Summer in th City- Chicago Roadtrip

Sometimes you gotta show the person you love, just how much. So I thought what better way than to shove them in the car at 5 in the morning with high hopes they'll be returning to their bed shortly, then tell them four hours in they won't be.

What a fun weekend! Everything just went so perfectly..except of coarse the main reason we went! But I'll get there. When I woke Kevin up he happily obliged (to my surprise) and got right in the car where he asked "Did you stock the car with waters?" Of which I simply said no, this sufficed to a half asleep person. After watching his wheels turn in his brain as we whizzed by exit after exit he finally asked (an hour later) where we were going, which was the perfect opportunity to give him clue #1.


About 3 hours into Nebraska he stated "I'm guessing we are in it for the long haul because nobody goes to Nebraska." Haha..So true.

The road trip itself was so much fun! I'm always amazed how much we like each other company, even running on two hours of sleep. Horribly belting out our favorite tunes, eating tons of beef jerky/junk snacks that are probably a "no" to your immobile stomach, talks about life. It was a blast! I finally gave Kevin the last clue just outside of Chicago, the Cubs tickets, and he was behind himself with excitement! I wasn't even in Chicago before they started sucking my money with tolls, (By the way the one and only thing I forgot to bring was Kevin's wallet, darn!) After our cash was quickly gone we were paying the tolls with pennies! When I finally drove into the city, at night..raining...off of no sleep, I was a little overwhelmed. I had never been in a city this big, none the less driven in one. It is so funny that I've been to other countries and I find something so foreign just a couple states away. Taxi's honking at me, towering buildings everywhere, trains racing over head. It was nice to finally find the hotel..WHICH WASN'T EASY! Our hotel was the top 10- stories of a 30-story building, and took us a couple loops to realize. When we got into our hotel room and opened the window it was magnificent.

The next day Kevin was up before the alarm ready to watch some baseball in the famous Wrigley Field. We got a rude awakening when we stepped outside. Not only was it cold, and the wind made the rain fill like needles in our poor numb faces, EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED! "No wonder Chicago isn't the capitol of Illinois,." Kevin bitterly exclaimed. A whole city, and nothing going on. The only thing we found open was a Dunken Donuts. Shorty it was time to go to the game, it wasn't really time but Kevin wasn't going to waste any time. Unfortunately the simple way to get to the train was, you guessed it, closed. So after a rat race of trying to find the one and only door open on a Sunday, we were sitting on the train heading to the game. Literally right before we got to our stop Kevin's phone vibrated and his "No, NO! No way? Why's" told me the game was not going to happen today...and it wasn't going to happen tomorrow, and basically we were not going to be stepping inside the field that we drove 1000 miles and 16 hours to see.

After a second of, "Do you think this is funny God?" We were already laughing it off and happy to be surrounded by cubs fans and still standing in front of the field. Tons of people were in the same boat. Everyone was reciting "Get my picture so I can at least prove I was here!" People from all over came to see This game has been postponed on the big screen. When we first entered our hotel at the beginning of the trip carrying grocery bags of food, and looking pretty homely, it was obvious we didn't belong. When we went to eat in a bar and grill over by the field, a completely different less expensive part of town I ordered a hot tea, when I found out that wasn't going to happen, I replied "I'll just have a hot chocolate then." the waitress found this hilarious and Kevin realized "We don't belong here either." Having nothing else to do on an ice cold closed Sunday, we walked a couple miles from our hotel to find where things were open. Here we had the most delicious amazing deep dish pizza I've ever had in my life! I'm craving it now just thinking about it. On our walk back we walked by Willis Tower, "I wonder if that is Sears tower renamed?" It was and we were doing a good job seeing the city without even trying! When we got back to our hotel we decided to watch the season finale of Kevin's favorite show, Don't judge us! You wouldn't have gone out anymore either! And then we enjoyed the pool. Before I went to sleep Kevin told me a restaurant we should go to is right by the American Girl Doll place. My eyes lit up instantly! The next day it would be me pushing Kevin out of bed to get a move on.


It was much more pleasant on Monday, the sun was out, so was the wind making it true to it's name, but it was manageable. We walked so much! We saw shops bigger than a whole mall here..ok slightly exaggerating, and finally reached American girl. I was drooling instantly. This is a side of me Kevin's never seen and he pointed out I can never make fun of him for his childhood interests ever again...Fair enough.

On and On, the Water Tower mall, the Navy Pier, eating Chicago dogs on the Pier YUM, strolling through the city! The only thing I knew about Chicago was there was a mirror ball somewhere. Kevin Googled it and sure enough it was a short distance away and a big deal! It was so neat, "The bean" I believe it is nicknamed, was beautiful! Usually Kevin bares with me as I snap away but this time we both had a blast taking pictures like there was no tomorrow! After our amazing day seeing lots of sights, and once we got to the lake and could look back on the city, I decided Chicago was pretty cool after all.


We got in the car and headed home. The drive home was not uneventful. We definitely saw a man in Iowa go through the drive-thru in his tractor, oh Iowa you will never live that down! I could not have asked for a more perfect weekend, canceled game and all, and could not have asked for a better person to experience such a great city with!

Kev, we will go back some day and see a game I promise, even if you know about it the next time. Reach for your dreams! Love, Care

On to the next adventure...