First, some appropriate music:
Most every time I looked at landmarks in the Windy City the beginning chords of the above tune began knocking around my brain.
Yes, the Geofamily journeyed to Chicagoland this past week. Geogal’s been here before, both times were business trips back when we lived in Chandler. Yet despite the nature of her travels she never hesitated to play the “I’ve been there” card when anything downtown-Chicago-related flashed onto a TV or movie screen. And after her last visit she brought back two posters from The Art Institute of Chicago, they now are framed and grace our living room walls.
Why Chicago this summer? Why not? The sole time Geoana and I were in the vicinity was a layover at Midway Airport on our way to D.C. not that many weeks ago.
I cannot remember an occasion where I was at an unfamiliar city’s airport then had the chance to make a real visit shortly afterward.
Even before leaving one acquaintance, upon hearing of our destination, asked out of which airport we planned to fly. Omaha or Kansas City?
“Neither,” and I told him we would make this trip by car. His answer? “Sounds like National Lampoon’s Vacation.”
Never mind we were going in the reverse direction than the Griswalds.
We began our sojourn the same way most of them start, on a 2-lane Kansas highway headed for Interstate. Once at I-80, turn right. The route to Omaha is familiar to us. Then in Iowa the slog eastward to Des Moines isn’t new either (did it twice last year as part of the journey to the Mayo Clinic).
But after the pig state’s capital city it’s all new. We chose to take a little side trip and see the campus of the University of Iowa. Just to be fair, after all. Last summer we did the same thing in Ames, home of Iowa State University. Yes, I made the joke that since we have nearly all of the Big 12 schools/cities visited or at least driven through, let’s start on the Big Ten!
University of Nebraska, Lincoln? Did that years ago.
Minneapolis, home of the University of Minnesota? Took care of that last summer.
Now we have Iowa City covered.
Shoot, had we really taken this seriously we could add Northwestern and Illinois, but decided instead to just focus on fun activities once we got to the Windy City.
Since we learned from our experience last summer to not assume hotel rooms will be available, particularly along an Interstate, Geogal reserved us a room at the Clinton, Iowa Hampton Inn, which wound up being not far off the main route. Not very exciting but then neither is the Quad Cities. Check-in was routine and we are all familiar with the get-settled-in-hotel-room process. Upon returning to the vehicle to head out for supper I make an unpleasant discovery.
The right rear tire is low. Not just a little low, real low. Geogal grabs the tire pressure gauge, it doesn’t even register.
So, even before we can eat we need to air the thing up. Finding compressed air in an unfamiliar town isn’t the best way to wrap up a day on the road. However we do locate a place to air up, only set us back a quarter.
Then return to the hotel after supper and hope the leak is a slow one. Goodnight!
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