ILLINOIS

Flew into Moline, IL (star) on Thursday Evening. On Friday morning we drove to Sterling, IL - northeast of Moline.  I finally went further west then Indianapolis when I had a layover in St. Louis, Missouri :).

Saturday we went to Chicago :).  Of course my first stop had to be at the

to see

After we got to see MJ's statue, we were off to the the Navy Pier

David was the official chauffeur for my visit (JK David ;) )

You can see the Museum of Natural History in his rear view mirror....

We decided to be a little scholarly on our trip and visit the Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum.

Considering that we were still stuff from our lunch in Greek Town, we opted to just visit Michael Jordan's Restaurant and Hard Rock Cafe - Chicago...

Michael Jordan's Restaurant was not really anything to get excited over....  The All Star Cafe in NYC definitely has it beat...  Besides the gift shop in the restaurant, I also go to see the bar area which is A LOT cheaper than the formal dining area...

Sunday we spent a lot of time with his family :).  First we went to his church - he's Nazarene.  Then, David barbecued some chicken at his grandmother's house for a family cook out.  His youngest brother, Matthew, is a total ham as one can see from this picture:

After lunch, David, Michael (David's older brother), Linda (Michael's girlfriend), and I drove over to Eagle Point Park in Clinton, Iowa to see some eagles.

This is the entrance to the park - notice the eagle on top of the tower.

David, Michael, and Linda told me that most of the park was built during the depression (i.e.. this tower).  The structures built during that time period are still standing (doubt that would happen in New York) including "The Thousand Steps".  People are warned not to go on them, but if we had not - we would not have found their friend....

Linda and Michael climbing down some of "The Thousand Steps."  (Isn't this place beautiful?)

Where ever you went, you saw beautiful foliage.

While we were hiking down "The Thousand Steps," we found their friend who let us join him rappelling.

Linda's first time rappelling down the bluff.  (This particular bluff was approximately three stories high.)

David, Me, Linda, and Michael getting a shot at rappelling down the bluff :).  (Wow...this was such an awesome day :) )

Okay...I really have to apologize for this next shot.  This is the LAST apology you are going to get about this David....  David decided to climb up the bluff instead of the shorter climb on the side of the hill.  He asked me to take a few pictures of him doing this, but I only took one shot.  Here is my reasoning:  The side was very flat and nobody thought he would make it. I felt that if I flashed my camera,  he would lose his grip/footing or worse and I would never here the end to the story of how David almost made it to the top.  So, I only took this one picture and of course, he did in fact make it to the top of the bluff ;).  So with out further ado - here it is...

On Monday we went canoeing. A lot of my pictures from canoeing did not turn out :( - but here is a really pretty one of some foliage...

Stay tuned for more pics....

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