One of the things I promised my mom as a thank you for everything she has done and will be doing to help me on this ride was that we would have a fun tourist day in Chicago before we left. We had it all planned out. We found the closest train station to the hotel and confirmed there was a parking lot next to the station. We checked the maps online to see how far of a walk it would be between each stop of the day. I also reached out to a wonderful high school friend who lives in the city to confirm lunch plans. We were ready.
But, as we all know, best laid plans and all. We ate breakfast and got some waters in a backpack to help stay hydrated since it was supposed to be hot and humid. The weather lived up to expectations and the water did it's job but there were definitely bumps in the road. We got in the car and made the slow two mile trek to the train station and its accompanying parking lot. There were spaces but they were reserved for monthly customers only. There was nowhere else close to park so we decided we would have to drive into the city but figured it would be a chance to check out the parking area we planned to use on Thursday near the fountain.
It should have taken us fifty-four minutes if the maps had been correct but because of heavier than expected traffic on side streets, a parking lot of a highway, and more construction than should have been possible in such a short distance, it took us over and hour and a half to get to the parking garage. Then we had to keep circling down to lower levels in the underground spot in order to find a place to park. We finally did on the bottom level and I was slightly apprehensive about leaving the car there. It was a popular spot though and there were security cameras so we set off for our first stop of the day.
Once back on street level we made our way along Michigan Ave. passing sights we would return to later. It still took us close to half an hour to make the walk to the dock where we boarded a river boat for a ninety minute architecture tour along the Chicago river. It was very informative and our guide was great. He was funny and even had a literary reference thrown into the trip. We enjoyed ourselves and I made sure we got a picture with him as we got off the ship. I definitely got pictures of a number of the buildings we saw and heard about which I will be posting on the Facebook page for the ride. It was extremely warm on the top deck of the ship but that offered the best view so we sat and sweated it out, praying for clouds or buildings to give us a break from the sun. I am truly happy we remembered sunscreen this morning.
After we left the boat we had almost and hour until we met my friend for lunch and with only a half mile to cover we knew we had some time to kill. Right on the corner where we got off the boat we found a Ghirardelli store. The chocolate would have melted and neither of us wanted ice cream with lunch coming shortly but the building was air conditioned and my mom found a fun Halloween themed bag to get as a souvenir.
Lunch was a breakfast and lunch spot nearby where we spent time with a friend I haven't seen in probably close to twenty years. She is an incredible person though, and for those who have read my blog before, she is the one who created Affirmation Of Life Day and has been a huge inspiration to me with her strength and resolve. I am thrilled we got to see her and enjoy catching up a little today. She made sure we knew where we were going when we left the restaurant then she returned to work and we set off on the next part of our tourist adventure.
Our next destination was my favorite place in the entire city, Millennium Park. I adore The Bean, or Cloud Gate as it is officially named, and I love The Crown Fountain, or as I call it the face towers. If you are following me on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok you have seen the video I made while there. It is just a purely happy place and reminder of being a child to me. It didn't exist when I was that small but I always feel a young child energy when I get to go check it out. We stayed with parks after that and made our way to Grant Park with a quick run across the street at Michigan and Adams for a picture with the beginning of Route 66 sign, and got pictures of Buckingham Fountain. That is where I will be beginning my ride Thursday morning.
After leaving the fountain we walked along the lake, making our way to Shedd Aquarium. We were able to check out dozens of exhibits with different kinds of fish, turtles, insects, and reptiles from all around the world. She loved the beluga whales, dolphins, and we tried to see the otters but their habitat was being worked on so they were elsewhere. We scanned the offerings at the gift shop and she purchased a fun souvenir before we headed back outside. It had already rained and was threatening to again. I hoped we would make it the slightly over one mile walk back to the parking garage before the sky really opened up but the rolling thunder and strobes of lightning told me our chances weren't good. It did sprinkle some on us as we made our way back along the lake and past the fountain but it wasn't anything hard. Just as I thought we would make it, it began to come down much harder, soaking several parts of me as we searched for the nearly hidden stairway back into the parking garage.
We ducked inside and smiled as the heat of the stairwell embraced us. We descended to the bottom level to find my car ready and waiting where we had left it nearly nine hours earlier. After dropping our bags in the back I jumped in the car and we climbed back up to street level. We hit rush hour traffic for the second time today but thankfully Google maps recognized a faster route and pulled me off the highway, getting us back to our hotel in one third the time it took to get into to town this morning. We ate and showered the day away and are now preparing for an early night to make sure we are energized tomorrow for the last day of preparation before our very early rise on Thursday.
As always if you would like more information about the ride you can check out my website www.writingforces.com where there are links to my route sheets as well as to the gofundme for the charities. You can also follow along on the Ride 22 On 66 page on Facebook to see the pictures, videos, and progress reports we share as we make our way each day.
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