Day 73 - A diversion up Nort

 I woke up from yet another great night of sleep (mattresses really are amazing!) and wandered downstairs to find Bob stirring already.  We enjoyed some more conversation and some coffee before he had to go to work.  I had no plans before lunch so I said farewell to Jody and went over to the Corner Bakery to enjoy some coffee and work on catching up with this blog.  I enjoyed a piece of lemon bread and coffee as I worked on a wonderful morning. 


Soon enough, my friend Kim texted me to let me know she was ready for lunch so I headed over to my old workplace to meet her.  We went over to Portillo’s for lunch which was both delicious but also a wonderful nostalgia trip for me.  For those of you that don’t know, Portillo’s is a Chicago tradition specializing in hot dogs, beef, burgers, and fries.  Their service line, especially for the lunch rush, is a thing of beauty to behold if you appreciate supply chain activities.  However, just as with so many of my meals, the food just couldn’t compete with the company I was keeping.



Kim brought be up to speed on the news of both her family and the folks I knew back in the day.  After an enjoyable lunch, she offered to walk me through the historic halls to meet up with some of those people I used to work side by side with.  While I sadly missed Armando, I was able to say hello to Colin, Bill, and Tony while I was in the building and that was another treat.  But after visiting, it was time for me to head north to Madison.


While this part of my trip is anything but a direct line to Raleigh, I decided that I couldn’t be this close to my sister, brother-in-law, and new nephew and not go see them.  I know they keep an EXTREMELY busy schedule, but thankfully i could come by after they finished work and hang out until the next morning.  I got there in the late afternoon, but it was early enough to catch up with my new nephew before his early bedtime (I remember those times!).  In fact I was early enough that we were all able to go for a walk together and explore the neighborhood and I was the one who got to have him strapped onto my chest.  Talk about a lucky uncle!


Just like an uncle, I spoiled my nephew a bit and he stayed up a little past his bedtime.  Thankfully, this resulted in a case of the giggles, not a case of the screams!



After he went to bed, we all sat down for a nice nacho/taco dinner.  It was delicious!  Then we chatted for a bit until it was clear that the lifestyle of the parents of newborns was catching up with Sean and Amanda so we all went to bed.  I thought I would be up for a while, but once I was horizontal, I too was out for the night!


Total mileage - 12,388

# States/Provinces - 19 / 2


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