CHICAGO BY AIR AND HIGHWAY

I'm off to Chicago on a Thursday afternoon
 May 13, 2010

I am hitching a ride with my son-in-law's parents

We are going to see our grandson

'THE BOY'

play hockey

There are 240 boys of which 90 will be chosen for

either their route to college UHL or next year's entry draft

A few good stretches

OH MY GOSH

What a look

 I sure can see his Dad and Grandfather

Here comes Al

There were 6 Phoenix Firebirds invited to Chicago

This is Al's Grandma

Gramdma is a great lady

The 'black' team are getting ready for their

testing

'speed' 

'strength and endurance'

'agility'

GOOD JOB!!!!!!

Here comes the American's son and husband

(Arizona)

The Boy

game 2

He is leaving the rink after the first period

for a flight to Phoenix

 TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

You are reading this correctly

For the first time in 10 years 

Chandler High School LACROSSE  team

are in the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

The game takes place Friday evening

at 8 p.m. in ARIZONA

Off they go

Dad at the wheel

Papa Tom there for the company

and The Boy all watching the 'clock'

A brief conversation with a Chicago police officer

took a bit of their time

BUT

NOT TO WORRY

ALL OK

Made it to the airport with 15 minutes to spare

I don't know if you do this or not but I

watch the people who will be getting on

'my' plane

 Especially after 9/11

Sometimes I think

ohhhhh

I would prefer not to sit beside a particular person

The Boy thought the same thing

As luck would have it

the 'gentleman' sat beside him

This is the story!

The fellow was on his first plane ride

The fellow had 3 drinks throughout the flight

The fellow was on his way to Alaska to start

A NEW LIFE

The fellow had been in prison

The fellow had robbed a bank

and had done many other things

The fellow kept asking The Boy questions

What do you have in your knapsack?

Where are you going, etc. etc. etc.

At one point, The Boy told him

My Dad is sitting at the back of the plane

The Boy put his earphones on

however

The fellow kept elbowing him

 asking all sorts of questions about the movie

Needless to say

The Boy did not sleep a wink on his way to Arizona

The Boy arrives at Sky Harbour airport

at 7 p.m.

His Mother and sister are there to pick him up

The lacrosse game is at 8 p.m.

The game is played with the final score being

10 - 8

Chandler High School lost

Back to the airport for a 11:30 p.m. flight

During this flight he slept, arriving in Chicago

at 5 a.m.

First hockey game 10 a.m. Saturday morning

As Phoenix Firebird team members they are

# 29 forward

#16 defence

Today they are

# 7 defence for the black team

# 11 forward for the white team

They played against one another

# 7 scored a goal

# 11 scored the winning goal in overtime!

Good game boys

# 11

Saturday morning

Game 1 is finished

Now

more testing

This has been an interesting weekend

never a dull momment

Going back to Friday night

I called Joe to ask him to

look for my thyroid meds

Sure enough they were on the kitchen table

OH NO

Bright and early Saturday morning Joe checks with our pharmasist

The question

Can the camera lady be without her meds for 3 days?

Answer

Well, it is not critical but it will be detrimental to her health

SOOOOOOOOOOO

My meds were hand delivered

Can you believe it

As our friend Mike Finn would say

You're a good man Joe

Gwendolyn and Joe visited for a brief time

then drove back home

thank you joe

Sunday morning game

The boys played 5 games in total

2 - 20 minute periods

Overtime

3 on 3

The Phoenix gang

So long Artic Ice Arena

Maybe we'll see you next year

What a time!!!!!!!

Grandma getting a lesson on texting

Off to lunch at a famous Chicago spot

Papa Tom and The Boy

 pals

....and Granny

The famous hot dog

Thanks 'in-laws' for a grand weekend

The defenceman and his goalie

Job well done

We are very proud of you!