Recent Activities - Chicagoland Club 50

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FLASH TRIP - GRANITE PEAK

While the sunshine and daytime temperatures above freezing made us concerned about snow conditions, Club 50 members (Carol, Cindy and Jane) had a great time skiing for three days at Granite Peak. They considered it well worth the long drive to get to Wausau! The rising temperatures throughout the day gave them the opportunity to practice various ski skills, as the snow conditions changed: from groomed iciness to beautiful, carvable firmness, to a bit of mashed potatoes.

At,Aprés ski, Carol, Cindy and Jane indulged in delicious entrées and fresh desserts at 2510, a restaurant with an attached bakery. Another evening, the group enjoyed a healthy, big dinner at HuHot Grill. This was so convenient, right across the parking lot from Days Inn, where they stayed. Days Inn is only a 5-minute drive from Granite Peak; their hot breakfasts were a great way to start a day of skiing, and their pool and hot tub relaxed and restored stressed muscles, promoting a good night's sleep.

FIRST FLASH SKI TRIP
Beginning of Ski Season at Wilmot Mountain

In early January, three Chicagoland Club 50 members (Carol, Earl and Mark) started their winter tune-up at Wilmot Mountain for the club’s up-coming ski trip. Although the weather was not that favorable, they were able to get more or less a day’s skiing in-between the rain drops.

Club 50 Bowlers!

If you’ve been to Club 50’s monthly bowling fests, keep coming! If you haven’t tried bowling with Club 50 yet, give it a try. We bowl strikes, spares and even gutterballs. Most of us aren’t good bowlers but it’s always a fun afternoon. We cheer each other on, even when we get nothing!

The Club has lunch and bowling at Pinstripes, South Barrington located in the beautiful Arboretum Center. The price of $15 includes pizza, Caesar or Spring salad and non-alcoholic beverages, On the bowling side, it includes 3 hours of bowling, socks and rental of balls and shoes. Other bowling alleys charge $4 — $5 PER GAME so Senior Bowling at Pinstripes is a good deal with fun Club 50 people

Old Plank Road Bike Ride

On a great bike-riding day, Club 50 members rode 16.4 miles along the Old Plank Road from Frankfort to Matteson. In Matteson we stopped at the Rail Fan Park. (You say, what’s that? Never heard of it. Well, see below.) The weather was cool, the cloud cover kept us from getting too hot and the rain held off until after lunch. To celebrate the start of Oktoberfest we had lunch at the Chef Klaus Bier Stube in Frankfort.

Have You Ever Wondered Why It’s Called the Old Plank Road?

You say, no? Hmmm. It’s a bit of history that’s pretty interesting. Read on.

Back in 1851 a wooden boardwalk was planned to stretch from Joliet to the Indiana border. It never happened, (The wooden toll-road craze never really took off!) but the corridor got better usage when the Michigan Central Railroad started running trains on what became known as the Joliet cut-off. (Even the trains didn’t want to take the time to travel through Chicago.)

Today, at the new Rail Fan Park from a raised platform, you can see something extraordinary – a rare cloverleaf interchange that allows any train to change direction. Freight trains as well as Metra and Amtrak use this system.

Why not a Flash Trip to North Point Beach in Winthrop Harbor?

Merrilie and Doug Gregory usually go to the beach a couple of times a month. On their last visit, they thought some of the club members would enjoy the beach also. So a total of seven Club 50 members joined them, taking a dip in the lake and catching some rays. The temperature was perfect, but it was quite windy so any idea of playing frisbee wasn’t going to work. Everyone enjoyed each other’s company. Dinner was at the Stone Creek Grill, a nice cabin style restaurant.

Guys and Grills in Milwaukee

Craig Rawlinson stumbled on a few Cubs tickets for Sunday, October 1’s game in Milwaukee, but had only a few hours to put together a crew. No time for an email to the whole club so he quickly emailed the folks who went last year. Voila! In a few hours he had enough commitments to purchase the tickets. While the game held a lot of playoff implications when Craig secured the tickets, alas, the Cubs were eliminated on the night before the game. Such is the life of a Cubs fan.

Sailing with Cap'n Dave

Over the summer, Cap’n Dave (David Theissen) set sail from Waukegan Harbor on Phriendship 2 with a hearty crew of Club 50 members. Every week as conditions and/or weather permitted, Cap'n Dave hosted 4 - 6 club members for an afternoon sail on Lake Michigan followed by “apres’ ski” while aboard Phriendship 2. Yearly, the number of "crew" members increases as numerous Club 50 members return again and again.

Don’t forget to get your place for next seasons cruises.

Paddlepalooza ’23: A Club 50 Outing with Four Experiences in One Day! by Jer Prochaska

I’d been wanting to organize a paddle event at the Fox River by Yorkville for a few years. I was set to do it in 2022, but the whitewater course was closed – the US Army Corps of Engineers had blocked the course to repair the bridge and island that separates the Marge Cline Whitewater Course from the dam and main channel on the Fox River.

Early this summer we had such hot weather that no one in his right mind would go out in the sun and heat. I saw an improved weather forecast, checked with the kayak rental outfit and we were set to go.

What a surprise! Of the ten paddlers for this day, eight came with their own watercraft. I never knew that Club 50’s flotilla was this large. Carol and Gail completed the required safety course and passed their tests before getting set up with kayaks from the Yak Shack. Together with Diane, Craig, Josh, Sue, Mike, Joan, Joe and me, we shoved off and paddled upstream. Not too hot, not too sunny and definitely not crowded on the river, we cruised up and back for just over two hours.

Next, we were off to lunch at the funky Southbank Original Barbecue with plenty of outdoor seating. I was surprised at the crowd but we were able to get two tables together and order lunch. While we were waiting for our food, I noticed a lot of people wearing identical T-shirts. We soon discovered that a musical duo was about to perform. This Paddlepalooza concert was a bonus. These two young men, performing as Ripped Jeans, blasted through many familiar songs, and they were really GOOD! So good, that Mike and I each bought a Ripped Jeans shirt from their merch table. We later learned that they were from Yorkville, had a commercial music release and were only 17 and 19 years old.

RAVINIA 2023 -

MUSIC OF CAROLE KING, CARLY SIMON AND JONI MITCHELL

Thirteen (13) Chicagoland Club 50 members joined the crowd at Ravinia for a very memorable night. Given that it was a Saturday night, it was quite crowded on the lawn. However, the Knoepkes got there very early and secured space for the club members to sit and share food and drink. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra played the music of Carole King, Carly Simon and Joni Mitchell featuring three outstanding (3) female vocalists singing the best of Joni Mitchell (she wrote some for Judy Collins), Carly Simon ("You're so vain"), and Carole King (too many to choose from). A fine show, with a consensus to repeat this venue next summer.

Our intrepid Early Arrivers

Lindy and John Knoepke

Our Concert Organizer

Jim Hynan

JUNE 2023 BUSSE WOODS BIKE RIDE

FIRST CLUB RIDE OF THE SUMMER

It was a very warm day on June 3rd when we started out on our Busse Woods bike ride. Our small, brave group came out and enjoyed a lovely 11 mile ride through the forest and meadows. We rode past lakes and dams, saw people walking, biking, fishing and otherwise just enjoying the beautiful day. We looked for the Elk Grove elk and finally saw a few. They were very well camouflaged since they were resting in the shade and we could only see their antlers moving!

After the ride we went to Moretti's for a wonderful lunch. It was a great way to start the Club 50 biking season!

ELK GROVE VILLAGE

BUSSE WOODS FOREST PRESERVE

Elk Staying Cool (Antlers in the Woods)

AT LEAST THERE WAS SNOW AND SKIING

STEAMBOAT - 2023

Chicagoland Club 50’s week-long ski trip out west found the club skiing at Steamboat Ski Resort with its 2,965 acres and a 3,668-foot vertical. To many, Steamboat seem bigger than Breck.

For the first time in awhile, there was an actual wait list for the trip. Over 30 Chicagoland Club 50 members made the trip, flying direct from Chicago to Hayden/Yampa Valley airport, just a short bus ride to our lodgings at the Ranch. Each condo was spacious with 2.5 baths. We had a nice large party room for our nightly wine/cheese parties Although not ski-in/ski-out, the resorts’ shuttles made it seem like it was. There was fresh snow most days – sometimes too much. There was a rumor that one of the members got stuck in some deep snow.

Six club members went snowmobiling up in the mountains on a guided tour. A lot of snow and great views of the wilderness. On one day, a group went to the hot springs – clothing optional in the evening.

No Hands Snowmobiling

AND IN ILLINOIS AND WISCONSIN – IS THERE EVER TOO MUCH SNOW?

For the last Flash Ski Trip of the season, it was only two Chicagoland Club 50 members and just a half dozen others in total on the entire Wilmot “mountain” skiing the only chair (#2) and 3 runs that it served over and over and over at the south end. Unfortunately, conditions weren’t very good and it was like skiing on a melting glacier.

As Earl (our Flash Ski Trip leader extraordinarie) noted, "I’m finished for the year and will wash off my skis, put on some wax and put them away until next season rolls around." Time for golf.

CMSC 2023 CHICAGO WEEK – MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN

IS THERE REALLY SOMETHING AS TOO MUCH SNOW?

Recently, Chicago Metropolitan Ski Council’s (CMSC) ski trip to Mammoth Mountain was, in fact, cancelled exactly because of too much snow. How, you ask? Here’s one skier’s account.

On Saturday, February 25, 2023, Chicagoland Club 50, as part of the the CMSC trip to Mammoth for a week of skiing and partying, were en route to LAX when the plane was hit by lightning. Although they were able to get another plane within 4 hours, the group did not get to Reno until late Sunday. Having not planned on spending any time in Reno, the group had to scurry to find rooms, ultimately securing lodging for the night at the Silver Legacy Casino. Due to the blizzard conditions that existed between Reno and Mammoth, the group wasn’t able to leave for Mammoth the next morning and spent the day in Reno. By 5:00 PM, a choice had to be made. The following factors existed at that time: (1) the busses knew they'd never take us all to Mammoth and said so; 80 inches of snow; downed power lines; snow slides; dangerous roads; etc.. The choice was: (1) go home or (2) stay and try to ski local Reno areas. But even the snow blizzard predictions made the second choice iffy.

The group decided on the first option – home. But even that proved problematic. Although a 3:20 PM flight out of Reno to Denver on Monday was supposedly available, the airport was closed to all traffic in and out for about 8 hours. As such, the group sat and sat, eventually, getting out around 9;00 PM or so (Pacific time) and flew to Denver. Arriving midnight, the connection was missed leaving the only option to sleep in the airport until a 5:40 AM Tuesday morning flight was available. Finally, after 3 days of the missed skiing, parties, races, pub crawls, etc., the group returned home.

Club 50 Fermilab Hike and Luncheon

Club 50 went out west (western DuPage County) for a club hike at Fermilab. Due to COVID, we had to show ID's to get on the grounds and fill out paperwork saying that we are vaccinated to use the restrooms in the Lederman Science Center.

14 Club members hiked the paved (instead of the longer and more scenic) trail at Fermilab due to the wet conditions. As the group was hiking, Bison intruded into the landscape and allowed club members to get up (relatively) close and take some photos. After the hike, 13 members hadng lunch at the Country House restaurant in Geneva.