I thought it might be fun to do something completely out of the ordinary (No surprise there!!) In any case, given that we are from a very remote area, I thought looking at a Big City like Chicago as basically an attraction, would be fun. In other words, a whole day of looking around at a City from the standpoint of an outsider-- In one day!!

We left the Motorhome and the dog at a campground in southern Wisconsin. I had talked to a guy in Edmonton, who said that the best way to get to Chicago was by train. It really was the best way to do it. We got up early and drove to a train station that commuters use to go to work-- Waukegan, Illinois. We then took the train right into downtown Chicago.

Riding the Amtrack to Chicago

A funny note- We had picked up the tickets and I lost the girls. Alfred went looking for them and the train arrived. The girls showed up, but now Alfred was missing. We were on the steps of the train and it began to roll, when Alfred came running around the end of the train. "It was like slow motion," he said, "Everyone was yelling come on, come on, and the conductor was waving me on in slow motion!!" He grabbed the bar as the train was moving and jumped on!! It was a bit exciting!!

Boy those are tall buildings

After we got to Chicago, we took a taxi to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was great! They have a real German U-Boat (505) on display as well as a wierd display called Bodyworks, where humans are displayed without skin. All of the organs are visible in different poses-- Wierd.

Museum of Science and Industry

Friendship 7- John Glenn's ride around the globe

Young Astronaut

What we would have been touring with 100 years ago!!

Then we took a taxi back to downtown Chicago. The cab driver was West African and when he found out we were from Alaska, he was pretty amazed. "That is wierd to me!" He kept saying. I asked him if they served lunch at the Hancock tower (2nd tallest in Chicago) and he said, "You got plastic, they feed you!!

We got to the 95th floor (Over 1000 feet) and had lunch with a window seat. Just by chance we looked down at a spot where we would later visit (In photos) The view was amazing, but I have to say, I kept thinking and looking for jets!!

Looking down from the 95th floor-- Over 1000ft above the ground! Note Location.

Posing from miles away. Note Restuarant Location!!

That is TALL!!

From there we went to the Navy Pier, and shopping downtown. Then we ate at an outside Italian restuarant where they served the biggest meatballs you have ever seen. It was very hot, but it was pretty neat to eat outside with people everywhere, fire engines, taxi sounds, just like the movies.

Downtown Chicago

Spicy Meatballs!!

We then went back to the train station and went back to Waukegan and drove to our Motorhome in the rural campground. It was a pretty neat, fast, look at a City. We just got a taste of all of the parts of a city. We rode a trolley and just saw the differences between how we and they live.

Boarding the train to go back to the Motorhome.