Chicago (Part 1)

(Please note: I was planning to post pictures on the blog from our trip, but my sister has them locked or something so I can't post them. Once I finish arm wrestling her to let me save them to my desktop maybe then I can put them in the blog.... She is a party pooper. Anyway, I have a few that mom took, but really they are subpar compared to the ones Michelle take.)


Well...I made it. I am currently sitting on my futon in Auburn at 8:16 pm Tuesday night. The plan was to make it back for work this morning, which just did not happen. I ended up sleeping very late and then driving home around 5:00. It took a little over three hours to make it from mom's to my apartment. Just to verify that I am actually home and in my own space, Scout just laid a vomit out on the floor for me. Yep. I am home.

So, let's do a rundown.

I left Auburn Wednesday afternoon to head to mom's. I am still not sure of the town, so we will just say she lives south of Wilkes-Barre. I met her on 81 and we headed to the house. Thursday morning, up we got. We showered, packed the car and headed to Nanny and Bompa's. We left Canton around 3:15 or so.

All was happy happy joy joy at this point. Nan and Bomp in the front, mom and I in the back. Mom and I start playing a "guess the animal in ten questions" game, which lasted for about six or seven rounds and then grew old. We made it to Youngstown Ohio in a little over four hours. Dinner at Bob Evans and then to bed (can't remember which hotel). It was at this point that I started learning far more about my grandparents than I ever wanted to know. (All four of us shared hotel rooms the entire trip) My grandfather is not at all modest about stripping down to his tightie whities and climbing in to bed. Can you imagine? Who the hell wants to see that?!?!

Up early Friday morning, with a weak breakfast at the hotel. This time we have a fairly long haul across Ohio and Idiana (about six and a half hours). People in Ohio are strange. They look fairly inbred and act that way, too. At the Bob Evans we were somewhat of a freak show with the locals looking at us like we were in a cage. I was waiting for them to throw kibbles at us. What do you expect from Buckeyes? We also picked up our beautiful teeth in Ohio at the "last rest stop in Ohio" according to the sign. There was a bit of irony in this since it was the only rest stop on the highway in Ohio.

Indiana also is not my favorite place ever. They do have these interesting gadgets on the side of the road that blink when an animal breaks the ray so you know there is something in the road. That was kind of cool, but other than that? Not so much. What can you expect from Hoosiers?

So, finally we make it to Chicago! YES! Mom is driving at this point, so we are tooling around a little quicker. This is when panic and anxiety ensues in the car. Nanny is nervous about the "traffic" which was no different than traffic anywhere else when there is construction. We are moving at 30 miles at best and she is on the phone with my aunt telling her that cars are swerving in and out and cutting us off. I am wondering if we are in the same car at this point. We also started to get the quick suck in of air. You know the one... it's when the backseat driver thinks the driver is going to hit someone? Yeah. It was that one. Anyway, we make it to the hotel in dowtown Chicago without any kind of major catastrophe.

Pull up at the hotel and they want to valet park the car. My grandfather is having no part of this so it had to be parked in a parking garage about a block and a half away (he wanted to have his keys in his possession at all times). I make six trips up to the room to haul all of the luggage up while mom and Bompa are parking the car.

Shortly after we arrived Michelle and afmily appeared at the hotel! Yeah!! Mom and Nanny both made Grace dresses and she needed to model them immediately. This is the one Nanny made (please note the pink striped socks):

So after the mini fashion show, it is dinner time. We head downstairs to the restaurant in the hotel. Mistake. I won't go into detail, but they treated us like we didn't belong there. It sucked. I emailed and complained. They called and I need to call them back. It's on my "to-do" list for tomorrow.

Saturday morning. It's time to head to the Museum of Science and Industry! SO COOL. Initially the plan was to go to the Field Museum, but I had been there last visit and wasn't so sure it was the best choice given the group we had. I basically said "Can we please go to the Museum of Science and Industry?" and we did. This place was awesome and what a time we had! There are exhibits of everything from hatching chicks to trains to the inside of an airplane to all about the body and how the brain works. Most of it was interactive, so that was a big plus!


The first ting we hit was how the brain works and the walk through heart! Can you imagine? I totally dug the heart. It freaked Grace out a little so we didn't spend much time in it, but I was pretty fascinated. There were also things about how blood pressure works and the risks of having a stroke or heart attack. Good news. My chances are low! Yippee.

We spent a fair bit of time looking around that part and then checking out the airplanes. That's not my bag, baby. Not so exciting to me.










There was a section that had funny mirrors and a carnival-like atmosphere. There were lions and elephants in train cars (fake ones, of course) and we found these clowns along the way. They were pretty darn funny, let me tell you. Mom and the kids and I stayed out and hit all of the "I Spy" windows while the rest went ahead to look at the Space Shuttle exhibit. No worries. We eventually became astronauts, too. I think that will have to be posted tomorrow 'cause I am just getting tired tired tired. Promise that tomorrow will bring chapter 2 (and maybe I will be able to post some better pictures....HINT).

Good night!