"No more vacation..."
Jeff and I have returned from the land of ultra-flat landscapes, corn, and good ol' Midwestern mentalities. Illinois! I bought an old '65 license plate to remember the trip. Along with many, many other things. Our first stop was to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Arlington Heights, which is a suburb of Chicago. Mitsuwa is, by their own decree, "the largest Japanese marketplace in the U.S." No surprise, with my lustiness of all things Nippon, I love that place. We bought some mochi, plenty of candy (including Pocky, even though it's pretty trendy--it's still delicious), and some sushi for my mom. I tried to pick out a book or two but their entire bookstore is in Japanese so I wouldn't have been able to read anything. Shame on me for never learning that language! We also visited Anderson Gardens, which despite the bland, American name, is actually a very cool Japanese garden in the middle of Rockford. I've been there a few times, but somehow it was my mom's first trip--and she's lived in Rockford for a loooong time.
Plenty of pictures were taken and I will slowly be putting up my favorites and giving more details of the trip. Most of the shots were taken at AG, but I have some random weird shots too.
Oh, I might as well mention that I learned to crochet during the trip and have already made 3--yes, THREE!--dish cloths. (Thanks, Sally!!)
Vanity plates in IL are very popular. We spotted this one on the way to Mitsuwa.
My first crocheted dish cloth!
Sudoku...what Jeff did during most of his free time. :)
A turkey (who tried to eat my camera strap but I stopped him, thank you very much) at Edwards Apple Orchards.
My second crocheted dish cloth (hey, I know you're getting sick of them, but that's all I know how to make, so far!), titled "peaches & cream."
Koi!
The spectacular North Gate at Anderson Gardens.
The AG tea house display, which visitors are sadly not allowed to enter.
The waterfall at AG.
The "guesthouse" at AG.
Awesome, right?
My mom, knitting yoga socks. :)
