While the clouds roll through today, it was a beautifully sunny day yesterday… perfect for a bike ride up to where the “path ends” and back again. Such a pretty day pedaling north to the Great Lakes Naval Base, through Fort Sheridan, Openlands Lakeshore Preserve, the Chicago Botanic Garden and the Chicago River North Branch Trail.

Great fun to find my friends Allison & Terry at Openlands…
while he was busy trying to balance more rocks along the lakefront!

Remember when people would actually write cards, letters & postcards… well, we’re bringing it back!!! My friends Emma & Clayton have started a new program to get people writing again… THE POSTCARD CLUB. I just got my first packet of postcards with some of Emma’s cool photographs on them! Can’t wait to mail them out… but to who?… that’s the question!

For more info… https://thepostcardclub.com/

Looks like Kristy has been cooking up a bowl full of yumminess up in Wisconsin! I can almost taste it from here… thanks for sharing!

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a roadtrip… so I decided to head south for a pottery delivery from my last online Facebook sale! Sure, I could have shipped it… but if I did that I wouldn’t get MORE FUDGE!!! My friends Keith & Julie opened MAURIE’S CANDY in Eureka, Illinois so I thought it would be fun to surprise them with their new pottery! Surprise on me… they weren’t there!!!

But two of their employees Rob & Tracy were eager to accept the package, and sell me some more FUDGE!!! We had a great visit… but as I was leaving I thought I overheard them say something about “splitting it”??? Not sure what that means?!!!

Well, my friend Cheryl is still at it…
painting the boards in downtown Aurora after the riots with other artists & volunteers!

And lookey here…
now she’s apparently the COVER GIRL too!!!
Well done Cheryl… keep up the good work! YOU ROCK!!!

To see more of Cheryl’s “real” work, click here at www.cherylholz.com

After the protest, riots & destruction that swept through Aurora this weekend, my friend & amazing painter Cheryl Holz has spent the next couple days doing what she can to help her town recover. So of course… SHE’S PAINTING!

Making the town look alive, vibrant & open for business.
Trying her best to be part of the solution.
Making a difference.
Using her talent for a good cause.

Be sure to check out her amazing work at www.cherylholz.com.

Looks like Julie was enjoying her new blue bowl with a scrumptious hot fudge banana split this weekend!!! Looks yummy… and thanks for sharing your photo!

Yesterday I finally got to ride my bike with two of my cycling friends… from a safe social distance of course! Until now, I’ve only been riding solo! But we finally got to take Beckie on an adventure through the North Branch Bike Trail, up through some northern suburbs and up to Openland Lakeshore Preserve and then up to the Great Lakes Naval Base. It was a beautiful day & felt so good to get outside… pedaling safely with two of my IRONMAN friends… all the way up to “where the sidewalk ends.”

To close out my wonderful roadtrip through Central Illinois on Friday, I stopped off in Chenoa to see some longtime friends and their kids! SURPRISE!!! They had no idea I would be stopping by. So great to see them even if we did try to keep our distance while enjoying pizza & s’mores!!! It was a wonderful roadtrip “surprising” a bunch of my friends during these crazy times… as I know that I have definitely been missing human contact while quarantining my myself.

I mean, a ZOOM meeting doesn’t smell like a campfire and squish with yummy marshmallow & chocolate goodness!

And during these crazy times of quarantining & self-isolating… my friends in Bartonville have this wonderful wrought iron “welcome” sign takes on an all-important message! When this all calms down a bit, the sign can be rotated as the other side has the more traditional “Welcome”… but that might still be a while from now!