Current Happenings 2002
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Trip to Chicago / Green Bay, Wisconsin

Thursday: LAX to O'Hare. Friday: Greyhound to Green Bay Saturday: Ceremony. Sunday: Greyhound to Chicago. Monday: O'Hare to LAX.

Last weekend, I went on a trip to Green Bay, Wisconsin, to see my friend Ted Haenggi get married.  Actually, they were already married last fall, but wanted to have a more formal ceremony.  I was in the "ceremony".  I also spent two nights in Chicago -- one on the way there, one on the way back.  I visited my friend Jed Hollenbach and his wife Heidi. They live on the campus of North Park University, where Jed attends the seminary.

Ted Haenggi and Germaine French, March 23, 2002

Above: Germaine, Ted, Matthew Left: Ted & Germaine, Green Bay in the background

Traveling

This trip was the first time I had been to Wisconsin, and the third time I had been to Chicago. In 1988, Steven Schoenhals and I flew to Chicago to visit Wheaton College our senior year in high school.  My second trip there was last April. We flew to Chicago then drove to Grand Rapids to visit my sister. Cheapest Way to Travel A few weeks before my trip, I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the cheapest way to get to both Chicago and Green Bay. I called several travel agents and spent several hours online. I was getting prices around $500. But then I realized that Green Bay is only 4 hours away by car, so I ended up spending $246 for a round-trip plane ticket to Chicago, then $71 for a Greyhound bus ticket to Green Bay. Itinerary March 21 LAX-->ORD 4:00pm-->9:49pm    United #118, Boeing 757 March 22 Chicago-->Green Bay, 12:01pm-->4:45pm    Greyhound, schedule 5812 March 24 Green Bay-->Chicago, 11:30am-->4:10pm    Greyhound, schedule 5727 March 25 ORD-->LAX 11:55am-->2:17pm    United #111, Airbus 320 The flight to Chicago on Thursday was quite empty. Only 45 people. I forgot to write down Jed's cell phone number, so when I got to the airport, we were both waiting for eachother for about 30 minutes. Oh well. Gotta remember to bring along all the phone numbers Riding Greyhound was pleasant.  There were a few odd people riding the bus, but most of the people were normal. But I only had to sit next to someone for 2 of the 8 hours I was on the bus that weekend.  In the Chicago terminal, I was waiting with a man & wife who had an infant and were starting a trip to Las Vegas. They were going to be on the bus for a day and a half.

Wisconsin

Before I planned this trip, I had no idea where Green Bay or Milwaukee was in relation to Chicago.  I had never been to Wisconsin, and never had any plans to go. It seems like a nice place. It was pretty cold most of the time I was there -- about 20° F at night, and not much warmer in the day.

I realized later that I probably could have rented a car for the amount of money I spent on the Greyhound ticket, but it was nice to be able to enjoy the scenery. The bus had really big windows.  We stopped in Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and Manitowoc on the way up to Green Bay.  I finished reading The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge on the bus.  The bus was about 90 minutes late on the way there.  I arrived in Green Bay, and didn't have a ride to the Washington Street Best Western, so I had to walk a mile from 800 Cedar Street to 321 Washington Street with all my luggage.  It wasn't too bad.

The wedding reception went well. Ted's original plan was to have the ceremony outside, at a park by the river. But it turned out to be too cold. The dinner and reception on Saturday night was fun. We stayed up late.

Chicago

Jed showed me around the North Park University campus on Friday morning, then I took the bus and the L to the Greyhound station for Green Bay.  Then Sunday night, we had a little more time to look around downtown Chicago. Heidi drove us around downtown some, then dropped us off near the John Hancock Building. (See facts about it at: http://www.johnhancockcenterchicago.com/JHCbuilding.html). We went up near the top floor, and looked around the restaurant for a bit. There are 100 floors, in this 1127-foot-high building. 8 for parking, 29 for office space, and floors 44 through 92 are residential.  Afterwards, we went to go eat at at Giordano's Pizza, which makes the famous Chicago-style stuffed pizza.

That night, I watched the 74th Annual Academy Awards at an Oscars party that some of Jed & Heidi's friends were hosting. I'm glad I live on the West Coast. People who are two or three hours ahead of Pacific time have to stay up late to see live events broadcast from Hollywood.

On the way home Monday, I was proud of myself for making it all the way from Jed & Heidi's apartment in Chicago to my house in La Mirada using only public transportation. It took 10 hours. I took the CTA bus to an L station, rode the L to O'Hare, flew to LAX, then took the Metro Green Line to Norwalk, then the Norwalk Transit Line 4 to Imperial & Biola Ave, and walked from there.

It was snowing when I left Chicago. It's nice to be back in L.A.

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