Winnetka, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Trip Start
Mar 26, 2008
1
35
60
Trip End
Dec 07, 2008
Winnetka,
Illinois,
United States
Sunday, July 27, 2008
We passed through Minnesota, into Wisconsin and then on to Illinois. It was a long day and we planned to visit with friends in Milwaukee, but were unable to contact them so we carried on through to Winnetka.
What a lovely town, very upmarket, but with quaint shops and a lovely township. A lot of the buildings were constructed in the 1920s. We stopped at the local park and ate some fruit etc for dinner and threw around a ball and a frisbee. We also marvelled at the giant dragonflies and cicadas that sounded like something out of a horror movie.
We then headed on to meet our hosts, Marie and Justin and their two kids, Aidan 6 and Declan 4. Of course it was exciting times and the kids got to know each other and Marie and Justin broke out a late night supper which was really appreciated by the kids.
Their home was a very cool, three story 1920s house in a neighbourhood of beautiful old homes
Water towers turned into town markers
. We all slept well, Sam and Zack and Cass in one of the boys rooms while the boys bunked in together (thanks boys)In the morning we headed for Chicago by train. Only 30 minutes ride from the station two blocks away and way better than dealing with getting in in the van.
We first decided to go and visit the John Hancock Tower. After some walking around Chicago, we made the wise call to catch a cab as had got lost. The John Hancock is an incredible building with an observation tower on the 94th floor. The lift takes about 40 seconds to get up there and we enjoyed the ride with our ears popping the whole way. What an incredible view, the lake on one side that stretches as far as the eye can see and looks as much like an ocean as any ocean I have ever seen and a huge array of skyscrapers in every other direction with beautiful waterways from the city centre off the lake.
We then headed to the Navy Pier and wandered through the shops there. It was scorching hot and the kids were really starting to wilt, but a few rides in the amusement park perked them up and then we jumped on an architectural tour boat for a tour of the waterways and a narration on the many famous buildings built in Chicago over the last century. Who couldn't be at least vaguely interested in the buildings, many of which were used as the backdrop and often the foreground for the recent batman movie and many movies from the past. Well I was fascinated anyway and the kids stood up to the heat impresively
Crossing the state line
. After that we caught a cab back to the train station to beat the rush hour, that was an experience (hold on to your hats!) We arrived home and enjoyed a relaxing evening, the kids playing and a lovely thai dinner ordered in. The next day was a get organised and kick back day. The kids enjoyed laying, reading and generally hanging out and we got a lot of things organised. We have had to put our timeframes into fast gear as we have come to the decision to head home by the end of this year. We now plan to head off to Europe mid september and head home early December so some serious reorganisation needed to be put into action. We got a lot accomplished with flights booked and various other things set in place and then enjoyed a great barbeque dinner with Marie, Justin and the kids (thanks guys) Then it was packing time. The goal the next day was to hit the road early and make it all the way to Sudbury in one day (about 750miles)
The next morning we were up and away by six, which even impressed us and we drove through Illinois, into Indiana and then up to Michigan to cross the border to Canada(this was looking good) But then the fun began ...
