Roadtrip: Chicagoland and back

You might say these two tickets are what inspired our summer Illinois trip in the first place. Forest purchased them back in January after winning the seats through a lottery on the Ten Club website. As we started planning for the concert, we decided Crissy should be the one to go with Forest if it could be arranged. She is a long-time Pearl Jam fan but has never had a chance to see them live. When we contacted her about it, she was just a *little* bit excited about the idea.

Six months later, the plan unfolded: Ramona, Mika, and Aubrey were dropped off at Grandma's house while Parry, Crissy, Connor, Forest, and I took two separate cars up to Chicago. Forest and I left earlier to pick up tickets and grab lunch with Scott. Also to grab some frozen goodness at Caffe Gelato.

 We checked in at the Ivy Hotel in downtown.

Our room had a very personal feel to it, maybe because all of the toiletries and towels had my name on them.

 

Then it was time to split up Team Forest+Ivy for a bit. I met up with my friend Allie from undergrad, who drove over from DeKalb to meet me. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant while we filled in the blanks on about five years of our lives . . .

 

. . . and next, walked down to Millenium Park to catch the last little bit of an outdoor orchestra concert.

Finally, we wandered back over to the sky terrace of the hotel, ordered sodas, and watched lightning flash between the skyscrapers as a big storm rolled its way toward us.

Meanwhile, Parry and Connor made themselves comfortable at the hotel while Crissy and Forest hopped on the L toward Wrigley Field, tickets in hand.

It was a historic event, made even more memorable by the ominous weather forecast that evening.

 

 

 

They called Parry several times between 10 and midnight while they were stuck in a rain delay. By then Allie had hit the road to try and avoid the worst of the storm, and I was back at the hotel, safe and dry. (Although I did venture out to a Seven Eleven to satisfy a craving for some kind of salad with chicken, and had to camp out in the store for fifteen minutes to wait out one sudden downpour).

 

It sounded like Pearl Jam delivered their performance as promised and came back out to play until 2am once the rain had subsided.

I got a couple of chances to hold Connor that evening while we waited for the concert to complete. As much as I would have liked to enjoy this time, I felt mostly apprehensive and heavyhearted. It was hard to watch his body struggle so much for every breath, and to listen to his little whimpers when he was in pain.

Our beaming punk rock fans returned to the hotel around 3am. After some more re-cap on the exciting concert, Crissy gathered up her sleeping child and buckled him into his car seat. Then she gave me and Forest some grateful hugs, and they were soon back on their way to Argenta with drowsy-eyed Parry at the wheel.

Once reunited, Team Forest+Ivy was able to squeeze a little more fun into our remaining Chicago time. In the morning we went for a walk through Millenium Park . . .

 . . . and around the big fountain.

We chose an Italian place for a peaceful lunch before heading back to the parking garage, then got on the road to meet up with our girls at Grandma's house. It sounded like they had a wonderful time without us, and they were thoroughly worn out. Thank you Carol!

We cooked up the frozen Papa Dels pizza for dinner, then headed back to Parry's for our final night in Illinois.

As their last hoorah, the girls went out to catch some fireflies before bed.

 They are such magical little insects, especially from the eyes of Utah and Colorado kids.

The following day was spent in the minivan. As always, driving across the country can be kind of a grueling process, but here are some pictures documenting the most pleasant parts of our trip home:

 

 

 

It was a successful, fun-filled adventure to Illinois . . . but all of us were weary and happy to be home again. So weary and so happy, in fact, that some of us curled up on the floor and passed out on the floor at about 5pm the next day.

So long, I-80 . . . we'll see you and Illinois again sometime.