First I want to say July 30Th is Cindi's Birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! More beautiful than when we met in Santa Monica almost 16 years ago. The boys and I started her day with breakfast in bed and homemade birthday cards. After we got going we headed out of Oshkosh (or as everyone has been saying, "OshKosh B'Gosh! We can't help saying it over and over again).
-This smiley was made by one of the planes from the air show-
We drove to Milwaukee, WI. Known for uh... beer? Weren't Laverne and Shirley from here? I don't know. Who cares? Anyway... we visited our 3rd "most time spent in a store" store -- Apple. WalMart and BestBuy rank higher although GameStop may beat Apple. Anyway Cindi likes the new iPhone which is OK with me because I didn't qualify for the iPhone (remember me waiting in line at the Apple store for ever and walking out with nothing) this way I can have hers and she will qualify for the new one. A plug for Apple... the iPhone is awesome and we actually use it a lot on the road helping with all sorts of things. For example, it helps us navigate, find cheap gas, determine the names and artists of songs (a very cool app she loaded), jogging partner for the tunes, and of course for texting and talking. After our shopping excursion we fou
nd the cheapest diesel in the area thanks to gasbuddy.com (another plug). $4.32 per gallon plus 5 free drinks. Not bad, comparatively speaking. We then decided to take Cindi out to dinner and she picked... Sushi (what else). Unfortunately there is no Minuki's (Cindi's favorite restaurant back home) so we settled on a Japanese Sushi place, Nanakusa, near downtown Milwaukee.
It was getting late but we wanted to get dessert and continue to celebrate with cake, candles and a song so we headed south on the 94 when our night took an interesting turn. As I'm driving I see a couple motorcycles with lights on escorting a bus. I pointed it out to Cindi and said, "I'm not sure what that is but I wonder if maybe they are escorting prisoners or something." We were ahead of the bus on the freeway so Cindi, who always has to be in the action and know what's going on, told me to slow down and let them catch up. As they came up along side us it became evident that this was a big deal with motorcycle cops, sheriff vehicles, unmarked cars, then the big bus. On the bus it read, "McCain."
So we proceed to drive right next to the bus. After all, we were at the same height and could see John talking on his cell behind the bulletproof glass (our Monaco Diplomat didn't come with that option). Everything was fine until the Secret Service starting shining the blinding lights at me and motioning me to stay back. Then it hits me... I am sporting the nice tall lid (I need to measure the height). I was giving the bus the thumbs up and saying they got my vote (although I didn't vote for him in the primary) but they prepare for guys like me, "crazy wacko mohawkers from California (CA plates)." They were not happy with a 40' motorhome driving right next to McCain's bus and were very sternly insisting I fall back. Actually I think they were yelling at me but they had yet to brandish their automatic weapons. Looking back, I think the 3 kids hanging out the side windows helped us look less threatening. So I had to slow down and get behind the other unmarked, tinted windowed, lights ev
erywhere Suburbans, and staff vehicles and settled in behind the Press Bus. When they exited the freeway miles down the road I'm thinking, "might as well follow them." It's not like we even really knew where we were headed. So we followed the caravan into a Marriott hotel in Racine, WI. By the time we pulled in and headed to the lobby John McCain had already been whisked up to his room and it was just security and press that remained, everywhere. Oh hey I should mention that I put on a hat so as to not be "taken down" trying to enter the hotel.
OK so we were back on the road. With all the Baskin Robbin 31 Flavors closed now, we just decided to drive all the way to Gurnee, Illinois home to a Six Flags Great America Theme Park north of Chicago. Once we arrived at the WM we broke out the ice cream and candle (and banana thanks to Pey) and sang Happy Birthday to MOMMY! The kids got a little crazy with the whipped cream as you might be able to see in the last photo.
p.s. Mitch and Cody thanks for the posts. Mitch we actually didn't pay to go into the AirShow as it was going to be something like $120. Plus we would have had to join the EAA for $40 and pay for a 3 night minimum for the RV. We probably should have anyway but oh well we did get as close as we could and saw a lot. Didn't do the show justice though. Did I see a CH14 there?
p.s. again..... note from Cindi...since I didn't style my hair on my birthday and its looking quite the mess. I thought I would post a picture of my new haircut when it is actually done (this is a rare sight since I am way too lazy to do it on a regular occasion.
