Chicago.

My mom, sister, cousin Connor, and I left Edgerton at 6:15 this morning to board the train at Harvard, IL and reach downtown Chicago by 9:30.  One of the main reasons for this trip was to give Connor a chance to show us around his college of choice – Roosevelt University.  

Connor, my birthday twin, has always been a bit of a mystery to me.  He only eats pizza and mashed potatoes and has always been a bit on the – err – strange side.  [Keep in mind I like weird.]  He has completely taken me by surprise in his three summer trips to reach out to people in Kenya and by choosing a college in the downtown of the windy city.  It was great to see the place he’ll call home beginning in just a few weeks.  For a small city kid, he seems completely at home and smart about the big city.

After a tour of the highrise buildings that belong to the Roosevelt campus, we walked to Millenium Park.  It’s just across the street from the university and I can’t hardly go to Chicago without visiting the bean.  We sat for a bit, people watched [including a train of preschoolers visiting the sites, all holding onto a ribbon to stay together], and headed for lunch.  

Our afternoon consisted of more walking, shopping [I visited my home away from home – an Anthropologie store], and a brief stop at Navy Pier.  We took a water taxi back to the train station and boarded to head back north towards Wisconsin.  [Let’s talk about train conductors for a minute.  What makes one want to be a train conductor?  And what do they do besides take tickets and punch them with little letter punches three times in random orders?  They get a cool hat that says ‘Conductor’ and there’s likely a little childhood dream involved, but beyond that, what’s the draw?  Seriously.  I want to know.]  Now I’m tired.  And really should go to sleep.  Tomorrow will be a crazy day of prepping a certain Alaska trip that begins the day after next!