The Most Epic Week Of All Time 2

[C Doody]

Wednesday March 23rd, 2011
The day began at about eight in the morning as I woke up filled with glee, knowing that once again I was about to embark on a journey to one of my favorite cities ever with two of my best friends. We all knew it wouldn't be quite the same without EFD going this time, but we were detirmined to have one of the best weeks of our lives no matter what. Joe wasn't coming in until Friday, so I was all set to meet up with TF later that night at the airport.

I spent the morning just hanging around my apartment and waiting for time to go by when I received a call from TF, who had informed me that he was at the bus station about to leave. I was a little bit nervous despite being through all of this before, but talking to him on the phone calmed me down a little bit. About eleven AM my Mom and Grandmother showed up to pick me up and drive me to the airport. We dropped my Grandmother off at the mall before we went to the airport and I said my goodbyes to my Mom, then got ready to board my first flight.

My first flight was fairly uneventful. I sat next to a female soldier who was quiet for most of the flight, so I just relaxed and looked out the window for most of the trip. I arrived in Boston at about 1 PM and was told I had to take a shuttle from one terminal to another, as I was switching airlines. I was unaware I would have to do this and really didn't care for the idea, but I went outside to wait for the shuttle they told me to take and got on it. The next hour or so was a VERY stressful time for me and one of the most stressful of the trip, as I kept going back and forth from terminal to terminal on bus after bus just trying to figure out where the heck I was. After awhile I FINALLY made it to where I was supposed to be when a guy in a suit told me that the flight was cancelled. Horrified, I went over and checked the sign myself and thankfully found out that it was another flight to Chicago and not mine.

After waiting around for a bit, I boarded the flight from Boston to Chicago and off I went again. This flight was great as they had headphones for us to listen to music on, and were also showing episodes of Two And A Half Men and other shows, which really made the time pass by alot quicker. I also sat next to a great Asian guy, who I assume was flying for the first time, as I could tell from talking to him that he was filled with joy about this experience of flying. After we landed in Chicago I was a bit tired, but felt my spirits rise when the Asian guy looked at me with a big smile and said "That was fun!". I realized there and then that no matter how long of a day it was, I was here to have fun and fun I was going to have.

When I arrived in the Chicago airport I first went and found my bag at the baggage claim, then called TF to ask where he was. He told me he was waiting by the baggage claim 5, so I went over and he was nowhere to be found. I called him back and found out he was at another terminal, so I went to find out where that terminal was and had to take a train just to get there. Once I arrived at that terminal I took a ride in a glass elevator and went up before I finally found him.

We were both tired but happy to see eachother, and then we immediately took a train to go find our hotel. The train ride wasn't bad but also wasn't all exciting like it had been the last time, as it felt kind of normal to us. After awhile we had to switch trains, so we left the station and took a nice little walk through the city where we saw the Willis Tower and other huge buildings. We then went to another train station to take a metra train to where we had to be. This train was nice and actually looked and felt like a real train, whereas the other one we were more used to is more like a subway. The ride was nice, but we were also a bit uncomfortable because of having our bags with us.

After we arrived in the area we had to be in, we took a little walk before we finally made it to the Rodeway Inn where we stayed for the next few days. We went in to our room and got comfortable, and that's when it started to really kick in that we were about to have a great time. We hooked TF's laptop up and ordered about forty dollars worth of food from Domino's, because we were both starving. When the pizza man showed up to deliver the food he was smiling and nice, until he noticed that we were filming him (because we have a habit of filming anything even remotely exciting to us) and got this furious look on his face as he pointed at TF, then looked to me to ask what was happening. All I could even do was laugh before he gave me the food and walked off looking ticked off. This kind of ruined the joy I was feeling right before, as I not only felt bad about angering this man, but also feared he might return in the middle of the night to kill us.

Thankfully the pizza man didn't return for revenge and we had a pretty enjoyable night eating food and messing around on the webcam. We ended up trying to find something on the TV and settled on Conan, where Vanessa Hudgens and The Miz were the guests for the night. Ironically, both of those people later played a role in our week, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. After that we layed down to get a good night's sleep and hoped the next day would go off better.



Thursday March 24th, 2011
TF and I woke up sometime in the morning, wanting to get an early start on the day ahead. The first thing we did was take a cab over to the Brookfield Zoo, where we spent the next few hours just walking around and seeing everything. They had bears, kangaroos, camels, hippos, rhinos, various kinds of birds, buffalo, and all kinds of animals there. My favorite part though was when we went into the bear exhibit and got to go right up close to a polar bear with nothing but glass in between us. TF got a video of me boxing with the bear and I got a picture of TF cowering in fear from it. That was the closest I've ever been to a polar bear and likely the closest I ever will be to a polar bear.

After leaving the zoo we took a train downtown where we walked through the city for a bit before we found a cab and took it to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is this awesome place in Chicago that's kind of like an amusement park, only there's no admission fee and it's all right out there by the pier of Chicago. Unfortunately because it was March, some of the rides weren't open, but we did get to ride on the ferris wheel which was awesome. The ferris wheel was quite huge and a little cold to be on, but you could see pretty much the entire city from up there and it was just a really great experience. We ended up loving the ride so much that we went on it again twice later (more on that as we get to it) and each time we got to the top we'd shout out "WE'RE ON TOP OF THE WORLD!".

We grabbed some lunch at this McDonalds right by the Ferris Wheel that was really neat and futuristic looking, but like many places in the city, had very high prices. I had a Quarter Pounder meal with some chicken selects on the side and TF had a chicken select meal. The food was good and the atmosphere inside was quite great. While I was eating I noticed TF was filming me and said "Are you filming me or that?" which confused me greatly, as he was the one filming me, until I realized this was a reference to the Burger King video EFD and I had made on the last trip. After this I now consider Burger King mine and EFD's place and McDonalds mine and TF's. Next trip, I'm making a third version of that video with Joe and me in Wendy's.

We pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon just walking around the pier and checking everything out. We got some fun pictures by the boats and checked out the funhouse mirrors, which made me look like Danny Devito at one point and TF looked like a midget with a HUGE cowboy hat. This amused us greatly. At one point, this really nice looking girl walked up to me and asked me to take a picture of her and her boyfriend standing by the pier. I took the picture for them, then was tempted to ask her boyfriend if he could take a picture of me and his girlfriend by the pier too, but decided against it.

After that we wandered into some empty looking ballroom like place where there was a big stage set up. I told TF to go stand on the stage so I could take a video, but he was a coward and thought some security guy might come in and yell at him, so I went up and did it first. After that, he went up and ironically enough, a security guard walked right in at that moment. Instead of yelling at TF though, he just looked over at him, then went back to eating his donut or whatever and walked back into the other room.

By about five or six o'clock we had been there most of the day and seen just about everything there was to see, so we decided to go and see an IMAX movie as neither of us had ever been to one before. We went into the IMAX theater and were amazed to see that the movie screen took up the entire wall, and even more amazed to see that there was barely anyone even in there. We ended up seeing "Mars Need Moms" which neither of us really had much desire to see, but it was the only thing playing and ended up actually being quite good. Better than the movie though was the experience of seeing it in 3D on an IMAX screen. They gave us 3D glasses and everything, and I swear it was like we were actually right there IN the movie. At one point during the previews, this monkey threw something and it looked like it was coming right at us. Thankfully there were only a few other people there in the theater to see me scream like a girl in fear.

After the movie we walked out of the theater talking about how amazing the experience was, when I looked at my phone and realized I was in a call with Ashlee for like three minutes. Apparently I had accidently called her, so I felt quite embarassed only to find out later on that it went straight to her voicemail and she couldn't even hear anything. I accidently called her a few times after that and still have no idea how that even happened, but after awhile we just started doing it on purpose because it amused us.

It was starting to get dark out so we decided we better get going, but not without going for one more ride on the ferris wheel. We had a cozy ferris wheel ride as the sun was setting, and I enjoyed this even more than our previous ride. After that, we took a cab and a train back to our hotel but since neither of us were really ready to call it a day yet, we walked out and found a diner to get some grub at. I had a burger and TF had a cornbeef sandwich as he told me about how he thought the waitress was hot. After we finished, TF still had some fries left and the waitress walked up and asked him if he wanted a box for them. TF smiled and said he would before she brought him one and he boxed it up. I then went to go and pay as TF followed, completly forgetting his box of fries only for her to run up and tell him he forgot them. This humiliated TF and ruined his night, much like the angry pizza man did for me the night before, so he ended up giving her a big tip and we went back to the hotel for the night. TF never did eat those fries.



Friday March 25th, 2011
We woke up on Friday knowing we had to check out, as we were planning on staying with Joe in his room when he arrived to save some money. Neither one of us really wanted to have to carry our bags around town all day again though, so we just decided to get our own room again for one more day. We had to switch rooms however though, as the one we had before was booked for the day. The lady at the front desk told us to just wait about twenty minutes so the maid could go into our new room and clean it, so we took our bags and headed to the Burger King down the street for some lunch. Lunch was good and that Burger King was nice, playing 50's songs.

When we got back we saw that the maid (Cher) was still cleaning out our room so we headed into the room where the pool was and decided to wait in there. This room had alot of memories for us, as it was the pool that the two of us had jumped into and goofed around in months earlier while Joe and EFD watched. This time though, it was STEAMING hot in there and we could barely take it. To make matters worse, my Mom was in a bad mood when I had called her and told her we had spent quite a bit of money so far. This put me in a bad mood too, and since TF was still tired, neither of us was having a particularly great day.

We finally ended up getting into our room after an hour or so, and saw that this room was exactly like our old room, only on the first floor rather than the second. We put our bags down and took a walk to the train station where we were going to take a train into town to get Joe at the airport, but saw that the train wasn't going to be leaving until after he had already arrived. We then decided to just go back to the hotel and let Joe take a cab to the hotel himself.

TF ended up taking a nap and I sat and watched "Catch Me If You Can" with Leonardo Dicaprio and Tom Hanks on HBO. Great movie. Joe landed in Chicago about 3:30 but rather than call us, he decided he wanted to be a big man and try and find us himself. After looking around for an hour or so and not finding us, he finally called and I told him to just come to the Rodeway. He did not seem pleased.

A little later Joe finally arrived and I looked out the window at him making the angry Chris Jericho face that we all know so well from MSN. He saw me and looked confused for a second, then laughed and came up to our door. After we hung around for awhile, we took a train into town for our GUYS NIGHT OUT. This was Joe's first train ride and we sat on the second floor of the train, which was neat.

After arriving downtown we headed for the Willis Tower and went in before paying a fee that I felt was kind of expensive, but you only live once. They took us on a tour around the building before they led us into a little theater room and showed us a movie about the history of the Willis/Sears Tower. Then we went out and got into this HUGE line to get into the elevator and go up to the sky deck. The line took quite but we made it up to the elevator and went in with a HUGE crowd of people all squished in. After getting to the top we had unlimited time to just walk around and check everything out. The view from up there was INCREDIBLE and we all got really into it, but especially TF who looked like he was having one of the best moments of his life. TF always told me that Chicago was his Father's favorite city, so I think this part of the trip really meant alot to him.

We then had to get in yet another long line to go back down the elevator and left before we headed back to Navy Pier to show Joe how awesome it was. We went for our third and final ride on the ferris wheel, this time at night. It looked awesome at night and I really loved it, but Joe didn't have quite as great of an experience as he claimed he was colder than he had ever been in his life and looked like he was about to DIE up there.

After that we went and bought some tickets to go back to the IMAX theater about a half hour later and went into the McDonalds for a quick bite to eat. It was there that I realized, to my horror, that I only had about twenty dollars left. Because you see, TF and I had spent close to 700 dollars in just over two days. Thankfully Joe is an amazing friend and helped us out by giving us some more money, but we agreed from that point on we were going to go as light as we can on spending.

We went back to the IMAX movie theater after that since we had already bought the tickets and saw Suckerpunch, this really random movie with Vanessa Hudgens. At least it was supposed to star Vanessa Hudgens, but she really wasn't in the movie that much. The best word I can use to describe this movie is bizarre, and none of us really knew what the heck we were watching. It was fun though, and some parts like this old fat mayor guy walking in smoking a cigar while a hilarious rap song played made us LOSE IT laughing in the theater while everyone around us looked at us like we were idiots. I realize we have a pretty rare and out there sense of humor, but how people could not have found that funny is beyond me.

After that we went to take a train back to the hotel, only to find out the train wouldn't be there for awhile. So we basically just hung around the train station for an hour or two from about 11 PM to 12:30 and then caught our train back home. Joe looked miserable on the train ride back and TF and I couldn't tell if he was depressed or tired, but we found out the next day he was thankfully just tired. After we got back to the hotel Joe went to his room to go right to bed, and TF and I went to bed about an hour or so later. Really fun night.



Saturday March 26th, 2011
TF and I woke up about 10 AM and watched That's So Raven on TV before we checked out, then snuck our bags and stuff into Joe's room where we spend the remainder of the weekend. After we got settled in, we took a cab over to the Berwyn Eagles Club and got in line for the first day of SHIMMER wrestling. I was pumped all week for this, as I have a major crush on Jessie McKay and was looking forward to meeting her again. TF and me ended up taking a break from the line while Joe saved our places and we went and had some lunch at Mr. Submarine, an establishment we visited last time as well. TF had a sandwich and I had some chicken nuggets as we sat there at the same table with "JERK" carved into it that we sat at last time.

After we ate we walked back to the line and they finally let us in. The show got off to a pretty slow start, but got way better as it went on and there were alot of good to great matches with a really hot crowd. Jessie coming out for her match was really the turnaround moment for me, and I got into her match like no others. Joe felt the same when his favorite, Portia Perez, came out and TF himself developed a crush on one of the girls, Brittani Knight. Brittani is a heel, which is what they call the "bad guys" in wrestling, so most of the audience was booing her while TF sat there cheering her and gave her a high five when she walked by. Whenever the audience would boo her, TF would also shout "LEAVE BRITTANI ALONE" which got good laughs from us and other people around.

At intermission I went to go get another picture with Jessie, but I was a bit nervous. I got the picture and talked to her for a minute before she asked me if I wanted to buy a shirt, but because I didn't really have any money, I had to say no. Saying no to her broke my heart and put me in a bad mood until I got back to my seat and Joe told me he'd pay for me to get one of her shirts the next day. The rest of the show was pretty great and we had a great time before we took a cab to the afterparty.

The afterparty on Saturday is alot less eventful than the one on Sunday, mainly because the girls leave early to get a good night's sleep for the Sunday shows. My main goal at the party was to try and talk to Jessie, but it was kind of hard to get to her and even when I did, I chickened out. The most I did was give her a smile and a wave when she walked by me, before she smiled and waved back and gave me a high five. This made me happy, but I also felt a little sad that I wasn't able to say more.

We ended up going to the grocery store across the street after that like we did last time and had a nice walk around it, but my heart wasn't totally into it. You know things are bad when I can't enjoy being in a grocery store at night. The guys tried their best to cheer me up and assured me that I still had another day to talk to her. I knew they were right, so I cheered up and we went to the hotel. Joe took a shower while TF and me walked off to the Dunkin' Donuts down the street and bought a case of six donuts, which we are right there and then before walking back and getting some sleep.



Sunday March 27th, 2011
I woke up on Sunday feeling like crap, not only because of the night before, but because I had slept on the floor (something I had never done before) and had one of the most uncomfortable nights of sleep ever. Joe and TF were still sleeping so I went out to get some of the hotel's free breakfast, then went for a long walk to reflect on the trip thus far and life in general. After I got back, the guys were up and we headed off for SHIMMER day two.

TF had to go to the bathroom, and after accidently coughing up mucus onto my hand, I had to too. We went off in search of a bathroom nearby and it was alot harder to find one than it should be. We went into a gas station and asked the guy working there if they had one, before being told by him that he had one outside. We went outside and saw no bathroom, so I guess he was just being a jerk. Finally we found some Mexican restaurant and went in before I told TF he could use it first. TF thanked me and went in, before I suddenly had to go to the bathroom really bad myself. Unfortunately, TF was in there for a good fifteen minutes and I was feeling the pain. I kept banging on the door for him to come out and when he finally did, I SHOVED past him and told him to get out. TF looked sad and I felt bad about this, but when a man has to go, he has to go. I apoligized to him after for this, and he told me the sad look wasn't because I shoved past him, but because he had to use a public restroom.

We walked back to the line where Joe was and took pictures for a few minutes before we went in for SHIMMER day two. The show started off even slower than the first day, but it may have just been because I was so tired. Both me and TF looked like we were about to fall asleep until Jessie came out and saved the day once again, waking me up big time and having my favorite match of the weekend against Nicole Matthews. During intermission, I got to talk to her again and bought her shirt, which made her happy and made me happy also. TF also got a picture taken with Brittani, which made both of them happy. It was a happy day.

The rest of the show went on and we had a great time before that ended and we went to take a cab to the Sunday afterparty. The cab came to get us and we shockingly got one of the same cab drivers from the last trip, who remembered all of us and asked where our "fourth guy" AKA EFD was. We told him he didn't come this time and he responded by asking if we broke the band up. A much more pleasant cab drive than the night before when the driver was telling us about people having orgies and taking drugs in the White Castle parking lot in the 1970's.

After we got to the club we went in and had a seat while I waited for Jessie to arrive. When she did, I hesitated to approach her at first, but finally did and asked to get another picture with her. She smiled and said sure before TF took it for us, then she said something to me. Unfortunately because the music was so loud I couldn't make out what she said, but she was smiling during it and looked like a beautiful angel, so it was one of the best moments of the entire trip for me. After that she went back to talking to her friends and I felt sad about not talking to her anymore, but figured I could catch her again later.

The DJ then started playing some Spice Girls songs and a bunch of people started dancing, so me and TF went up and joined in while Joe remained his cowardly self and watched from the sidelines. TF and me got even more into dancing than we did last time and looked like John Travolta out there getting dowwwwn with our bad selves. The Rick Astley lookalike from the first trip was also there and getting down, as were alot of the girls. This was also one of the best parts of the trip.

Later on I saw Jessie go into the bathroom so I had a seat on the couch nearby and noticed no one else was around. THIS was it, finally I was going to get my chance to talk to her! She came out and I smiled and waved again, and she smiled and waved back before she continued to walk past me. It's not that she was trying to be rude, I just don't think she really knew that I wanted to talk to her that bad and I had no real idea how to approach her about doing so. Feeling deflated once again, I walked over to find Joe and TF, and see Joe having his second long conversation with Portia of the weekend. Joe is my best friend, but at that moment I felt a feeling of disdain for him and walked out of the club to be alone.

The guys came out and found me a few minutes later and I could tell that Joe knew I was bothered about that, but apparently TF didn't as he proceeded to tell me about how funny it was that Joe and Portia were like good friends now. I was not amused. What I was however was sorry, for the way I was feeling about Joe. Joe's never bragged to me about anything and is one of the nicest and most selfless guys I know, so I felt like a real jerk for feeling that way about him before. It's not that I wasn't happy for him, I just wanted to do myself what he got to do on both trips, without even really trying on this one.

We went back to the hotel and once again I was feeling down like the night before, but even worse this time as I felt as if I had blew my chance. I really didn't know what I was expecting to happen. It's not that I expected us to run off and get married or anything, I just wanted to have a chance to talk to her for two or three minutes. Everything happens for a reason though and there's always next time.

TF nicely offered to let me have his bed this time so I wouldn't have to sleep on the floor again, but I declined and made my bed on the floor before laying down and immediately falling asleep. I actually slept quite a great deal better that night than I did the night before, probably because I was so tired from the lack of sleep I was going on.



Monday March 28th, 2011
We were awokened at about 7 AM by the LOUD sound of an alarm clock blasting something that none of us knew exactly what the heck it was. All I know is, both TF and I were horrified. Joe had an early flight to catch so we had to get checked out and go with him to the airport so he could catch his flight, then we'd take the train back downtown to the Best Western by the arena where WWE Monday Night RAW was going to be.

We scrambled to get ready and called for a cab under the name Steve Blackman. I actually forgot to mention that a running joke we had throughout the weekend was calling for cabs under fake names. Steve Blackman, Bob Patacki, Alex P Keaton, Clark Dorigo (which the cab driver thought we said Clark Regal, something that amused all of us as that's his OMGPop username). We took the cab to the airport and said our goodbyes to Joe before he left for his flight and we we left to catch our train downtown. This was depressing, as we had fun with just the two of us before Joe had gotten there, but we were so used to him being there that the dynamic changed.

To make matters worse, we took one train and had to switch to another one but since TF missed where it was, we ended up having to go for a LONG walk to get to the next train station, then had to pay again to go in. Then to make the day even worse, TF noticed that there were holes all over one side of my bag and we realized that some soda cans I had put in there earlier had exploded and leaked all over my bag, ripping out one of the sides. At this point I was in a terrible mood about everything and we had a very quiet ride to our next hotel.

Once we got to the Best Western, things picked up a little as the room was nice and we actually had our sink inside the bathroom, something we hadn't had at the last hotel. We decided to go to the store and buy some duct tape to tape my bag up, and we also thought it might be fun to stop by the arena and see if any of the WWE guys were arriving yet. We got to the arena (which wasn't far off at all) and saw the Usos drive in before we took a few pictures of us by the big WWE trucks. Then a security guy came out and asked if we were a part of the show, which we said no to, not wanting to get arrested. Part of me still wonders if he would have let us into the arena backstage if we had just said yes.

He told us to go wait over by the fence where we saw some girl standing, which we did. TF said he was tired and he was gonna go get the tape, then go back to the hotel and take a nap. I told him he could but I was going to hang out there for awhile, a decision I later regretted. TF left and I saw a few people arrive. Alberto Del Rio, Daniel Bryan, Eve Torres, Tyson Kidd, Natalya, Booker T, Evan Bourne, Wade Barrett and the Corre, Kelly Kelly, and a few others. John Cena also came in with some bearded man who I guess was his driver. Some fans then came up and told the girl and me that Booker T was just eating in IHOP, so I decided I'd go down there myself and see if anyone else was there.

I walked over to IHOP and had a look in before I was told I had to order something, so I bought a soda and then was politely told I should take it and leave, which I did. After that I decided to go back to the hotel, but since I couldn't go through the arena parking lot where we came in, I had no idea how to get back. Somehow I ended up getting lost and ended up on the interstate, which I knew was something I probably shouldn't be walking on but actually had no idea that it was illegal.

After walking on there for awhile, some road workers in a truck pulled up and told me it was illegal, and that I better not let a state trooper catch me or I'd get arrested. I was horrified and asked them for a ride, but they told me to just keep walking down to the toll booth, then I could get off and find my way back on a normal road. I did this and had a long walk down to the toll booth, feeling like a nervous wreck all the way. I ended up getting to a sign that told me I was going to Milwaukee and felt even more scared before I went into the toll booth building and asked this old man how to get out of there. The old man looked at me surprised and asked "How the HECK did you even get in here?" before he gave me directions of where to go and I finally got off the interstate.

I then ended up in some huge maze of trailer parks and walked for what felt like forever before getting into some suburban looking neighborhood, and finally back to the area the hotel was at. I was almost to the hotel when all I had to do was cross the street to get to it, but traffic was crazy and I couldn't see any areas where I could cross. I stupidly then waited for traffic to slow down before I RAN across the street and seen more cars coming up fast, almost hitting me, until I finally made it. Can you tell I don't live in a city?

I walked back into the hotel room exhausted before TF woke up and I told him about my tales of woe, which shocked him as much as the toll guy as to how I managed to do it. We then taped up my bag and relaxed for awhile before we watched a hilarious episode of The Simpsons, then headed over to the arena for RAW.

RAW was awesome, and while I knew the wrestling itself wouldn't be anywhere near what we had gotten at SHIMMER, it was a really entertaining show and alot of big things happened. The Rock was there for one, who it seemed like 80% of the audience was there just to see. Shawn Michaels was also there as a surprise, which I thought was awesome and I proceeded to go nuts when he came out. They filmed both NXT and Superstars before RAW so the fans were already a bit tired, but then they filmed Smackdown after RAW and most of the crowd was really burned out. It was a really fun night though and I loved getting to go there to cap off our trip.

After RAW we headed over to the same IHOP I went in earlier and we had a nice meal. We had a nice and hilarious black lady as our waitress, who we gave a good tip to just because she was so friendly and entertaining. I had the chicken fingers and fries and TF had some kind of meal with french toast and eggs. It was a very good meal and afterwards we went back to the hotel where we talked on MSN for awhile, webcammed, and saw some hilarious graphic of Kenny Rogers singing on the TV in the sky while a couple in the shadows looked up at his face. We really didn't want to go to bed that night, knowing it was our last one, but we were both tired and knew it was time to call it a day.



Tuesday March 29th, 2011
Tuesday morning was here and the mood in the air was somber. Despite all of the setbacks and bad times we had, the good times definitely outweighed them and we just overall had an awesome time out there with eachother and Joe. Those guys (and EFD) are more than just my best friends, I consider then my brothers. We've all known eachother for almost a decade, so getting to actually meet eachother in person and spend a week together last year was really an awesome experience for all of us and getting to do it again this year was just as awesome. It didn't matter what we did, all that mattered was that we got to hang out and bond like the family we are. This was our second trip, but it was far from our last.

TF and I checked out of the hotel and took a shuttle to the airport where my flight was leaving, and he had to take a train to the bus station to go back to Detroit. Thankfully he stayed with me for a few minutes and helped me get my boarding pass, as I was having alot of trouble with that machine, and then we said our goodbyes and gave eachother a hug before we went off in seperate ways again.

After that I went through security and went to my terminal to wait. I was already two hours early, which I wasn't crazy about but TF had a bus to catch and I didn't feel like sitting around at the hotel. I now wish I had done that as not only did I have those two hours, but I had the two hours after that that I was already going to be there waiting for the plane arrived, AND the flight ended up getting delayed which added on another hour. I sat in that terminal for five hours depressed about the trip ending and bored out of my mind, so I tried to pass the time by messing around on my phone and reading a book I had brought. I also spent my last ten dollar bill on some McDonalds there for lunch and spent my last three dollars period on a bottle of soda to drink. Yes, three dollars for a bottle of soda.

FINALLY at about 2 PM the plane left and I arrived in Boston about 5:30. My flight in Boston didn't leave until 7, but I was a bit nervous because of how long it took me to find my terminal last time, and my previous flight being delayed today really didn't give me much time. The flight from Chicago to Boston was nice by the way, they showed an episode of The Simpsons and I once again listened to some music on the plane headphones. They also upgraded me to a nicer seat with more foot room because it was so crowded.

When I got to Boston I RUSHED out to get on the bus and find my terminal, which thankfully wasn't a problem at all this time as I remembered exactly where it was. The bus ride was actually nice this time, as I wasn't stressed out and got to enjoy seeing the view of Boston, which is a really nice city. I made it to my terminal just in time when I saw CNN on the TV there and saw something about a US Airways plane being shot down. This wasn't the most comforting of things to see, as I was, you know, about to fly on a US Airways plane. I also was the only person even at the terminal, which was weird. I didn't expect many people to be flying to Presque Isle, Maine...but that was ridiculous.

A few people (mostly old people) showed up though and the small group of us got on the plane for my last plane ride of the trip. The plane from Boston to Maine is really small so it can be kind of crammed, but it was a nice and relaxing plane ride and I enjoyed seeing the sun set over Boston before it turned to night as I was in the air. About two hours later I got home and saw my Mom and Sister at the airport waiting for me. I gave them both a hug and told them I missed them and was glad to be home, which I was, but there's also a part of me still in Chicago. After I got home I talked to the guys on MSN and much like last time, we were in agreement that we'd be going back sooner than later.

Until next time...

[DA HOME GUY]

My Thursday night was filled with not a lot of sleep because I was anxious to get back out to Chicago. I also had thoughts of the weekend that was going to be ahead along with remembering the last time I went out there. So while that was awesome to do, it wasn't the smartest move when I needed to be up at 7 in the morning on Friday. The rain pouring didn't help since it was distracting and worried me a little that my flight would get delayed. The time finally came to get ready and I made sure everything was packed in my bag. My bag was filled to the top because I was a Californian going out to Chicago, which was in the 30's-40's for weather. I watched an episode of Saved By The Bell: The College Years before it was time to go. However...my grandmother asked if I had the cell phone I was taking. Doesn't ask this earlier or the night before, she asks literally when the cars started and we're about to leave. So here I go, putting down my MP3 Player and headphones on the couch near the front door. I take my bag to my room (to avoid waking up my little brother and sister) and rummage through it to try and find the phone. Which I do find in the bag when it should be in my pocket, duh. Anyways, it's out the door in the rain in a green plaid sweater, which made me seem like a lumberjack. It's in the car I realize, I left my headphones and MP3 on the couch back at home. Now the MP3 is no problem, I have my PSP. However I need the headphones or else that royally messes me up after loading a bunch of audio on my PSP. So rain, lack of headphones and my grandmother ranting at me about picking a better time of the year to take my trip next time consist of my morning.

We're heading to the airport and then the train signs come down while we're at a stop light and this long train begins to cross the road. My grandparents get antsy since we're cutting it close to time, which leads to my grandfather taking a right turn and going down the road to take another one. Only to lead to...a dead end. So he turns around to go down another road...only to lead to...you guessed it, a dead end. That loses us some time but we finally get on the right path to the airport and I head inside to print my boarding pass. That goes smoothly but my grandfather has still yet to park and come in the airport. So I'm in line to head up the escalator and thankfully he makes it in just before I go up so I can say my goodbyes, much like I did the last time. One final wave once I get to the top and then the weekend officially begins. I head through security which wasn't too bad and then find a tech shop which has headphones. I ended up paying about 20 bucks after tax for them...not the best start to spending my money but essential for a four hour plane ride. I got to the gate for my flight just as they were boarding the A people, I was in C. Not TOO late but cutting it close to taking a chance. Anyways, I get on, in between a man with glasses and a huge book near the window and a nice guy who resembled a brown haired Brett Kimball (one of you will get that). It was a good flight, we got there early. I get off the plane and end up heading to the baggage claim where last time I met up with Chad and TF. I didn't want to bother using the cell phone because it was new, I didn't know how to work it and I didn't really want to waste money calling a long distance number since they had told me they would be at the airport. I walk around that whole area for about, fifteen to twenty minutes looking for them. Along the way, I see who I believe was Cheerleader Melissa:

http://img859.imageshack.us/img859/3694/wweshows025.jpg

Eventually I don't see the guys, so I end up calling Chad on my cell phone. Turns out, he and TF couldn't find a train to get there. So he tells me to get a cab and some other things that I couldn't hear because someone decided to start speaking over the speakers as soon as I'm talking to him. I can't hear him, I'm a little frustrated at this point with everything seemingly being frustrating and this guy shows no sign of stop speaking on the speakers so I try to say bye and hang up but in the confusion, I wasn't heard with the bye so that came off wrong. Then I head out and get a cab which takes me to the Rodeway. No Chad or TF outside, I check into my room and go to walk to it before I see Chad staring out the window like he was ready to kill me. I just want to put my stuff down in my room but of course, my key doesn't work. So I go over to Chad and TF's room. I knock a couple of times and no answer with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Not the day to be messing with me so I keep knocking, the door opens and then things start to settle in and simmer down. A few minutes after discussing what we were going to do, I head back to the check in place and talk about my key. This fellow SHIMMER fan asked if I was there for the same reason he was, to which I agreed and shook his hand. He had In and Out Burger, which was a tempting smell given all I had to eat that day was a biscuit. Little did I know, TF would see this same man change his shirt in a garbage can during the SHIMMER shows. I...shook hands with him. I'll pretend I didn't hear about that, he was a nice guy after all.

I head back to the room with Chad and we check out my room. This leads to us eventually going back with TF and agreeing that it's time to hit the train. Well, I didn't plan out ahead well enough because it was freezing cold for me, even coming from a place of rain and gloom. To show how foreign cold weather is to me, after passing the **** Robin restaurant and Irish Times pub...I thought salt on the ground was leftover snow. I had no idea they threw salt on the ground for whatever reason with the snow and at that point, I was freezing enough to just not feel overly stupid about that. So we have to wait for the train and I'm already freezing. Especially my ears despite having a hood, it just wasn't thick enough. That was a small hint of what was to come later on. The train comes and we ride up on the second level of it. That was an interesting and different thing for me, riding on a train for the first time ever. It was fun to see all the different parts of Chicago and very fun to be in the heated train rather than the freezing cold. Until we arrived at our destination. Then we headed outside by bridge with water, that didn't help warm things up. Thankfully, Willis Tower was right across the street so it wasn't too far of a walk. I also laughed at TF and Chad warning me about homeless people asking for change. I never got approached once and I don't think they did that time either.

So it was off to Willis Tower, which was a pricy admission fee but given that I thought it was going up to the tower and that's it, it offered a little more to make me justify dropping more money. There was a hilarious moment where TF was sitting on this glass box (Cole Mine type of deal) that had nothing underneath it but the glass, you were in air. I faked Chad out to think I was jumping when I was really just moving my legs and body like I was. The one thing I did not like abouy that place...was the line to get out. It took a long time to get out of there and in a small world moment, the guy that was behind us actually ended up next to us at the shows over the weekend. From San Francisco, no wonder he loved Cheerleader Melissa and Sara Del Rey. Californians, represent. Well, TF might not agree with what happened the next day (let's just say a little spitting went on but we think he had a speech problem so all is good). After Willis, came the Navy Pier. Now, I had looked forward to the prospect of Navy Pier but I couldn't stay the extra day. Chad and TF enjoyed it so much they wanted to go back so we did and well, it was both a good and a bad experience. Good in seeing a cozy place but it being by this large body of sea in freezing cold night time weather, really took it's toll on me. I had never felt so cold in my life and they wanted to go on the ferris wheel. We did and by the time we got to the top, I thought I was going to die of frost bite. My face and my wears felt frozen and I was scared if I had punched myself, I might have shattered. I like ferris wheels but I'm not sure I had the most fun I could have on that thing given how cold I was. Chicago by Frank Sinatra was playing, which I found humorous given how upbeat that song sounded compared to how I felt at that moment.

Once that ride was over, we went inside to this garden where I never felt better to be going inside of a heated place. Then we went to get IMAX tickets for Sucker Punch. Now, it all turned out good but given that at this point I spent about 80 some dollars for all of this stuff already, I couldn't help but feel that Sucker Punch not in 3D was a rip off for paying about 50 some dollars for three tickets. At this point, I'm starting to worry that I'm spending money way too fast and way too quick. Which lead to us going to McDonalds which calmed me down a bit. It was an enjoyable meal and then we headed into the theater to see one of the most bizarre movies any of us ever saw. Sucker Punch was a movie that I couldn't summarize or even understand myself but it had it's hilarious moments. Including the beginning, a scene with the Mayor and the Cook. I'm forgetting some stuff but that movie was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen and given that we were the only ones cracking up at some parts. I'm thinking a bunch of High School Musical fans went to see this and found themselves in shock of what was going on with scenes of war, death, shooting and pedophillia going on. After the movie, we went to the train station to head back but ended up missing the train that left just as we got there. This meant that we had to wait an hour in the train station and I nearly got driven insane by this woman's voice going "Track 12, track 14" for literally an hour straight. Finally the train came and I couldn't say sorry enough to both Chad and TF the next day and days to follow. Because I was probably the most miserable person on that train. I was cold and tired from the day that had taken it's toll on me and I looked every bit of it judging from what they told me. Once we got back to the hotel, I went to my room and showered before catching Selena on TV. Nothing else was on so I ended up falling asleep to Selena. I gotta admit, it was kind of nice falling asleep to "I Could Fall In Love" even if the show movie ended with her being shot and killed by one of her best friends. Yeah, I know.

The next day I woke up at about 9 AM, energized and ready to go. Chad and TF were the tired ones after being on the trip for so long but it was off to Saturday's SHIMMER tapings. I was hyped, ready and prepared to cheer. Unfortunately, being tired caught up to me too during the tapings after a while due to the day before and not geting as much sleep as I anticipated due to the train delay. However, we all came alive after a while and had an awesome time, to which were introduced to the Knights. I knew of Britani and Saraya Knight before hand but they were even more impressive than I had seen. An awesome mother/daughter duo from the UK that ended up both entertaining and terrififying the crowd. Saraya was the mother who reminded me of Cruella Deville in the way she walked and carried herself to the ring. At one point, she flipped TF's captain hat off the top of his head. That's a lady you don't want to mess with. Chad also heard her talking at the afterparty about ripping someone's eye socket out. Still think that wrestlers couldn't take MMA fighters in legit competition? Screw your favorite MMA fighter, Saraya Knight would rip them apart with just her stare. We also got to see Jessie McKay and Portia but Chad and I were saddened when our girls lost. In fact, my girl lost all four tapings and lost her tag title at the first. Cheating ensued, screwjobs ensued. It was unfair I tell, you, unfair. After the shows, we headed to the after party, which was a lot better and more relaxed than last time. As Chad informed me that Portia was outside, I headed over since ha and TF were near their girls (not to mention Chad was focused on Jessie earlier and I took his attention off of her) so I didn't want to feel like I was forcing them along. Portia and I talked for a few minutes, in between I was introduced to a camera man and editor of the shows, who was nice to talk to. It was one of the more delightful times I had on the trip until she had to go get something to eat. At that point, I went back to find Chad and TF, we left not too long afterwards across the street to the grocery store. That was interesting since we got to spend longer in there this time unlike the last time we went in for only a couple of minutes.

It was back to the hotel room where we ended up staying up until 4 AM. Not the smartest of moves since we had to get up about the same time the next morning with the Sunday tapings starting an hour earlier. Sunday was a tired and groggy day for us all. We headed to the shows and stood in line while waiting for the doors to open. Thankfully, this day wasn't as cold so I didn't have to layer up as much and freeze up as much. The shows themselves were once again, amazing and I always have the time of my life at them. Chad and TF were alive at first but I could tell the trip was starting to wear on them. It started to wear on me too with the lack of sleep but I realized it was the last day I would have this for a while. So I cheered as hard as I could despite how I felt and took in all of the action, having an amazing time. By the time we left, I was energtic and felt wide wake. It was off to the Sunday afterparty. We stood towards the dance section of the club but I felt cramped back there and the music was a little loud for my liking being so close so I took a walk. Eventually TF joined me and we commenced singing "Just a Friend" by Biz Markie when it started playing for the weirdest moment maybe of the trip for me. Followed by another weird moment when we turned around and Portia was right there behind us, without us knowing. This lead to us talking for a couple of minutes but unfortunately she had an early flight and had to go. However, even just talking to her that little bit was awesome enough to me. I got a picture with her and she was on her way before TF and I found Chad after we went outside for a bit. After we went back inside, things started to smooth out. The girls starting getting wild and so did the guys for that matter, with Rick Astley (not the real one but a look a like) doing some dancing fo his own with Chad and TF (who had their own crazy moves, I can vouch). I stood there a while watching Chad and TF dance amongst the girls and other guys. I was estactic to see Chad and TF dancing near Jessie and Britani at one point. However like I said earlier, that music was too loud for me to be too close to so I headed back to the front of the club where the TVs had the Mavericks and Suns game. I also got a goodbye from Christina Von Eerie, which was really nice of her. She was impressive over the weekend and seemed like a nice person so she gets my nod of approval. I sat and watched the game as time went on while noticing TF across the club doing the same with the TV's on the other side. Rick walked past me a few times and even had an incident where one of the girls almost punched him. He seemed out of it.

Once TF and Chad had finished their dancing for the night, we headed out and got a cab back to the hotel. We were all tired and headed to bed rather earlier because we had to be up at 7 the next morning. I couldn't even sleep because I kept thinking about the day and night itself. I would try and sleep and these thoughts would fill my head again and again. All in all, I probably got maybe 3-3 1/2 hours of sleep. That leads us into Monday, which was a day to see. We were all tired out, we were all aware of the day ahead of us. We thought we had enough time and things were going smooth until just before the cab was due to arrive. TF had taken the hotel key to get breakfast while I was supposed to check out. TF went to the bathroom to use it before we left and I had no idea where the key was. This lead to me freaking out and asking TF for the key. Poor TF doing his business, ended up having to tell me various places it could be with me failing. Eventually I find it...under a paper plate. I check out and dash to the cab while Chad and TF join me once they're done. Then it was to the airport with no time to spare because I was cutting it close with time once again. Me and low time do not mix, I'm someone that has to be early or else I freak out and make mistakes. I had forgotten where to print my ticket. Forgotten where to go to head to security. My goodbye to Chad and TF was brief but I was really scared I was going to miss my flight. I shuffled through security and tried to get by as fast as possible before heading quickly to my gate. I made it just as they were starting to board the B. This time I was the end of C so my seat chocies were really limited. I sat next to a nice old lady and an old man that wasn't quite as pleasant. He would take up part of my seat to sleep and randomly open the window blinds at points to try and blind me with light after having it closed. It wasn't too bad of a flight but I was really tired at this point and just wanted to be home. I landed on time this time unlike last time where I got delayed. The trip was over and I headed back to my grandparents car for the ride home, ending quite the weekend that I'm for sure never forgetting.

[Stormtracker TF]

Great writeups, gentlemen. Going to start on mine now, it's been great reliving that epic week. Already miss you guys and the great city of Chicago.

[Stormtracker TF]

First off, I just want to say that this last week was more epic and awesome than I ever could’ve imagined, and as mentally and physically drained as I am right now I would gladly do it all over again tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to getting all of the pictures and videos up, there was a lot of good stuff that we got on film that we didn’t last time around. I'd also like to thank Chad and Joe for making this trip possible, you guys are the best.

Now for my side of the story.

Day One, Wednesday

To say this day got off to a long and rough start would be an understatement. I tried my best to get a good night’s sleep, but after waking up 3 different times in spite of being dead tired, I decided around 4:00AM to finally put that idea to rest and get ready for the long trip ahead of me. After shaving and showering and all of that stuff, I got my bags and headed out to catch the bus downtown just before 7:00AM. At this point it was absolutely pouring rain and the wind was just howling out there. I not only was soaked by the time I got downtown, but my umbrella had also been torn by the winds. Not the best way to start off my day by any stretch of the imagination, but my spirit was still high.

Once I got downtown I checked in and called my pal Chad and we chatted for a bit while I waited, but I let him go because it was pretty loud in the bus terminal and he was still getting ready for his flight. About 45 minutes later the bus rolled in and I was on the road to Chicago again. Well, Toledo, actually, since the only bus running at that hour was from Washington, D.C. to Chicago and I had to first get to Toledo and then transfer.

To my horror, this bus was really old and dirty albeit mostly empty, which was more than I could say about the next bus, but we’ll cross that unpleasant bridge when we get to it.

After making it to Toledo, I was sad to learn that Elizabeth Taylor had died. Everyone there seemed really shocked when it broke so it was kind of a surreal moment. Then, moments later they break in saying there was a bus bombing in Jerusalem, which did not calm my nerves in any way shape or form. I realize this was on the other side of the globe, but I’m a very paranoid man as my friends Chad and Joe would learn many times during this trip.

Soon I would see my next bus pulling into the terminal and was very pleased to see it was one of the new Greyhound buses with Wi-Fi and electrical outlets, but this excitement would soon turn to horror as I seen the entire bus was full except for one seat and it was way at the back near the bathroom and some old man was sleeping in his seat as well as the one reserved for me. I woke him up (which I later would learn was one of the worst decisions of my life) and proceeded to sit down. For the next 5 hours I would be relentlessly tortured by this man and his complete and total disregard for personal space. I knew this bus ride was going to nearly be a TOTAL loss when I opened up my laptop, plugged it in, and the first words out of his mouth were “Must be Utah.” as my background picture loaded. It wasn’t long before the man had me looking up random crap on the internet and started reading my Twitter. Needless to say, I promptly put that computer away and conceded myself to the idea that I would be listening to this amusing if not incredibly overbearing man for a good part of my day. To make matters worse, the toilet in the bathroom on the other side of the bus was malfunctioning and it smelled like the fumes of a thousand Greyhound passengers were being pumped into my airspace by an industrial ventilation machine.

One of the best parts of the bus ride to Chicago was the rest stop because I was actually able to use my laptop in peace while he went to eat at Hardee’s out in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, but that moment of quiet relaxation was quickly cut short when he returned and continued his stories about working in a bank in the 1980’s. Luckily he got off at the next stop, also in the middle of nowhere in Indiana, and I was finally alone and able to get some quality internet time in on the road.

I pretty much just checked Twitter, Facebook, and listened music, but I also posted on SO just to say I did so from a bus in a cornfield. That was a pretty strange moment, actually…I was in a bus in one of the most desolate areas of the great lakes region surfing the web. It was pretty cozy watching a Nickelodeon special about Victoria Justice as I patiently awaited my arrival in the windy city.

Not long after that, I finally could see Chicago and its beautiful skyline appearing in the distance through the fog and low clouds. After such a long and uncomfortable trip it was even more of a sight to see. I got off the bus, walked to the Clinton subway station and without much further ado I started my trek to Chicago O’Hare Airport to pick up Chad. I actually kind of enjoyed the ride after being cramped up in a bus with nothing to see for so long, but by the time I got to O’Hare I was really starting to get burned out on this whole travel thing. At least it was a pretty straightforward trip, I just walked out of the train station and found some place to sit and…wait, which I would do a lot of for the next three hours awaiting Chad’s arrival. I thought this would be a good time to call my Mom and let her know I made it there fine since she’s as paranoid as me (I guess I got it SOMEWHERE) and then I took a nap. This sounds kind of crappy but it was actually pretty refreshing after being stuck on a bus the entire morning.

I was awoken by a text from Chad saying his plane landed which was a VERY welcome sight after fearing for the worst when I saw all of the flights from Boston to Chicago were delayed for hours due to bad weather in the area, but as it turns out I was in the wrong terminal and that’s why his flight wasn’t up on the tracking board. He hurried on over and we met up in the baggage claim which was a great moment seeing him again, we shared horror stories about our trips thus far and started our journey downtown which was very quiet seeing as both of us only had one thing on our minds, and that was crashing at the hotel as soon as humanly possible after such a hectic day. We slowly made our way back into the city and enjoyed a pleasant walk through the busy and foggy streets as the sun set. After that, it was back on another train, but this time we were taking a Metra so we had to stop at Chicago Union Station to get our tickets. My Dad used to tell me stories about the old train station when I was a kid, so that was pretty neat to see it in person. After a bit of confusion a nice lady helped us find our train and we were on our way to the hotel. This train was much cozier than the regular “L” trains so that was nice.

After one last short walk from the train to our hotel (and past this hilarious abandoned diner called “**** Robin” we were finally back to our home away from home, THE RODEWAY INN. What a great feeling it was to walk inside of our room and unwind after an incredibly tiring day on the road. After we were all unpacked and I was able to get a nice warm shower, we decided to order some pizza from Domino’s, which Chad had never had before. I looked up their menu online and we decided to just order online right there, and that pizza turned into popcorn chicken, cheesy bread, chocolate cake and THEN a pizza. That was a good $40 out of our pocket right then and there, but the meal would prove well worth it.

Chad and I both thought it would be a great/hilarious idea to film the pizza delivery guy bringing us the food, but as Chad opened the door and I began filming things started to go south. Chad handed the guy the money and as I stood closer to get a better shot of the transaction the guy pointed at me and stormed off leaving us with the pizza. I’m pretty sure he was just in a bad mood or upset we didn’t give him some big tip, but Chad was really taken aback and was sure all night that he was going to come back and murder us. Putting that behind me, we devoured the well-earned feast and enjoyed every bite of it.

After getting on the webcam for a bit and chatting with Joe among others, who would be coming out on Friday, we kicked back and watched Conan before bed. Looking back now is kind of funny, since during that episode of Conan Vanessa Hudgens was on there promoting her new movie “Sucker Punch” and The Miz was also a guest, and both of them would end up being huge parts of the trip. When Conan ended we were about to turn in when, in one of the most random and hilarious moments of the trip, we stumbled on this movie called “Waiting To Exhale” on HBO about a bunch of black women and their sex lives, it was one of the most hilarious things either of us had ever watched but for all of the wrong reasons. We ended up watching the ENTIRE movie before finally falling asleep around 3:30AM. An incredibly long and stressful day ended on a high note.

Day Two, Thursday

With lots of fun ahead of us, we woke up around 10:00AM and got dressed, then headed off to the zoo. It was a little chilly, but at least it was sunny unlike the day before. At first I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a really fun experience. We saw lots of different animals like hippos, rhinoceroses, kangaroos, monkeys, camels, snakes, turtles among other things…but the best part was getting to stand up close to a polar bear who was swimming and going nuts right next to me and Chad with only a glass wall between us.

Once we had our fill of exploring the animal kingdom, it was time to hit the Navy Pier. We took a cab around downtown and it was actually pretty fun just driving around the city, but the real fun would be had at the Pier where we first hit up McDonalds which was called “Future McDonalds” or something like that. Awesome atmosphere. We headed over to the Ferris wheel after we finished our McMeal, and it was way bigger and more awesome than any Ferris wheel I’ve ever been on before. This one had an amazing view of the Chicago when you were at the top, and actually was a little scary at first being SO high up. It was a little bit of a bummer when the ride was over since it was so fun to be at the top, but it lasted around ten minutes so at least you get your money’s worth.

The rest of the afternoon was pretty much spent exploring Navy Pier and relaxing by the water, although we did find this empty theater at the very end of the pier and goofed around on the stage for a little bit. We decided to check out the IMAX there after a long walk around the entire length of the pier, and saw they were showing some Disney movie called “Mars Needs Moms” in 3D, and decided to buy tickets in spite of the high price. You only live once, right?

We checked out all of the shops and just hang out until show time, and man was going to see this movie ever worth it if just for the IMAX 3D experience. The film actually was kind of an odd concept, but it was enjoyable and looked incredibly realistic with the glasses, at times it literally felt like you should be able to walk into the screen and actually touch stuff. It was really amazing.

We left that theater pumped about the experience and decided it was so worth the money, we were going back the next day to see “Sucker Punch” with Joe, which was pretty funny since we were just talking about that movie over Conan who had Vanessa Hudgens on promoting it.

We took one last trip through the lobby where I accidentally splashed a young couple while being a fool in some fountain, and then got on the ferris wheel again as the sun was setting, cozy way to end a cozy day at Navy Pier.

On the way back to the train station we had a pretty cozy cab ride too, driving around downtown at night was nice. When we got to Union Station we were confronted by a large crowd of bums asking for money, which lead to a somewhat funny moment when Chad offered $3 to some lady claiming she needed it for bus money to Minnesota, and that opened the door for every bum that side of the Chicago River to feel obligated to receive some of Chad’s money. Obviously, the buck stopped there after I shoved a dollar in one of their faces and said that was all we had now. I later on explained to Chad that 75% of them were probably going to use that money on crack, but you live and you learn. That’s life in a big city.

When we made it back to our hotel we both decided it would be best to get some grub before bed, so we had dinner at this cozy little diner down the road not far from the epic Back in the Day Café from the last trip. This was where one of the worst moments of the actual trip happened for me, when the hot, blonde waitress girl with a strange accent asked me if I wanted a box for my fries and I told her yes as if she was just reading my mind. She brought the box with a smile, I thanked her, put my fries in there, and as I reached into my pocket to give her a tip (basically for being hot) before I can even look up from my wallet I see that Chad has run off to pay the bill and is leaving. Seeing as I’m terrible in situations where I’m rushed, I automatically panic and go over to ask him where he’s going, leaving my fries on the table. As I go to do this, the hot waitress proceeds to hand me my fries and tell me that I forgot them making me feel like the greatest idiot to ever walk the face of the earth. She was actually very pleasant and not condescending in the least, quite the contrary actually. I just am an easily stupefied young man and stood there for like five minutes before just handing the cash register man a few dollars and telling him to give it to my waitress. I will go on with my life forever knowing that man probably spent it on a stripper in a seedy club on the outskirts of town while the attractive young Russian woman who served me sleeps in a box somewhere on Cermak with her abusive boyfriend.

The fries ended up in the trash later that night, much like a large portion of my soul, and so ended that chapter of the story.

Day Three, Friday

Not wanting to carry our luggage all over Chicago like our miserable first day experience, me and Chad booked another hotel room for the day since ours was already reserved once we left, and moved all of our things downstairs to our new room. We had planned to go meet up with Joe at the airport and THEN head back to the hotel, and in hindsight that sounds like an even more stupid idea than it did then, but it didn’t matter anyways because the train to O’Hare wasn’t even leaving until way after Joe made it here so we just went back to the hotel and waited for him to either call or just show up. I ended up just getting in some much needed shuteye before being awakened by Chad peering out the window with a look of pure disdain as Joe arrived in a cab.

I got dressed and it was now time for an epic night on the town in the greatest city in the world. We hopped on the train to downtown as the sun set in what would turn out to be Joe’s first ever ride on one. Once we were downtown yet again, we walked to the Willis Tower and got in line for tickets up to the Skydeck. They were pretty pricy which kind of turned off Chad big time, and he was sure to let me know about it, but after waiting in a long line, going through tons of security, and a monumental elevator ride up over 100 floors, we finally were at the top and even Chad had to admit that it was awesome. We hung out there for about an hour just looking down at the city lights; man is that ever an epic view. It definitely was a very memorable moment and turned out to be one of the funnest parts of the trip, especially when we goofed off in the skyboxes.

When we got back down to the first floor we went and found a cab and were off to Navy Pier again to show Joe how awesome of a place it was. Immediately after arriving we went over to the ferris wheel and got on it yet again, and it probably was the most fun of the three since it was at night and everything was all lit up. “California Boy” Joe did NOT take well at all to the freezing cold temperatures up at the top and was cowering in the corner of the car in a futile attempt to stay warm. Me and Chad both were laughing at this, but I actually felt bad for the guy. Regardless it was a really fun experience and we can now say we rode the ferris wheel in the daytime, at sunset, and at night.

We all ran inside as soon as we got back to the bottom since Joe was now probably as cold as he ever will be in his Californian life, and had a quick bite to eat at the awesome McDonalds on the pier before going back to the IMAX to see “Sucker Punch”, and man oh man was that movie ever out there. I still to this day have no idea what the point of the film even WAS, but there definitely was no shortage of action. The only words I can even think to describe it is “steam punk” because I guess it was supposed to take place in the 1940’s or 50’s yet in an alternate universe where they had the technology of 2011. The best part was this absolutely hilarious scene with “The Mayor” coming in to see a show with the girls dancing and stripping or something while some weird rap music played. All three of us were cracking up badly at it and it will surely live on forever in our group of friends as one of the funniest things of all time. I actually really liked the movie as strange as it was, and it was AWESOME seeing hottie Vanessa Hudgens in IMAX, but it’s legacy will likely be how randomly hilarious we all thought it was…which may or may not be a good thing.

We were back off to the Rodeway after the movie, it had gotten pretty late by then and we had another cozy cab ride through downtown Chicago to the train station where we ended up missing the train back to the hotel and had to wait for about an hour for next one. I thought it was a pretty cozy moment sitting in a mostly empty train station at 1:00AM with Chad and Joe, listening to some tunes on my iPod. Although, Chad was driven half mad by the computer repeating track numbers over the intercom system nonstop for the entire wait. The train ride back was pretty relaxing too after such a fun filled day, and I went to bed pretty much as soon as we got back to the hotel.

Day Four, Saturday

The day started off somewhat early since the first two of four SHIMMER tapings started that afternoon, so I snuck all of me and Chad’s stuff over in to Joe’s hotel room while Chad checked out, came off without a hitch despite Joe’s horror that we would be caught sneaking three people into a one person room. With all of our luggage tucked away safely, we watched some Hannah Montana while I got ready for the day. Shortly after that we took a cab down to the Berwyn Eagles Club and got in line by the doors. It was pretty cold with all of the wind, but the sun made it bearable. Me and Chad were both starving so we headed over to the Mr. Submarine down the street and had a bite to eat there at the now famous “JERK” table that we sat at last time around. In true SHIMMER fashion the doors opened 45 minutes late and everyone was getting quite restless, but at least it was nothing like the two hour wait we had last year.

I can’t lie, once we got to our seats the effects of sleeping 3 hours a night after insanely long days hit me like a rock. There were several times during the first half of the first taping where I dosed off for a second and was in complete misery, but in the second half things really picked up. Especially after Rebecca Knox returned to SHIMMER to announce she would be managing the Knight Dynasty, who would made their SHIMMER and U.S. debut moments later. I knew about them before the show since I had talked about the SHIMMER newcomers with Chad and Joe not long after our last trip, but I was totally caught off guard with how cute and hilarious Britani was. Actually, Britani, Saraya and Rebecca Knox all were entertaining as heck and definitely now one of my favorite parts of SHIMMER, I hope they become mainstays at the tapings from now on. The crowd absolutely HATED them, which was a job well done seeing as they were heels. Portia Perez and Jessie McKay, more of my favorites kept me awake for the rest of the first taping before crashing hard again after another very slow start in the second taping.

But before I get to that, I had another monumental “TF is an idiot” moment at intermission when I was caught in the stampede of people trying to get pictures and autographs with the girls. I’ll give a little bit of background since this will probably make no sense unless I do. For some reason we all thought it’d be a great idea for me to wear a captain’s hat to SHIMMER that day, so I did. Yeah, I know…me and my friends are weird. Anyway, I ended up waving at Britani since she was right next to me, which got her attention a little more than I had hoped. Instantly after seeing me she yelled out in the most adorable British accent “I SEE YOU OVER THERE, CAPTAIN! I’LL GET TO YOU IN A MINUTE, COME ON OVER!” which would have been great, but seeing that I had absolutely no money on me and Chad and Joe were both stuck in the crowd on opposite sides of the building, I ended up cowering in fear and hiding until I could get back to my seat, where I spent most of the first half of the second show wallowing in my own sorrow over not having $5 to give to the adorable British girl who called me Captain. That Captain’s hat would become even more legendary later that night when Britani’s mother Saraya came out and scowled at me before knocking my hat off and flinging it into the crowd. I considered this a warning that if I tried to make a move on her daughter, or acted like I was going to give her money again and instead hid like a scared rat, I would be murdered in my sleep.

Feeling extra excited to cheer Britani on after being a complete and utter FOOL moments earlier, I made sure to give her the love she deserved since the crowd was really laying it on…especially this old man behind me who was pestering me all night. I made sure to “accidentally” step on his foot several times and whack him in the face with my sweater as I casually placed it over my shoulder. Other than him our section was mostly pro-Knight Dynasty, I even started a few chants including “LEAVE BRITANI ALONE” which became quite a big hit over the weekend.

After a long day of wrestling we rushed on over to the after party and hung out there for a while. It was fairly uneventful, but I did get to meet Britani there. I told her how awesome she was at the show which she responded to with something like “Awww, thanks. That’s sweet, it’s nice to meet you.” And then she shook my hand. Unfortunately the night did not go as well for Chad who really wanted to get to talk to Jessie and for the most part didn’t. California Boy Joe outdid all of us by chatting it up with his BFF/Wife Portia for what seemed like an hour but probably wasn’t.

Since the real after party madness wasn’t going down until Sunday night, we decided to call it quits until then and head over to the grocery store across the street just to walk around and see what there is to see because, you know, grocery stores are awesome. Most of the grocery store experience consisted of me and Joe trying to cheer up Chad as “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter played which lead to a sad if not cozy moment.

We took a cab back to the hotel and Chad and I finished off the night by taking a long walk down to Dunkin’ Donuts while Joe took a shower. I think we bought a box of like six donuts and ended up just eating them all right there in the shop, it was about 1:00AM now so the place was completely deserted except for us. The donuts were delicious, but I would later regret eating that as a meal.

After taking the long walk back to the hotel, me and Chad decided to set up our makeshift “beds” on the floor while Joe tried to get some shuteye. This REALLY did not work out well at all, but it did lead to a long night of talking about random crap before I finally decided that the floor thing was not going to work out for me and it was kind of a good thing I decided that because Chad needed a blanket and I just gave him the one I was using to “sleep” on. Me and Joe just shared the big bed while poor Chad slept on the floor in misery.

Day Five, Sunday

I slept a little bit too late this time around, so it was a race against time for me to shower, shave, and get otherwise presentable-looking since I was going to be around Britani again all night. To make things worse, just about the time we got back into line at SHIMMER for the second day those crazy donuts started to catch up to me and I needed to find a bathroom there and THEN…which was easier said than done. We looked all over the area and found a gas station run by a gigantic jerkwad who directed us to a bathroom that didn’t exist, so we ended up just bursting into a random Mexican restaurant and I RAN into the bathroom as fast as I could. I had to have been in there 10 or 15 minutes thanks to those donuts the night before. Dang you, you delicious and sugary treats.

Once I was finished doing my business, I opened the door and was greeted by Chad’s finger pointing directly at me as he scowled and shouted “YOU, OUT.” I was promptly shoved out of the bathroom as Chad slammed the door and took care of his own business. I blame that on the donuts as well.

After that very awkward moment we got back in line and met up with Joe again. These lines were getting VERY boring by now so we spent most of the time goofing off, singing, and taking pictures of each other being goofballs.

That night’s shows were way more exciting than last time around, but I was still starting to feel a major amount of burn from all of the sleepless nights I had up to that point. The first show was a blur thanks to that, but I got woke up real quick when Britani came out. All of my love for her during the shows seemed to pay off as she gave me high fives before and after her match with Mercedes Martinez. I finally got to make up for the day before at intermission and got a signed picture from her and her mom, who was actually extremely nice unlike her character in the ring. I told her about how awesome I thought it was when she knocked off my hat and she made a few jokes about it. I talked to Britani too, but if I remember right it was about skin peeling. Yeah, I know…we’re a perfect couple.

By the time the second show of the night was over both me and Chad were like zombies, but it was still really fun and sad to have SHIMMER over with until the fall.

But SHIMMER weekend wasn’t over yet, we still had the big after party ahead of us. We got there before pretty much anyone else which was great, and the cab driver on the way there actually remembered us from the last trip. Small world, eh? The night was filled with tons of music, dancing, and other various forms of pure insanity. According to Chad I really got DOWN out there on the dance floor, but I was really just kind of letting go out there and forgetting the fact that I would be leaving in a couple of days.

Needing a bit of a break from the drunken insanity going on inside the club, I went to out for a breather when I ran into Joe again, and what do ya know, he was talking with Mrs. Joseph Revilla herself. This actually made for a REALLY awkward moment as I was filming around the club when I bumped into him, and started filming his face like the goof I am without knowing Portia was standing right behind me. This transitioned into a kind of funny moment where I struggled to understand exactly what Joe was telling me to do as I fumbled around with his camera before finally getting a clue that he wanted me to take a picture. This is like the third time that’s happened to me with her, Portia just think I’m some weirdo who doesn’t know how to work a digital camera by now.

Once that was over with me and Joe said goodbye to Portia who is a really awesome girl and stepped outside with me for a bit of a break from the madness. We were met by Chad there and got into somewhat of an argument behind a dumpster in one of the more dramatic moments of the trip. Once that was all settled I went back into the club, caught the rest of the Suns/Mavs game. I actually am glad I went back in because I got to say hello to Britani and her Mom again and Britani gave me a fist pump. So adorable. After the game we decided to go back to the hotel .

Both me and Joe tried to cheer up Chad after his bummer of a night, but it didn’t seem to help the poor guy much. We ended up rushing to bed since Joe was going home in the morning, but I had a really hard time falling asleep. Being in large crowds is really not my thing and after an entire day of that the anxiety had really began to creep up on me. I ended up relaxing in the shower for a bit and talked to EFD on MSN afterwards for about an hour. I think I finally made it to sleep a little after 4:00AM.

Day Six, Monday

It would be an understatement to say Monday started off with a rude awakening, in more ways than one. After only 3 hours of sleep it was especially terrifying to be woken up by the clock radio playing what sounded like a police scanner at full blast. I reluctantly dragged myself out of bed and got ready for me and Chad’s final full day in the windy city, packed my things again, and soon we were on our way to Midway airport. Once we got there we helped Joe out a little with his boarding passes and all that and gave him our sad goodbyes before me and Chad got on a train back downtown. I got kind of lost down there for a little bit, which was quite a harrowing given it was rush hour in one of the biggest cities in the country and cold and windy as could be. After walking around for the better part of an hour downtown, which actually in its self was pretty cozy, we made it to our train to O’Hare. It was there where disaster struck once again. You see, back at the Rodeway we got tired of running out of soda, so Chad stocked up on a few 12 packs of Coke and Sprite, which he had to stuff into his bag as we left. I guess the weight from all the cans tore open the bottom of his luggage and there was soda spilling everywhere. Awkward.

But we could not let that get our spirits down, there was still much fun to be had on this trip and it was our last day. We made it to the Best Western at O’Hare and checked in, unpacked, and decided to head over to the arena to see if any of the wrestlers had come out or arrived yet. While Chad did that, I bought some GORILLA TAPE at the Target across the street to fix his bag, and then went back to the hotel for a much needed siesta. I woke up a few hours later to find a very worn and defeated Chad Doody sitting in the bed next to me, and he explained that he had just gotten lost walking on the interstate for hours after trying to find Booker T at IHOP. I really could not believe the story, I laughed so hard at the fact he didn’t really even know what a freeway was and that you weren’t supposed to walk onto one unless there was some kind of life or death emergency.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching The Simpsons and surfing the web on my laptop, then decided to walk over to the arena for RAW which thankfully was right down the street. Both of us had been given our fair share of travel, it was relaxing to just take a short walk.

Our seats to RAW were actually really nice, about 13 rows back or so. I was pretty excited to actually see the show live, but it got off to a majorly slow start since they filmed NXT before the show. I had actually gotten a pretty good amount of sleep in on Monday, and I STILL was nearly put to sleep by that. It wasn’t just me either, the crowd was chanting “this is boring” almost the entire time. I mean, they were having ARM WRESTLING MATCHES. People didn’t pay to come see something you could see in a bar somewhere for free, we want RAW.

Once Monday Night RAW went live, there was definitely no more sleepiness. The show was really high energy and had a lot of great dialogue between the guys. The crowd was on fire the whole time too, which made for a really fun experience.

After RAW they filmed Superstars and most of the crowd started to head for the exits. Me and Chad too left shortly after, but not until the show was wrapping up. From there it was on to IHOP where we sat in a cozy packed house and ordered our meals. I had my usual Stuffed French Toast with Blueberries and Eggs, Bacon and Hashbrowns. What a great way to cap off a great night.

We made it back to our hotel a little after midnight and since it was our last night in Chicago, we decided to make the most of it and went on the webcam for quite a while, goofing off with our friends back home which was a lot of fun. We also got to chat with Joe who we were definitely missing out there and had an epic pillow fight BATTLE. This went on well into the night and we fell asleep knowing that we had made the absolute most of our epic trip, while Kenny Rogers stared down from the clouds at sunset as a young couple sat watching atop a hill on our TV.

Day Seven, Tuesday

This was the day both me and Chad had been dreading since we got there, the day both of us would start our trek back to our respective homes. We didn’t waste any time getting ready, since we had to check out and catch a shuttle over to O’Hare where Chad would be boarding his flight in a couple of hours. The ride over there was nice, and after I helped Chad with his luggage and boarding pass we hugged, gave our well wishes, and then bid farewells before going our separate ways once again.

Back on the train it was on for me, and I got downtown just in time to get my boarding pass for the Greyhound to Detroit. Luckily for me there was no “Moleste” going on at the terminal this time and I boarded my bus in a timely manner without any hitches and was off to Toledo. We did make a stop in Howe, Indiana which is what I like to pretend Farmville is based off of. I ate at this really awesome fast food place called The Red Burrito and got some of their mini-chimis, which were delicious.

I made it home a couple hours early which was nice. After all, any time you can NOT walk around after dark in Detroit is a good idea. I really, really missed Chicago and my buddies but it was nice to be back home after yet another endless bus ride.

All in all, I definitely think this trip stacks up there with any great time I’ve had in my life. It was just nonstop action every day. I have to admit, at the start I was worried that this trip would pale in comparison to our last journey out to Chicago since it was SO special, but this one was just on another level. It was simply awesome to experience all of that with my best buds in the whole world, my only real regret is that EFD couldn’t make it. It make me really look forward to this fall knowing he’ll be there for it then.

And we WILL be back. Oh, we’ll be back.

[C Doody]

Excellent storytelling, my man. Greatly enjoyed reliving that week again.

I should mention that one thing we all forgot to include was on Wednesday night, we found out on Twitter that Hilary Duff had been in the very airport we were just in and had been there all day. As most of you know, both TFio and myself have a history with her and were quite saddened that we didn't get to meet her. :(

[Stormtracker TF]

Excellent storytelling, my man. Greatly enjoyed reliving that week again.

I should mention that one thing we all forgot to include was on Wednesday night, we found out on Twitter that Hilary Duff had been in the very airport we were just in and had been there all day. As most of you know, both TFio and myself have a history with her and were quite saddened that we didn't get to meet her. :(
Can't believe I forgot that. That was wild.

[DA HOME GUY]

Awesome blogs guys, I enjoyed reading them. It made me feel like I was right there alongside for those days I missed. It also let me remember some of the details I missed and some of the things that I wasn't around for.