Chi-town

After we drowned in Illinois we made our to Indiana where the rain still fell, but it didn't get us down. We of course worked, and by doing so we met some amazing faculty and students. One thing about Indiana schools that we noticed was the gymnasiums! Seriously some of the nicest school gyms we've ever seen, some schools even had two! We found out that in Indiana they take sports very seriously! We were able to meet up with a familiar face while in the Indianapolis area. We've only briefly seen our friend April once or twice in the past ten years, so we spent the weekend at her place catching up on old times, and making new memories by touring the "circle city!" Our theme for this tour we've found is DRIVE! so again we packed up ol' Leroy and made our way back to Illinois this time to the wide open plains! We found roads and routes that I think the most seasoned townies had no idea existed! One of the students that helped us out put it nicely by saying, "yeah, the only exciting thing to see in this town is my Dad's grain silo's," pretty much sums up our heartland experience:) The serenity of the wide open heartland soon gave way to the hustle and bustle of Hwy 55 as we headed into the Chicago suburbs! We've been wanting to go to Chicago for quite some time now, but before Camfel life, work and the timing of it seemed to make it pretty much impossible! So as all things Camfel go we decided to take advantage of this opportunity, and get the full Chicago experience. We began researching things to do in the city, taking into consideration that it's winter. We began trying to figure out the train routes, and if we'd have to use the "L". So with our lodging booked for our "almost" week stay in Bolingbrook, IL. We called our old college buddy, Sofia, who happens to live on the southeast side of the city. She quickly agreed to be our tour guide! The one thing that we didn't take into consideration was the cold snap coming our way. Being from Michigan when we hear COLD it's a relative thing. We're for the most part used to it. However no matter how many winters you've spent in Michigan or even the Arctic for that matter, nothing would prepare us for the FREEZING temps that we woke up to on Saturday! So cold that they put our sightseeing plans on hold! Instead we opted for the joys of the suburbs, by eating at our favorite restaurants, shopping some sales, and taking in a movie! Sunday proved to be a touch warmer, so we made our way to Chicago via the train, and met Sofia and her family for some real authentic Mexican food! The food, the restaurant, the atmosphere, and more importantly the fellowship was awesome! We had a blast stuffing ourselves like pinatas, and getting the Chicago tour from true Chicago natives, especially since it happened from the warmth of their van:) Finally on Monday with the temps moving from below zero to the 20's we made our way downtown with Sofia and her brother for our "walking tour of the city". We went to Shedd's aquarium, Millenium Park where we got an upclose view of "the bean", we strolled the Magnificent Mile, ate famous Chi-town hotdogs at Portillos, followed up by a Sundae at the Giradelli's Soda Fountain shop near the Water Tower Place. When it was all said and done Sofia mapped out our walk and with our sore bodies the next day it wasn't hard to believe that it totaled 8 miles! It was a cold day, but a fun one that we won't forget! Our stay in the suburbs officially ended on Wednesday when we began our 9 hour drive for South Dakota.

(fun fact...sofia told us that Chicago gets it nickname "the windy city," not because of the actual wind, but because it is known for it's "windy" politicians back in the day.)