enchanted forest.  Forgive me, the girl who has been taking her dogs to the dog park in Wichita, KS....an old dump.  Turned dog park.  Later that evening Dave and I had a date night at River Park Square.  We saw Silver Linings Playbook (loved) and ate dinner at Twigs Bistro and Martini Bar.

River Park Square

Amazing rice bowl at Twigs

So we've eaten well.  We've drank well.  Call this the Chicago/Montanta/Washington Food and Drink Guide :-)

Dave left for the first part of his training in Vegas on Monday, after a serious night of snowfall.  I laid low most of that day due to weather.   I did make my way to the grocery store to get some stuff for dinner and made myself a decent stirfry.   Tuesday I finally got my butt back in the GYM and went to my friend Rosa's for dinner (stuffed mushrooms....yuuuum), wine & gelato.   Was pretty lazy today, except for making it to the gym, and decided....it's time to be my own tour guide and start a Spokane itinerary.  Tomorrow the winery visits begin!