The Windy City

Okay so we don't get out much, as most of you are well aware, but we did make a trek to Chicago at the end of August just before school started up again. Not sure if I mentioned that previously or not, but if I did consider this the follow up. Duane and Giselle, our hosts for the weekend were wonderfully accomodating and it was nice to see a little of Chicago again too. We spent most of Saturday wandering around Millenium park which is probably the coolest inner-city park we've ever seen. Chicago is wonderfully "artsy" so seeing sculptures and statues, fountains and floral gardens all jumbled together with cafes isn't the least bit unusual. Sadly, I forgot our camera back at the house so the only photos I have of this part of the trip are on my cell phone.

Sunday we shopped and wandered around home improvement stores. Duane and Giselle are remodeling an old house so we tossed in our opinions on various countertops, appliances and cabinet styles. I'll be curious to see what they end up choosing, but that's for another trip! Monday we threw ourselves at the Museum of Science and Industry in a 3 hour whirlwind tour just before we loaded our stuff in the car and headed for home. The MSI was high on my list of stuff to do while we were there, and I have to say it was worth it. Hopefully we can go again another time but we did manage to hit most of the high spots. One of the exhibits is an actual German U Boat that the US captured in WWII. It was towed back to the US via rivers and lakes, and finally "planted" underground at the museum. We skipped the inside tour more due to time than anything, but it was still fascinating. I highly recommend it if you're in Chicago anytime. I doubt the sub will be going anywhere soon! Other than the sub, there's a full size airplane and locomotive that you can walk through and an interactive model train display that, all by itself, is a delight to see. In short, it's a great museum, full of stuff for all ages.

Travel going forward will probably be pretty limited given the economy and price of gas, though the latter seems to be dipping of late. No complaints there! Josh will be flying off to Washington DC on a school trip in January for the Presidential Inauguration and a REALLY fast tour of the capital. He's been fundraising all summer for it and most of his paycheck is feeding the kitty for the trip. I have to give the kid credit - he's working hard to pay his way.

Well, I'd better hit the post button and get going on the dishes. Funny how they pile up when you're not looking...