All of my extended weekend plans got cancelled due to events and weather. Originally we had planned to drive to Omaha, Nebraska on Thursday. The plan was to visit the Omaha Zoo on Friday, then drive to Des Moines, Iowa, and visit their zoo on Saturday. Then we were going to stop in Galena, IL on Saturday, spend the night, and come home on Sunday. But as I was about to book the hotel for Omaha I found that almost all the rooms were booked which was odd, and then I learned the second largest rodeo in the U.S. was in town this weekend. So we decided to postpone that trip. No sense in driving five hours to Des Moines either, so the new plan was to spend a night in Galena.
Then Joe found out he had to work Thursday, so we pushed Galena to Friday.
Then Friday showed rain, so we pushed it to Saturday.
Then Saturday showed rain so we cancelled it altogether.
And that is how we ended up not going anywhere new this weekend. We saw a couple of movies, and went downtown yesterday to the planetarium, but that’s about it.
I haven’t been to the planetarium in over a decade so I didn’t recognize the inside at all because it has been completely renovated. And while it’s much more interesting than it used to be, it’s still pretty boring. The only reason we even decided to visit was because it was a “free” day. Of course we still had to pay $10 per person per show; there’s really no point visiting if you’re not going to see a show since the exhibits don’t keep your attention for very long. We saw Journey to the Stars which was an interesting look at how the stars and galaxies were formed. We also saw 3D Vision: Imaging the Universe which was just ok. The 3D effects weren’t very impressive, actually. Between parking and the cost of the shows, our “free” day at the planetarium actually cost $55. I guess you can look at it as the cost of a lifetime since I really can’t see ever going back to the planetarium unless we’re able to look through their giant telescope as it’s the only thing that would warrant a repeat visit.
On the way home we stopped at a little dive in Des Plaines called Paradise Pup that had been featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. The place was packed so we waited in line longer than I ever have for a couple of burgers and onion rings, but they were pretty good.
Four days gone in a flash. Back to the grind.
Adler Planetarium photos at Flickr
