Act 2 - The Chase

Act 2 - The Chase

Here it is...part two of the Scott and Jenny story. 

When we last parted ways, our protagonists had gotten very drunk at a concert by Chicago's Loudest Folk Band, the Tossers.  What we did not mention is that Scott's birthday was the day before the show, and he had to work the next day afterwords. So what better way to continue the celebration than to call in late and stay in bed for a little longer. Did I forget to mention that we couldn't get enough of each other?  I was even honest enough to tell my boss that I was calling in late because I got too wasted. She didn't like that too much...but fuck her...she wasn't the one I was trying to get to spend the rest of my life with!!!

So I drove from Jen's apartment in Bloomington to Methodist Hospital in Peoria and made it into work about 2 hours late for my shift. Still seemed like a full eight hours of work carrying the weight of that hangover though.  I went home alone that night and couldn't help but think of when and how we would hang out next. 

Since we had met in an environmental group, it seemed appropriate to not do the traditional dinner and a movie thing. The next few dates consisted of lots of outdoor time hiking and hanging out with this girl here. 

I would like to think Jenny loved me for who I am, but in all honesty, it was Luna that sealed the deal. Lesson for the kids, if your lacking in looks or charm, get yourself a cute husky dog. 

Jenny was still living in her own apartment at this point, and had since gotten a job as an Environmental Analyst at a local laboratory.  Soon after, we had gotten to spend enough time together to decide that we wanted to date exclusively. So, on June 8th of 2011,we made the official announcement like everyone else did...on Facebook. Shortly after, we made the trek to Chicago to go see our friends from the Tossers again. We happened to be in town the same time as Jenna, one of the founding members of the Four Leaf Rovers. Here's a pic of Jenny and I enjoying some time (and obviously a few beers) with Jenna at the Chicago Irish Fest. 

Sidenote: Jenna quit playing music with the Rovers because her jewelry making business was beginning to take off and she needed to spend time making and filling all of the orders she was getting. Make sure to check out our her amazing creations on her Etsy page. Here is a link. 

Jenna's Etsy Page

For our next trick, we randomly decided to buy a canoe while at one of the local sporting goods stores. I didnt know anything about canoeing, but I just knew that it was something that would make our relationship that much better. Looking back on it, I probably should have researched how to transport it first, and getting it home from the store proved to be quite a challenge. In fact, it looked something like this, but with way less ratchet straps.

Life is about learning lessons, and we learned another one the hard way when we took our first trip with the canoe. It was August on the Mackinaw River, and that means LOW water levels with SLOW current. NOT a good time to embark on a 12 mile trip, but we didn't know any better. Long story short, with the low water levels, we did more walking than paddling. Even with an early start, the trip seemed to last longer than we thought it should. We even stopped the canoe to get out and walk to the only house we had seen to ask for help. Once we got to the house, we recognized the road and knew that our take out vehicle was just downriver, so we got back in and paddled to the truck just as darkness settled in. Here a few pics from our river adventures. 

After our maiden voyage, we were hooked on paddling trips, so we planned an adventure to Southern Illinois to see the Cache River Swamps. Unbelievable as it is, Southern Illinois has Cypress swamps that could almost be confused for Louisiana at first glance.

We tent camped at Feryne Clyffe State Park since it was so close to everything we wanted to do, and the next day after our canoe trip, we headed out for a hike at the Garden of the Gods in Shawnee National Forest. The first picture is the path up from the trail head to the Garden and the second picture is
of Camel Rock.

The biggest surprise of the trip was Bell Smith Springs. We were recommended this trip from one of Jenny's friends because it was a hidden gem. The gem part was spot on, unfortunately, so was the hidden part. We programmed the GPS, only to end up in someones driveway at a farm in the middle of nowhere. Finally, with some help from the local townsfolk of Eddyville, we arrived at the trail head and began our hike.  The highlights were the stairs cut out of stone in the canyons and the vertical trails up cliff faces accessed by ladders punched into the rock face.

Shortly after our vacation to Southern Illinois, Jenny's lease on her apartment was up, and she decided to take the chance to move into my house instead of renewing. Not long after that, we both bought kayaks, and took a trip to Bristol Wisconsin for the Ren Faire and floated Silver Lake while we were there. Here's the pictures to prove it happened.

So many memorable experiences with this girl that Im having problems listing them all. I know that we went to Chicago again to see our friends from the Tossers perform at the Guiness Oyster Festival and we got to see Lynn Bower perform with the band for the first time since they recorded their early demos in the mid to late 90's. We met Lynn after the show and became friends. She invited us up to Chicago for several small pub shows with the band, and we got to drink with everyone after the show. Great memories for sure!!!

The last thing I am going to post about on this article is our trip to Tennessee in 2012 where we had a trifecta of Kayaking, Caving, and Hiking. I lived in Tennessee from '00 to '03 and talked about it almost nonstop at the SAFE meetings where Jen and I met. So it seemed only appropriate that I take her down to meet my friends in hopes that we might move back there together at some point. My friend Dave took us on a hike to Savage Gulf, which was great for me, because I heard of it while living there but never got to see it. It had just rained, and Savage Falls was overflowing to the point where the mist was refracting the sun rays and forming a rainbow.

The Harpeth River, outside of Nashville, was next on our list. Due to the rain we were in for some amazing rapids the size of which we had never seen in Illinois. We had brought our own kayaks and paid Foggy Bottom Canoe to shuttle us and our boats to and from the river. No good pictures of the trip due to fast moving waters and class III rapids.

The highlight of the whole trip was taking Jenny to my favorite cave in Cannon County Tennessee. The entrance is large enough to make you forget about the tight spaces that scare most people away from caves.

Jenny did well at first, especially when I showed her the salamanders that she would have to constantly be careful not to step on.

We also saw a few bats on the way into the deeper parts of the cave. However, the crawl over some boulders that used to be part of the ceiling gave her the jitters thinking about a cave in. I talked her down from that mental ledge and we continued thru several twists, turns, forks, and climbs before her mind got the best of her. Skirting sinkholes like this is a bit intimidating for a new caver, so I was very understanding of her fears and we turned back for the entrance.

 I was comfortable enough to break a cardinal rule of caving by taking less than 4 people in, and she was justified in thinking that if I hurt myself, she would have to find the way out of the cave herself to get help. On the way out we had to stop again for a few photos in the lower stream passage.

We left the cave with lots of pictures and memories, hoping that this would not be our last trip into a wild cave.

Coming up next...Act 3 - Junior. (Spoiler alert. No kids for us)

Below is a link to our first article.

Part 1 - They Meet

Here is a link to our next article.

Act 3 - Junior

Act 1 - They Meet

Act 1 - They Meet.

It was 2006 and Jenny and I were both attending Illinois Central College in East Peoria, Illinois. We had both been taking Chemistry classes and were introduced to one of the colleges most unique professors, Billy Cook. He used to sport a long rat-tail haircut that he would tuck into his lab coat when teaching labs, was fond of reading the horoscopes at the beginning of class, and loved to give 'the man' Hell....and so did we. 

I had heard about an environmental group at the school that Billy Cook ran, called the Student Association For the Environment (SAFE). I started going to meetings and quickly became the president of the group. One day, during a SAFE meeting at one of the local watering holes, some potential new members came to see what we were all about. This was the day I met Jenny and her friend Angela that talked her into going to the meeting. We were constantly fundraising to buy trees to give out on Arbor Day and to try to implement some conservation programs at the school. Jenny eventually became involved on projects and we became close friends. Here's some pictures of Jenny, Angela, and I at the Illinois Riversweep cleanup.

We both graduated ICC and Jenny went off to finish her Bachelors in Biology at ISU and I got a job as a Lab Technician at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria. We remained friends and kept in contact throughout the years.  As a side-note, I studied music before getting into Laboratory Science, and while working at my first job I formed an Irish Rock band. The group was named the Four Leaf Rovers and we became a staple of Central Illinois Irish Festivities like St Patrick's Day, Springfield Area Highland Games and Celtic Festival, and the Peoria Irish Fest to name a few.  Here are some photos of the band at work. 

Drink 'em Down

A Four Leaf Rover original

Fast forward to 2011. One fateful night, I asked Jenny to come be my partner in crime for a concert by one of my favorite Celtic bands. The Tossers from Chicago were playing a bar downstate in Champaign, Illinois and there was no way I was going to miss it. This was the night that we realized we were meant to be together, because no one else could have put up with that booze filled evening any better than she did. I left soaked in beer from the mosh pit and Jenny was in rare form herself. We spent the night together and ever since then, we couldn't get enough of each other.  Here's the ad for that show and for their album, Emerald City. 

Happily Ever After.

Stay Tuned for Act 2 - The Chase.

Act 2 - The Chase