We left early New Years Day, not quite as early as planned, but we were on the road for good by 8, with only 1 return trip home for forgotten items. The Ontario portion of the drive was wet but uneventful, once again I picked the wrong border guard, although she went on break right before us and we wound up getting thru very quickly.
Michigan was notable for two things - high winds and road kill. We counted no fewer than 11 deer on the road between port Huron and Flint. A bit of gps time zone confusion, but we eventually made it into Chicago and our very nice hotel downtown. We had dinner at Due pizzeria, which was by far the best deep dish pizza I've ever had in my life. We'd go back in a heartbeat.
We then walked the Magnificent Mile until I thought I was gonna freeze to death, then back to the hotel.
All I'll say about Einstein Bros bagels is if you're considering eating there, don't. Craptastic. We then hit the American Girl store on the mile for the girls, then checked out of the hotel and headed north.
I programmed the gps with a stop in Milwaukee, and we hit Miller Park. For those who don't know, I play simulation baseball, and my team since 1987 has been the Milwaukee Brewers. The stadium, even with the snow-covered field, was awesome. I went a bit nuts in the team store, buying a bunch of shirts, a Brewers scarf (helps alleviate the freezing), and a nice wooden sign for the bar.
From there, it was straight to Uncle Steve. We found him in front of a TV watching the Wisconsin Badgers in the Rose Bowl, and to say he was surprised to see us would be an understatement. We had a quick visit, then went out to try and find his friend who has his mailbox keys. That didn't work out, so we went back for another visit with Steve, then out to dinner and checked into our hotel.
I'm pleased to report that Steve is doing well, healing up nicely. He turned his bruised face away for the picture, and isn't tremendously mobile yet, but seemed in good spirits, and is certainly animated. I'm pretty sure he was happy to see us - I'm looking forward to going back - we're trying to arrive after his rehab and lunch.
We're having a great trip, and would be outright wonderful were it not for the news we got, which was that Mark Wright passed away suddenly on New Years day. We've been thinking about his family an awful lot, and the horrible start to their year. Our hearts go out to them - he was only 33.
We'll begin our return trip tomorrow, staying one more night in Appleton. Here's hoping the drive home is as smooth as the drive here was, and I'd really like to make Mark's funeral on Friday.
Will try to check in on the road home at some point.
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