Coming home

We had too much stuff!! Of course we used it all, but we still had too much. We decided to use the subway from the airport to downtown to get to Union Station the last morning. Our hotel had a free shuttle to the airport. We got to the subway without much trouble and onto the train. However, repairs to the lines were being made and closed some of the stations for the weekend. We had to transfer to a bus with all that stuff. When we go to the place to get on the subway again, and it was elevated without an elevator or escalator, I said it was time for a cab to Union Station. We got there with no problems after that, check the extra luggage, and ate lunch while we waited for the train to load.

Again we got seats together. The trains were comfortable except the restrooms. We had room to spread out and sleep and play games with Susan. Again we enjoyed the observation car, and, this time, we ate in the diner. The food was good and not too expensive. We were prepared for cold at night. What we weren't prepared for was a freight train that broke down in front of out train and held us up 7 hours. We got into Ft. Worth 6 1/2 hours late, 8:30 at night. We got a motel, dinner, and slept until 9.


On the drive home we saw the camels between Electra and Iowa Park. I stopped on the shoulder when we saw that part of the herd was close to the fence. We sat there about 10 minutes, watching the camels and taking pictures.

Chicago

Susan, Silvia, and I left Canyon on Friday about 2 to drive to Ft. Worth. We spent the night in Wichita Falls so we wouldn't have to do the whole trip before 1 pm in one day. We got there in plenty of time to get food, park the car, eat, go to the water park and spend a lot of time waiting. The train that should have left at 2:30 didn't go until nearly 4. The attendant got us seats together so we could spread out. We were fairly cold the whole trip.

It was amazing to me to see the crepe myrtles. Some of them must have been 20 feet tall. There were also fields of small ones that may have been nurseries. Sunday morning we watched the Missouri River flow by the train. We got a great view of the St. Louis Arch. We had too much luggage. You should have seen us with 2 suitcases on wheels, 2 smaller bags, a stroller, and a lunch cooler. Too much stuff!

I think we liked the observation car best. It had big windows, tables and benches. We sat there quite a while Sat. evening and again Sunday. There was a snack shop downstairs from the OC, so we could get breakfast food there. There was also a dining car, but we didn't try it.

On Monday we went to South Bend, IN, to take care of Silvia's business at Better Books. Susan and I spent some time in a hammock reading books. They were very nice to us. Silvia told me they get books from libraries and other places, then sell them or donate them to foreign countries. Silvia ended up getting 20 boxes which hold 1000 to 1200 books each.

Today we went to Gurnee Mills Outlet mall. It turned out to be not worth the time it took to get there. We looked for new shoes for Susan because she has already outgrown the ones she came with. There were some in her size, but nothing she and her mother both liked. We had to have the rental car back by 5 at O'Hare.

In the car there was a GPS device. It helped a lot getting around both in Indiana and in the Chicago area. Silvia programs it with where we are going. It already knows where we are. Before she gets to an intersection where she has to turn, it will say "2 miles to ____ ramp on the right", then "_____ramp on the right in .5 miles", then "____ ramp on the right now", then "bong, bong" and that is the exact time to turn or go off. We haven't gotten lost too many times, and when we do get lost, it just recalculates and tells where to go from that point. I don't believe I'll ever rent a car in an unfamiliar place again unless it has the GPS.

Time to quit for today.