Culvers and IKEA

Eliza said that I, Bryan, had to write this post about our "little" adventure yesterday. So here I go...Yesterday I told Eliza that "this is my last day to play before I start class" and that we had to do something fun. That is what I always say whenever Eliza asks me what I want to do..."Oh, something fun!" So I had seen a billboard ad for IKEA and thought that would be fun to find and go to since I have never been to an IKEA before, but had heard it is a lot of fun to walk around and see all the fun "things" you can get for your home. So I looked it up on-line and found two stores, both about 23 miles north or south from downtown. This was around 5 o'clock and Eliza asked what I wanted to do for dinner. Before I knew it she was on the computer looking up addresses on the closest Culver's to the IKEA. Eliza knew that I would probably be okay with this idea of going out to eat since it was my last day to "play" and we both have been craving their custard with hot fudge and raspberries. So we found a Culver's fairly close to the IKEA and thought we would go make an evening of it. We looked at the map on-line to figure out which roads to take and how to avoid the toll roads. Once we figured we knew where we were going, we took off.

We figured we would go to Culver's for dinner first and then go to IKEA. This is where our evening of adventure began. After driving for a while I thought for sure we should be getting close to this specific street we were looking for and after I didn't see if I thought for sure we had gone too far and had passed it without seeing the street sign. So we made a turn on the next street and thought we would just find the main street the restaurant was on and then continue down until we find the address. So we go down a new street and find ourselves saying the same thing we did on the previous street, "I think we've gone too far". We have a map in the car that has the major streets on it, but not many of the smaller streets, so Eliza is trying to look at this map and find out where we are going. We can see on the map that we have passed the street that we're supposed to be on, but we didn't see that street sign as we were driving. So again, we turn on another street and say we will go to the next main street on the map and drive back to find this street. We still can't find it so I decide that I am going to stop at a gas station and ask if they have a phone book or if they know where this restaurant is. Well, that was a lost cause. The attendant in the gas station was from somewhere in the Middle East and had no idea what I was saying. He barely knew what a phone book was when I asked to look at one. He finally reached under the counter and pulled out a phone book and looked at me with this look of confusion as I nodded my head as to say "Yes, that is what I want". I don't even think the phone book was for that particular area we were in, it was useless. So I hand the the book back and head to the car. Without anymore help then when we stopped, we continue up the street. We finally came upon one of the streets we were looking for. So we turned and headed toward the address that Eliza had in her mind. We realized that we didn't recognize the street earlier because it has two names, so the street sign we saw earlier was a different name than the one on the map, how stupid!!! We finally get to the address and still don't see the restaurant. Now more than anything we just wanted to eat and get out of the car. What should have been 30 minutes in the car had turned into an hour. It was then that I figured we had gone to the wrong address, we went to 1100 E, when we needed to be at 1100 W. So we turn around and backtrack and finally we end up at our destination, hungry and tired of driving, but none the less we had made it.

We had to show a picture of the hot fudge and raspberry custard to grandma MaryEllen because we knew she would appreciate the effort put forth to get such a great dessert.

After dinner we decided to ask directions to the IKEA in hopes that we wouldn't have to spend as much time looking for it as we did dinner. So Eliza asked the Culver workers where the IKEA was. After getting directions we headed off. We got to were we thought we should be and still didn't see the IKEA so we stopped again and Eliza asked someone at a Toys 'R' Us. The guy there was actually very helpful and drew her a map. Luckily we weren't too far from the store and were able to find it without too much trouble.

This is a picture of the IKEA, it is HUGE!! For anyone who is decorating their home, building a home, or just in the market for a new spatula IKEA is the place to go. It also has a restaurant in it that is reasonable to eat at too.

I just had to get a picture of this. The store is three levels and each set of escalators has two, one for the shopper and one for the shopping cart. I just thought that was funny...I was wondering how you got your cart from one floor to another. We soon found out.

After we left the IKEA store we decided we better stop at the closest Walmart and look for an umbrella since it has rained here in Chicago several times the past week. So we headed towards the highway and saw a Walmart. Since it was around 9:30 and Kambria was already cranky, Eliza And Kambria stayed in the car and listened to Popcorn popping on the apricot tree while I went into the store and found an umbrella. It was a successful night after all! We accomplished all the tasks we set out to do...even if it took twice as long as planned. I guess I got my "something fun" out of it...

Well, that ends our "little" adventure, for that day anyway.