We met up with Amanda at work and had lunch at the fabulous Mexican restaurant she works at. After lunch we let her continue working while we treated her town as another homebase and ran some errands. That was when our luck began to change. I have been having some pain in my left arm off and on since we were in Texas (I attributed it to strain from picking up my little cousins). Yesterday, however, the pain moved into my chest and became constant and sharp. To make a long story short, we ended up going to the hospital for lack of a better option. Luckily everything was fine, they did some chest x-rays and nothing major was wrong. They concluded that I probably have pleurisy, which is just a fancy way of saying chest pain with a questionable cause. So I’m healthy, just in a bit of pain. Never a dull moment…
After that, the night got much better. I felt bad about putting a damper on the evening a bit of walking around the city and had some deep dish Chicago pizza at Pizzeria Due (the second Pizzeria Uno restaurant). Things were definitely looking up.
Today we woke up in time for breakfast (for once) and had another great meal at the breakfast restaurant that Amanda works at. With our bellies full, we were ready to take on Chi town once again. We walked around Millennium Park and saw great metal sculptures (photos to come) and fountains complete with kids (and some adults) splashing around. We walked around the parks some more, saw Lake Michigan (my first Great Lake!) and then headed to Navy Pier. Navy Pier is like Fanuiel Hall in Boston, only bigger and on the water. There are tons of shops and food places, as well as a big ferris wheel and swings. It was fun to walk around and see Chicagoans in their natural habitat! We did a lot of walking and exploring! It was a great day. Chicago is a beautiful city that I would like to explore again sometime. Thanks so much to Amanda for her hospitality and for showing us around the area!!!!
Now we are on the road as I right this. We have crossed Illinois and Indiana and are now in Ohio. We had planned on getting to Pittsburgh, but plans change and due to the fact that we left later than expected, among other things, we are staying in Cleveland tonight. We will still be fine on our next to last road trip day in which we head up to New York for the wedding! I can’t believe its almost here and our trip is almost over. It will definitely be bittersweet; we have loved exploring the country, but we are ready for family and friends and the comforts of home!
Until tomorrow!
The Stats (for the past 2 days):
58% of the USA covered!
Average Speed: 50.7mph
Moving Average: 55.8mph
Total Time: 19h27min
Moving Time: 17h42min
Stopped: 1h45min
Distance Traveled: 987.3miles (woah!)
Distance Left: Eastward Ho!
