Sink or Swim

Well we found out Kona does not apprectiate the water, unless of course it is to drink. It was the annual paddle at the pool. The city park pool is open to dogs at the end of the season, before they shut it down. WE though that perhaps Kona would like to go swimming. There were happy dogs out in the water fetching balls and swimming. Kona on the otherhand wanted nothing to do with it. We finally got her coaxed into the little wading pool, but she always made a break for it.


kona seemed more interested in making new friends and playing with other dogs, chasing them around the pool.

Sox vs Sox

So after the close victory with UNI, it was time to pack it up and head back into the windy city again. More dunkin coffee woohoo!!

This trip to Chicago was to see the Red Sox. They were in town to play the White Sox. We were going to the game on Monday (labor day) So we got into town a little after noon on Saturday and decided after all the times in Chicago we had never taken a boat trip on the river or the lake. On our way to the boat ride we saw a little street performance. They were pretty good.

We got in line to board the boat, there were a lot of people on this tour. We found a seat near the railing. There were a lot of non english speaking people on this trip, they didn't understand they had to sit before the boat would go, it took a while to get going.





After the boat tour we decided that we needed something to eat so we thought we would try the Billy Goat Tavern, well it didn't look to appealing so we settled for a little place on the river and had a sandwhich and beer.
We thought we should chekc out the Navy Pier fireworks, so made our way to the Pier after supper. We had a little while to wait, so we got some drinks and chilled out, almost falling asleep. Then it was time for the show.


The next day we finally got to sleep in. However Josh went to work out. I enjoyed the sleep and the view from our hotel.

We then got ready, grabbed soem coffee and hopped the "EL" to the south side to US Cellular field. WE were going early, Josh wanted to see if they had batting practice. While waiting we ran into some hall of fame guy.

It was finally time to go in and find our seats. It was $1 hot dog and pretzel day, however we didn't stop there, we had to get popcorn and peanuts too. It also appeared as if there was no batting practice.


The game was not going so good for the REd Sox, they eventually lost! Bummer! So we thought we should get going back to Iowa City. We got back on the train and headed back for the car.
Oprah was in the process of kicking off her next season, so she had shut off a very busy part of Michigan Ave. so we were in walking distance of that and went to check it out before we got more coffee and hit the super slab.

GO HAWKS!!!

It was then time for the first football game of the season. The opponent: UNI. This was supposed to be an easy first game for us. Some forgot though that UNI is the best in their division, making it to their championship playoffs many years in the past.

Anyway, my friend Jen joined me at the game and away it went. Oh and Hayden Fry was there.


It was a tough start for the Hawkeyes, they were behind at half time.

they came back and decided to play some football, finally they had the lead. Some breathing room, but UNI wouldn't let up, they came to play. The game came down to the last few seconds. I am sure many have heard, but Iowa won 17-16 on 2 blocked field goal attempts. A game has never ended on 2 blocked field goals. It was a little crazy at the end, but Iowa won. Perhaps they will take a little away from the game.

a windy city triathlon

Wow it has been over a month since I last updated everyone with the haps here in the big city. I guess I just got busy and lazy at the same time.

So lets see, I will write about the most interesting thinkgs that have went on or things that we have done in the last month or so.

We headed to Chicago at the end of August, I believe it was the 28th or 29th for the weekend. My friend Kate was going to do the Triathlon. She does the sprint version, which is enough, heck just running is enough. Anyway the tri was early Sunday morning, so we thought we would catch a Cubs game on Saturday.

We got to Wrigley and still needed to get tickets so we stopped at some ticket store and were able to get 3 tickets together. The purchase even came with free beer, it was nice and cold.


When we got into the stadium, it was also free t-shirt day, woohoo!!


We found our seats, then found some ball park treats. What is a game without a hot dog, peanuts and a Mai Tai. After a Grand Slam by the Cubs, they pulled out the win, they played the Mets that day. It was slightly cool in the ballpark, but a good day for baseball.


We had to make it an early night becuase of the 3:30am wake-up call. WE found supper at a place called Miller's Pub. They had everything frot hot beef, to pulled pork to prime rib. They had an eclectic menu.

I couldn't sleep all night, I guess I was ready for Kate to get to the tri, it also didn't help that some drunk folks who were neighbors to our motel room decided to be loud at about 2:30.

I was up and ready to go, Josh slept in an joined us later. Kate just had to check in and get her bike in the transistion while it was open. There were 9300 people registered in this Tri. So we walked down near the lake, got checked in and prepared for the tri.

The swimming portion was first. Swimming was 1/2 mile in the harbor along Lake shore drive. Josh showed up after Kate had started and brought me some well needed coffee.


Then it was time to bike. The way the race was situated it was hard to see Kate leave off on her bike. She was quick. The ride was 13 miles long.

then to end the race it was a 5k run. We managed to cheer her through the finish line. She did a great job!!


After the race, we all relaxed listening to a band they had. It was then time to part ways, Kate had to drive back to MPLS. We grabbed our things from the hotel and some Dunkin Donuts coffee and were on our way back to IC