Home sweet home

Well, we made it!  After:

- 8 months and 11 days or 

- 36 weeks or

- 252 days or

- 6,048 hrs

My car is home. Along with me and Gwen.

The road trip was great. We saw three completely different cities each boasting their own unique flavour.  Boston for its history, New York for its busyness and Chicago for its architecture.  Along the way we had many experiences with traffic, crowds and accents. 

The food was good too. Gwen and I were taking at lunch, we had many delicious meals with only a few that didn't quite meet expectations. 

My favourite events in each city were:

- Boston - the freedom trail walk

- New York - the World Trade Center memorial

- Chicago - the architecture boat cruise

But my all time favourite was spending each moment of each day with Gwen. I missed her during these past 8 months and am very happy to have her back and to be able to see her each and every day. 

The rest of the week will be spent unpacking and getting things back to normal. I also need to make my way to vw to see about getting my rear drivers door fixed so that it will open. I suspect that the guys who replaced the glass didn't do something up correctly as the door (which opened in Boston and New York) wouldn't open again in New York when we left. You pull the handle but it does not unlatch anything. 

Looking forward to seeing you all again very soon!

In Minneapolis

We just arrived at our hotel in Minneapolis after a 6 hrs drive from Chicago. We started the day with some shopping in Aurora Illinois at an outlet mall. I actually spent about as much as Gwen which wasn't very much. New jeans, pants, work shirt and some new shorts for baseball. 

The drive went well no real complaints. We ate lunch before we left the outlet mall in Aurora. We stopped for supper in Eau Claire Wisconsin and then finished the drive into Minneapolis. 

Now, time for the hot tub and relaxing before a repeat day tomorrow - shopping and driving. I'm looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow.  

Last day in Chicago

Today was another busy day of walking around. We started with a delicious breakfast at Wildberry. We then walked to the Buckingham fountain to take some pictures and made our way back along Michigan ave to do some shopping. 

After shopping we went to navy pier but not before a stop at Gwen's new favourite tea shop "Argo Tea". We walked around navy pier taking photos and getting the last of our souvenirs before dinner at Bubba Gump. 

After Gwen scorched her mouth with the spicy shrimp that she ordered we made our way back to the hotel to drop off bags and then went to the Hard Rock Cafe to watch the hockey game. Luckily we also were treated to a Rolling Stones tribute band who was playing during the game. 

Tomorrow we will try to leave "early" so that we can get some shopping done at an outlet mall near Chicago before driving 6.5 hrs to Minneapolis. 

I don't know if I am sad that this trip is ending or if I am excited to be home. Time will tell...

Chicago and its architecture

Today we spent the majority of the day taking in the sites of Chicago. The city is very architecturally diverse, my favourite being Art Deco:

We did a river cruise today and learned all about the different styles of architecture and the inspiration for each. This cruise was recommended to us by a few people we know and it did not disappoint. The most impressive piece of trivia that I can recall was the number of buildings over 15 stories that were built between 1920 and 1930 - over 120 buildings. Between 1930 and 1950 - only about 19. Quite interesting the drastic drop off during the depression and war. 

After our tour we walked down Michigan avenue which is where all of the shopping is located, but we didn't do any shopping. Another interesting point, Michigan ave is where the lake shore used to be, now the shore is much farther east due to the backfilling of earth during construction of Chicago. 

Here is a photo of a water tower that survived the Chicago fire in 1871, the only standing building still around today:

After walking we ate lunch and then made our way back to the hotel to dress warmer for the afternoon out and about.  We went to Millennium Park check out the bean:

After the bean we walked about a mile to the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears tower) to check out the sky deck located on the 103rd floor:

You could also stand on a glass platform which we did:

After the Willis tower we went for dinner to a restaurant called Chucks Manufacturing and then back to the hotel, we are pretty tired. 

Tomorrow we will go to Navy Pier and probably do some shopping in Michigan ave. 

Made it to Chicago

What we did today:

Drive 800 miles

- End -

The drive went well. It started off a little later than expected and had delays in New Jersey due to an accident on the interstate. Traffic was ok - it was busy but not too bad. 

We spent roughly $30 on tolls today ranging from $1 in NJ all the way to $15 in OH.  

We ate lunch in restaurant in PA and had dinner just outside Toledo. We even found a Tim Hortons in OH so I had to try the coffee to see if it was the same as at home which it pretty much is. 

Don't really have much to say - I'm pretty tired from the drive. 

Not sure exactly what our plan is for tomorrow but we will see what the day brings. 

New York day 3

Boy my feet are tired.  Today started at the 9/11 memorial. We timed things just right, we got there at around 10 which is exactly when the memorial opens up. We got through the line and security pretty fast and spent about an hour and a half salmon around checking out the memorial pools and the grounds. It was something to see. 

From there we went for lunch at a small diner nearby and then caught the subway to check out the High Line which was really neat (and not to mention cold and windy - definitely not shorts and sandals weather which was what I was wearing). 

From there we made our way back to the hotel to change into some warmer clothes and rest a bit. Then we did some souvenir shopping and explored the toys r us at Times Square. 

We also went and grabbed some fries and a shake at the Shake Shack which always had a lineup outside but today there was no line. The fries were great and my Fair Shake (milkshake with fair trade coffee) did not disappoint. 

Now we are in Rockefeller centre again scamming some free wifi while we wait for our studio tour at NBC. 

Tomorrow will be a long day of driving. I hope to leave as early as possible (ideally at 7am) to get off the island before it starts getting too busy. Hopefully we can get up early enough...

Here's a photo from the High Line:

New York day 2

Today was another busy day. We started with breakfast at a restaurant called Juniors, just down the street. It was delicious!

From breakfast we made our way to a few stores at Times Square (M&Ms and Hershey) but didn't buy anything. We also saw a massive Lego structure built from over 5 million Lego pieces promoting a new Star Wars series or game (not sure which). It was really cool!

We then walked to 5th ave and did some shopping. Gwen bought a dress at Ann Taylor and we both bought items from H&M. We even went to Saks on 5th Avenue, just to say we have been. It was massive - 10 floors of clothing and accessories. Not quite the same as the Bay but close. The major difference being the price, Gwen found some dresses for $800 and we found a sport coat for $2000 (which didn't even look good, in my opinion). 

After shopping we went back to Rockefeller centre for lunch and reserving two tickets for the NBC tour Friday at 6pm. We then went to the museum of modern art and spent over 2 hrs checking out all of the pieces of art. 

After the museum we took the subway back to the hotel. The subway was very full today as it was raining this afternoon. It was so full that we barely fit into the car - I was right against the door and there was barely enough room for the door to close. Luckily I had more room than the guy who's coat got caught between the doors. 

We had dinner at a pub about 5 mins from our hotel. I had a beer sampler and was disappointed with the beer - of the six types I only liked one...

After dinner we quickly showered and got ready for the Lion King. The show was AMAZING! The costumes and props were really well done and the acting was superb. Well worth the tickets. 

Now we are back at the hotel getting ready for bed. Tomorrow we will do the 9/11 memorial in the morning and hopefully do the High Line which is an old elevated roadway or train line that has been transformed into a walkway. We will see what the weather is like tomorrow, if it is too rainy we will have to think of something else. 

Well, time for bed. Goodnight!