Day 31

States: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio

Sites seen: Chicago, the “bean,” and Tribune Tower

Let this image serve as an example of how much energy I have to care about my hair and other general things at this stage in the game 😂

Because my hubby and children love me (and value the quality of our car ride today) they let me sleep in a bit this morning. It was lovely!

Then we headed into Chicago. We only had a couple of hours to spend here as our ultimate goal was to arrive in Sandusky today to get settled for Cedar Point tomorrow. Our original plan was to hit up the Sears (now Willis) Tower but it turns out the wait at any given time is 2+ hours and this would blow our time in the city. So we took a walk instead and explored Millennium Park and the Tribune Tower.

The “bean” (which I believe is actually called the dream cloud and looks like a giant bean shaped mirror) was neat to see.

Then we enjoyed some city scenery on the way to see the Tribune Tower.

The Tribune Tower was super cool (thanks, Kate!). It has stones from all over the world built into it. Things like the great pyramids, the Great Wall of China, etc. But the girls really got a kick out of seeing stones from places we’ve been on this trip like the Alamo, Independence Hall, Yellowstone, the Mormon temple, and many others.

At the beginning of this trip, we were so good about not eating out. We got groceries regularly and were quite pleased with ourselves! Then last week, we started eating out for just one meal a day. And then yesterday and today (and tomorrow and the next day) we will be eating out for every meal. It really is just easier at this point in the trip, though I’ve basically given up and order a salad and a bunch of sides of vegetables (which it seems I’ve been missing for the month…). Today, as an added bonus, we are in Bob Evans land. I’m not going to lie, we had both lunch and dinner here today!

Bob Evans means home for me in lots of ways. It was a place we always gathered with friends after school concerts and events. And as we’ve all moved in different directions, it has become a place to gather and reconnect. It brings back memories of going out for meals with my grandmother and sharing life events with friends over a cup of coffee. Ohio will always hold a special place in my heart and I find it fitting that the 28th and last new state on our trip is Ohio.

Tomorrow is the day my children have been waiting for this whole trip- Cedar Point. Miss A in particular is so excited she can hardly stand it. I hope it lives up to their expectations.

I’ll let you know.

Talk to you soon-

Deanna