Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!

We are getting very close to Christmas and the New Year and that means we all soon get a break from the stressful life of work and school. I have been marking down the days until the end of the semester and I can just relax. After this last week of school I finally get to have a small vacation. I will be going to Cadillac, MI, for my cousin's wedding and then going to Traverse City with some friends for a few days. It isn't much of a vacation compared to going to the nice Sunshine state of Florida. However after writing papers and stressing over exams, I'll take it! I usually go on a cruise every year but I haven't had the time in a while so it has been two years since my last cruise. This is the longest I have ever gone without being at sea in over a decade! I almost had a ten day cruise booked on Holland America for next week a few months ago. Then I realized my cousin's wedding fell on the weekend it departed! It was the only cruise that was a ten day, all of the others were seven and were far more expensive.

So starting December 21st, we have about two and a half weeks until the next semester starts. The time is going to fly by and unfortunately it will be over in a flash. If you plan on going on a vacation of any kind for those couple of weeks, the time will go by even faster! Regardless of how you plan to spend your break, just make sure you enjoy every minute of it! This will be my last blog for the semester, I hope you have enjoyed reading them. Keep on traveling and I hope you all have a fun and safe winter break!

Winter Wonderland!

Hi everyone,

Hope you are all staying warm as the snow starts to fall and the temperatures continue to get colder. It looks like the Midwest has been getting hit hard with the snow. The snow is just now starting to fall in my area. The Dallas area really seems to be getting hit hard with the snow and the flight cancellations keep growing in numbers. In Philadelphia the snow fell hard at the Lions/Eagles game. For those of you who saw the game, you know what I'm talking about. The field was virtually blinded by snow during parts of the game and the players had to run through about 8" of snow. If you missed this game, you will want to see the pictures below!

I am traveling to Cadillac, MI next week for my cousin's wedding and I am really hoping the snow stays away for the weekend. I really don't want to travel on the road in a blizzard or ice. After driving through it a week ago on the way to Chicago, I think I have had enough. I love snow as much as the next person however, when it comes to driving in it I can say I hate the snow! The town I live in usually gets more than its fair share of snow every season anyway. So going up north will probably be even worse. I'll be hoping for the best though and hopefully the heavy snow will stay away for a little bit longer. For those of who are traveling right now in the snow, please be safe!

In other travel related news, a 16 year old boy was pronounced dead on Saturday while traveling on a Delta flight from Seattle to Atlanta. The flight carrying 268 passengers was diverted to Spokane shortly after takeoff. It is believed the boy died of natural causes and there will be an autopsy conducted on Monday.

Thanksgiving in Chicago

 

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving! This is my favorite week of the year, I love being able to eat all I want and share laughs with the family. I also enjoy going out on Black Friday but it wasn’t as much fun having to go out on Thanksgiving night this year. I wanted to go during the early morning hours on Friday but unfortunately the stores decided to end a majority of their sales by 6 a.m. I went to the Gurnee Mills Mall in Gurnee, IL and I could not believe how packed the place was! I have never seen so many people in my life and people literally had to create their own parking spots. I am not one of those people who will fight someone for a T.V. or an Xbox like those seen on the news. I enjoyed just walking around and getting a few good deals and watching all of the activity. I felt very bad for everyone who had to work through the whole night. While I was talking to one of the employees, they told me the mall was going to stay open for 36 consecutive hours!

 

The day after Black Friday was a day I will never forget. I had tickets to see Elton John and his band perform at the Allstate Arena in Chicago! He performed all of his hits as well as a couple songs from his new album Diving Board. The sold out concert was phenomenal, he played for three consecutive hours without an intermission. Everyone was on their feet and singing along and just having a great time. I haven’t seen him in fourteen years, but his concert was

just as great as I remember. I have no idea how much longer he will be performing on tours and he rarely comes to the Chicago/Detroit area so seeing him is rare. His performance was so much better than listening to his albums on an iPod. I would highly recommend going to his concert if he is ever in a town near you.