Madison big wave!

The plan was to ski at the Loaf for the last weekend of the year, but with the rain, I wasn't about to try it. I'll wait for a sunny day and hike up with Casco. So after going to Ken and Rene's party Saturday night at their new camp, which is awesome, Kim and I got up Sunday and decided to check out the rivers. The Carrabasset wasn't super high, but it looked like a lot of fun to run. We called Madison and it was at 15,000cfs so we decided to head there instead.

The wave was really good, I think it might have been a little higher. You could paddle right on the wave and set up for moves pretty easily. It would green out too. Peter Lataille and Jake were there with their surfboards and had a rope set up to catch the wave. It worked really well and Peter had some amazing rides.

I just got a new drysuit from NRS and decided after a few kayak rides to give it a try. I jumped on Peter's board, but I had a hard time breaking through the seam. You had to hold on with one hand and frankly I'm not strong enough right now. Eventually after a lot of tries, I used two hands and got out to the wave. It took a few times, but I did get up and surf the wave. It was amazing. However, I was beat and couldn't do it again. I can't wait to get there and do it again!

Wrigley Field Cubs/Padres game

Tuesday afternoon I decided to venture out in the city and go to a Cubs game. It's super easy to get tickets and cheap compared to Fenway, so I jumped on the subway and went. Basically as soon as you get on the subway, you follow the crowds of Cubs fans.

I ended up getting some really great seats, 3 rows back behind the first base line, just in right field. It was also 8 feet away from all the Padres pitchers. The game was fun, most runs scored in the first couple innings and then nothing happened. It actually went into the 14th, but I left in the 12th because Jay had gotten out of school and was outside the stadium. We went to a little Mexican hole in the wall for a burrito to watch the rest of the game, and the Cubs lost.

Most of Jay's classmates headed that way too and we went to this crazy wings place. I wasn't really hungry so I only had a couple, but you could order just about any flavor wings. I'm trying to get Jay to go to the White Sox and another Cubs game versus the Cards.

Chicago

The drive to the airport Sunday morning wasn't too rough, although it was early. With a nonstop flight from Portland, I was in Chicago before 11am. Jay met me at the airport and we took the Subway back to his place. He is right next to Northwestern Medical School, and about a block from the lake. Basically he is downtown.

We dropped off stuff at his apartment and went to out to check out the city. We walked down to the water and to the zoo a couple miles away. It was a gorgeous day, and it was so nice to see so many people out exercising. I wish I had my roller blades here, I could go for miles.





The zoo was free to the public and there were great displays of all types of animals. The Canadian geese are all over the place and kind of a nuisance, but everything else was neat. I tried to take so pictures of the animals for the kids at school, but they came out kind of blurry, I might go back.

After a little while, we walked back through town and hung out. He has school all week, but I have access to the University library and all the stores really close by. I already found a good coffee shop. I've got some videos to edit and some projects to finish, so I'm sure I'll find enough to do!

Raggae Trees footy

I took this footage from my little still camera and it actually came out pretty good. This is all Sugarloaf, and during Raggae weekend, it's the best way to avoid the crowds!