Geoffrey's trip of a lifetime!

Geoffrey has returned from his graduation trip with Grandpa Max. Wow, did they have a great time!! They packed as much as possible into the 5 days they had.

They left last Monday for Chicago. They arrived in the afternoon and enjoyed a trip to the Sear's Tower (the observation deck was on the 103rd floor and the elevator traveled 18 mph) and a fabulous steak dinner.

Tuesday was the day Geoffrey looked forward to...the had a tour of Oak Park, the home personal home of Frank Lloyd Wright and the surrounding neighborhood he designed. What a phenomenal (Geoffrey's word) tour that was. He really enjoyed soaking in the sights and seeing all of the great creative design lines that Frank Lloyd Wright is famous for. After this tour, the literally ran (OK, maybe jogged) 10 blocks to get to their next activity-a boat cruise along the Chicago River to see the Chicago skyline. The future architect in him loved seeing all of the great buildings along the water. Their busy Tuesday continued with tickets to go see Wicked, the broadway musical about the Wicked Witch of the West. Both Grandpa and Geoffrey really enjoyed this. They had fabulous seats and both came home with the soundtrack. It must have been good :) And just when you think this should be the end of the day, they made one more stop-The House of Blues. It is one of those experiences that you just have to take advantage of. It was a little "out of the box" for Grandpa, but since he is so fabulous about making memories with his grandkids and he realized that this was probably a once in a lifetime chance, they took the plunge. The food was not the greatest but that was not what they were there for. They were there to experience live music in a well-known venue. I think it was worth their effort.

Wednesday was much less busy. They decided to take the L Train (named this because it's elevated ). They decided to get off at the Merchandise Mart-a 3 million (yes, million) square foot shopping destination. They had everything you could image. They were only able to handle 2 of the 8 or so floors. What a shopping paradise! Then it was off to the airport to begin the second phase of the trip. Off to Arizona! Arriving in AZ in the afternoon, there was enough time remaining in the day to hit another shopping mall (Arizona Mills Mall) and have another great meal (Rainforest Cafe) and see a movie (Hellboy 2-can you believe it?). Then off to bed.

Thursday proved to be the second best day of the trip. They had a tour scheduled of Frank Lloyd Wright's design school and personal residence-Taliesin West. Again, another place where Geoffrey was just in awe of his great designs. And it was really exciting for him on this tour to be able to get up close and personal with the furnishings. He was able to sit on FLW's bed and try out a replica chair (the replica is valued at $4000-no wonder they don't use the original). This is where Geoffrey would like to attend after he graduates from Fresno State, so this was really exciting for him to see the grounds and anticipate what it might be like to be a student there (the students are not at this location right now-this is considered the winter site as it's too hot in AZ in the summer. Students are actually in Wisconsin right now).

Friday came and they were able to have a relaxed day. They filled their time visiting another mall and then it was time to get ready to come home.

This was a great trip for Geoffrey. It was filled with things that suit his personality perfectly from visiting famous buildings to seeing a great musical. This really was probably the best week of his life. And not only did he have a wonderful, fabulous, tremendous... time, he got to spend it with the person that he looks up to the most on this earth-his Grandpa Max! Thank you Grandpa Max and Grandma Charlotte for giving Geoffrey the greatest gift of all-a trip tailored perfectly to his interests and priceless memories. You are the best!!