Richard and Suzanne and Duncan's Big 2010 Road Trip
Stage 2 - Stop And Chica-Go
in Chicago, IL

Day 8 - Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
in Chicago, IL
3 miles on foot

Richard was up all too early for the morning's conferences (and to forage for some breakfast for the family), and meeting after meeting were where he would remain for the next 11 hours.

So let's not talk about him.

Instead, let's talk about Duncan and Suzanne, who, after regaining consciousness and polishing off that breakfast, made their way a few blocks to Navy Pier for a full day's fun. Originally constructed in 1916, this maritime monolith has seen many different roles, including working pier, university campus, and busy ballroom. These days, the pier has many shops and restaurants, an amusement park with a towering Ferris wheel, and (more important) the Chicago Childrens Museum. At this site of fun-based learning & knowledge, Duncan and his maternal unit fought fires, checked culinary capabilities, investigated hydrodynamics, operated public transit systems, dug for dinosaurs, became a photoluminescent superhero, invented flying objects, sculpted new forms, and greatly expanded (or should that be twisted?) the definition of the "Chicago School" of architecture.

After all those interesting interactions, they wandered back to the hotel, just in time to meet up with a somewhat exhausted dad who had just escaped from his final meeting of the day. We thought we'd try the complimentary hors d'oeuvres in the lobby, but when Richard got to the line, they'd been unceremoniously "un-doeuvred" - leaving us little choice but to head back out for hunting and gathering in the high-rise wildlands. We all ended up back at Navy Pier for some therapy with a bronzed Bob Hartley, a bit of play with a giant yellow noodle, and then had our eyes and eardrums adjusted by the bright flashes and loud booms of fireworks over the nighttime skyline, as the boats and yachts steamed to and fro on their way out to the dark lake or in along the river. Then a slow walk all the way out to the very end of the pier to say hello to the oddly giggling gulls and to let Duncan amble all over a super-sized anchor, and then back down the long length of the pier and to the room to prepare for more meetings for Richard and merriment for the family.

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Day 8 pix!
(click on 'em to open a larger version)

	Big innards of big hotel		Sailboats out on Lake Michigan
	A place where fun "a-pier-s"		Childrens Museum - fire department fun!
	Aim the nozzle!		Duncan in his turnouts hooks the hoses
	Duncan saves the day!		Whipping up something tasty
	Cooking with friends is fun		Into the oven it goes
	And a fine dish is served!		Hydrodynamic hilarity
	Digging for dinosaurs		Chomp!!
	Checking the tires		Getting the windows squeaky clean
	The Duncan on the bus drives in the front		Fishing with new friends
	Having a great time? Be-leaf it!		Row, row, row the Dunc
	Our modern sculptor		Junior structural engineer
	Close enough for government work!		Love the Sears Tower in Legos!
	Just wait until you see the size of the bowl!		So which one is Mr. Carlin?
	Why the long arms?		Weighing a really big anchor
	Fireworks over the festivities

Day 9 - Thursday, July 1st, 2010
in Chicago, IL
4 miles by boat, 2 miles on foot

Richard's exciting plans: More meetings. All day.

But what about Duncan & Suzanne? Let's go on a boat ride - heck, let's make it two!

On this day, mom & son wandered down to the waterfront to enjoy some aquatic adventures - first, a cruise under the bascule bridges of the Chicago River to gawk at the high-rising architectural wonders of this tall and dense city center. They and the others atop the sundeck had an excellent view of the numerous memorable skyscrapers punctuating the Loop, their glass and metal facades reflecting one another in the sunshine. On past the twin corncobesque spires of Marina City, and by the darkly bundled boxes of the Willis (nee Sears) Tower, and then near the toothpickholderish shape of the new Trump building they floated, enjoying the fresh air and nice views. Saw a Tribune and a Wrigley too.

But wait, there's more! Onto another boat they gangplanked, this time for a tour out into the waters of Lake Michigan to partake in even more glimpses of this big-shouldered metropolis. This allowed for views of the towers of the Magnificent Mile and the panorama of the whole downtown area, as well as the blue waters of the great lake.

Then back onto dry land and off to the Childrens Museum. Didn't we already tell you about that? :)

Once Richard was released from the day's toil, he grabbed a few colleagues and friends and scooted on down to the pier, where all hands were required to extract Duncan from the exciting exhibits. This was made easier by the fact that the museum has free admission on certain Thursday nights, and so all of us got to see several parts of this fun place, including one of Duncan's favorites, a Lego model of that same SearsWillisWhatever Tower seen earlier, before hunger won out over wonder and we exited to find a feeding opportunity - stopping briefly at a kiosk where Richard found the perfect traffic control device belt buckle to round out his wardrobe.

We mentioned dinner, yes? Couldn't leave the city without at least a taste of Chicago-style deep-dish pizza, and so we chewed & noshed on cheesy & meaty goodness while watching the teeming crowds also savoring a picture-perfect big city evening. Then a leisurely stroll back along the river to the hotel, up the glass elevator, and into the suite to prepare for one more day of big-city action.

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Day 9 pix!
(click on 'em to open a larger version)

	Evening Star on a morning day		Ready for a cruise
	Waterborne funniness		The most amusing Navy Pier
	Having a "wheel-y" good time		Tall buildings
	More tall buildings
	More tall corncobs, er, buildings		Big brick buildings
	More tall buildings		More tall buildings
	Big bascule bridges		Scenic view along the busy river
	The El zips by		More big buildings
	More really tall buildings		More tall buildings
	More oddly shaped tall buildings		Impressive skyline view
	And another too		Ballroom at the point of the pier
	Lighthouse keeps watch on the great lake		Schooner slips out
	Fountainacious fun		Thoroughly wet but completely happy
	The big city at night

Day 10 - Friday, July 2nd, 2010
in Chicago, IL
1 mile on foot

Last day of meetings for Richard - at this morning's session, he successfully shepherded a proposal through the National Committee on Uniform Traffic Control Devices to create new supplemental signs to except bicycles from certain unneeded regulations (but only when appropriate). The subcommittee he chairs is also working on new guidelines on accommodating bicycles in work zones, better information on shared lane markings, new guide signs & route markers, and continued pondering the concept of traffic signals specifically for bikes. Told you he was busy...

At this juncture, it should be noted that the folks of Chicago have been very good to us, and that this city has been a rather enjoyable one to visit (so far, that is). However, it's not a secret that Richard is certainly no fan of the current mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley (other less-flattering terms have been used) and his vendetta against law-abiding citizens attempting to exercise their Constitutional rights. And we're fully aware that every penny of city sales tax goes to fuel the political machine that supports him (never mind the hotel occupancy tariffs and the insatiably hungry parking meters). So, it was with some trepidation that Mr. Moeur steered his family in the direction of the nexus of retail commerce named Michigan Avenue, knowing full well that large amounts of money could disappear in a hurry - along with the tax bite that would fund some least-favorite causes.

But the look on Duncan's face when he surmounted the escalator and saw the giant red logo in front of the Lego store was something that would melt the heart of any ideologically focused life form. Understand that Duncan is a self-confessed "Legoholic" (yes, the first step is admitting there's a problem), and that he has definitely caught the brick-stacking bug just as badly as his father 'suffered' from it four decades earlier. In fact, a fully-stocked set of Legos have become quite the essential companion in our travels, and the back seat is often the scene of astonishing architecture and epic battles. The entire family marveled at the squared-off wonders decorating the store's spaces, including impressive dinosaurs, beloved (and somewhat-less-beloved) movie characters, and a replica of the street scene outside (which, knowing their attention for detail, likely had a miniature Lego store inside, with a smaller street scene, and so on...) The Lego store even encourages customers to play with, er, "evaluate" some of the merchandise, and so Dunc and the gang sat down for a while to get brickin' with many colorful interesting interchangeable interlocking pieces. We even built our own small plastic Lego doppelgangers, although the fact that the bin was out of blonde hair does throw off the exact replication just a bit.

Once we had slithered our way below the impressively long snake hovering over the checkout line, we explored a bit more of the area, then loaded our Lego loot back to the room, and began the preparations for resuming our travels. But an alarming discovery was made: one of Duncan's favorite blankets, which was a gift from his aunt from before he was born, had been (apparently inadvertently) rolled up into the linens and taken away by the housekeeping staff. We attempted to track down the vanished blanket, but no trace was to be found. The hotel staff did promise to try to find it, but Duncan eventually (and a bit sadly) snuggled into bed with one fewer cuddly cover on our final Chicago evening.

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Day 10 pix!
(click on 'em to open a larger version)

	LegoLegoLegoLego!		Looking forward to Legos!
	Gazing at the amazing Lego creations		Posing with a good beepy bricky friend
	And I'll bet there's a little Lego store in there!		Roarrrr! Action!
	'Do not underestimate the power of the Dark Brick'		Snake slides in above the Lego registers
	The Lego Family visits Chicago		Let's make something!
	Dad's new vehicle		'He's looking at meeeee!'
	Hanging out with the squares		Little old lady from Brickadena
	En garde!		Our new magnetic friends

Day 11 - Saturday, July 3rd, 2010
Chicago, IL to L'Anse, MI
11 miles on El, 402 miles in truck

Richard was up and out of the hotel at first light, riding the El out to the airport to retrieve the Truckasaurus from its four-day offsite rest. The big purple Southwest planes were swooping in over the train as it pulled in at Midway, and after a call (or two) the shuttle van showed up and truck and owner were again reunited. Then back to the hotel to load up - but this time there were so many taxis stuffing up the hotel entrance there was no chance to stick a pickup in there as well. So, the truck was squeezed into an on-street parking space and that unforgiving meter box (credit cards accepted) was fed.

The load-out took a little bit longer than the load-in, partly due to the long lines of hungry guests snaking through the atrium, some overloaded elevators, and other inexplicable causes that can only be attributed to either thermal expansion or possibly some other family dumping their luggage on us as well (funny, it looks like ours...)

Just as the time we'd bought on the meter was expiring, we started the fully re-laden truck and steered out of town toward northerly destinations. As we slogged along on I-94, the rudeness of certain Chicago-area drivers still astonishes us (mainly driving black cars for some reason) as they disturb and turbulate the traffic stream for their short-term benefit. Becoming more and more ill at ease with Illinois, we endured the multi-mile backups on the tollway with all the other families attempting to have some fun on this Fourth weekend. Orange drums were still our companions as we crossed the border into Wisconsin, and we figured that a break from driving might be a rather good idea around this moment in history.

To our relief, right about that time the towering sign of the Mars Cheese Castle came into view, and so we rolled to a stop with visions of dairy products filling our minds. The family explored the aisles of cheeseheads and bovinity, emerging with bags of squeak-inducing curds and savory sausages, and snacked ourselves toward Milwaukee way, where freeway ramps and church steeples intertwined as we traversed the downtown area.

North of the City Of Fermented Yellow Beverages, we decided to veer onto state route 57 for a different sort of drive than that offered by Interstate 43, passing through the small towns of Wisconsin instead of veering around them. In fact, hey look - there's Waldo! Then a few miles farther north, as we mooooved along the tree-lined streets of New Holstein, we were thinking it was only appropriate to search for something dairyesque in such an aptly-named burg. It was indeed found in a most satisfactory manner at the 4 Little Dips, where Duncan turned his tongue blue with Superman ice cream and the parents sampled other flavors.

Onward up through the small towns, watching the folks in the parks busily set up cotton candy stands and picnic tables for the next day's festivities, and then into Green Bay by the back way via DePere and Allouez, traversing the river-bifurcated downtown and noting the numerous yellow and green reminders that this was the home of a multi-SuperBowl-winning team.

Once Green Bay was by, we zipped north on US 41 into the north woods of Wisconsin, as mom and son practiced their yeti calls - ya know, just in case. Then a cruise into Crivitz and a stop at the combination Piggly Wiggly / True Value, where the fasteners do battle with the frozen food for floor space. Our shopping was made a bit easier by the fact that the Piggly offers pee-wee shopping carts, and Duncan scooted amid the wire, bolts, and canned veggies as we grabbed Little Debbies and other useful edibles for our nefarious purposes.

A while north, route 141 hits route 8, and then route 8 hits route 2, and after eleven days we finally hit the state of Michigan. A bit of noshing in Norway, and then briefly back into Wisconsin and the frou-frou of Florence, and again into Michigan without even having to make a turn. The Ben Franklin variety store setting on the steep streets of Crystal Falls was locked up for the evening, and so we wandered west by north on 141, noting the odd road names of "Koivo", "Lehto", and "Saarinen" - which of course are nothing like the much more normal-sounding names back in Arizona, such as "Tohono Oodham" or "Nahata Dziil"

We hung a left at the flashing beacons hanging over the 41 / 141 junction, and drove the final few outbound miles in the afternoon sunshine - well, make that evening sunshine, as we're now in the far northwest corner of the Eastern Time Zone and the happy little clock on the dashboard saying it's a few minutes before 9 PM is brightly illuminated by the nowhere-near-setting sun. We drove along the shimmering waters of Keweenaw Bay and showed up on the doorstep of Suzanne's sister's house for a nice yet short visit (she's starting her own roadtrip the next day and needs some sleep too), and then a check-in at the motel and some relaxation after a busy day - and a long outbound leg.

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Day 11 pix!
(click on 'em to open a larger version)

	Green gargoyles protect the Chicago Library		Riding the El out to get the truck
	Big purple plane swoops down		Last view from the hotel windows
	Down the great glass elevators		Big truck looks teeny from 16 floors up
	Say Cheese!!		Our little cheesy dude
	Junior Cheeseheads Club		Veering this way or that way
	Moooving through New Holstein		Our dip at the 4 Lil' Dips
	You can't see meee!		Green Bay, green jersey, other towns green with envy
	Poking into the Piggly in Crivitz		Groceries and hardware do battle across the aisle
	Our little Piggly cart		Brief visit with Vicki
	Our home for the next several days		Nice motel amid the Yooper scenery

Next Stage: Boiling Our L'Anses

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Latest Historical Revisionism 22 July 2010

Scripting: Richard C. Moeur
rcmoeur@aol.com

Coding for photos created by PhotoPage by John A. Vink.