This time our mini-van came all the way from Florida!
Steve got the van packed in no time and we still had plenty of room!
Steve planned to drive the whole way, but Amaya offered to be our relief driver! :-)
We left around 10:15am, a little ahead of schedule and our estimated time of arrival was around 5:30pm including stops for lunch and the bathroom. Steve made a wise decision and opted to get a GPS unit for the mini-van. We affectionately called her, "Judy." We are SO THANKFUL that we had GPS, otherwise Steve would have had to do a lot more planning and preparation to try to figure out where things were and how to go back to the hotel and how to get around construction, one-ways, etc. This way, he just plugged in the address, and off we went with Judy calling out directions every so often. And if we veered from Judy's directions, she recalculated and got us back on track.
Amaya did AMAZING on the way down! A few weeks ago, I had gone to Saver's and picked up nearly 50 books for her and saved them for the long car ride. We also brought along some of her favorite books, colors, and lacing cards. She was quite content looking through all of her new books and kept asking, "What's this book about?" "Can I have another book?" I'm still shocked at how well she traveled. We stopped in LaCrosse for lunch and a few hours later she crashed for a nap. Our original plan was to eat a little after 6pm, but little did we know what Cicero Avenue had in store for us.
We entered the city limits around 5:30pm and Judy kept pushing out our arrival time. Even though I had spent four years living in Chicago, I knew traffic was going to be bad, but I must have forgotten how bad. I think we only had about 10-15 miles on Cicero Avenue to reach the hotel, but it ended up taking over an hour and half. Our hotel was located near Midway Airport, so that was part of the problem and it was rush hour traffic. The other problem was all the homeless people! They would dodge between cars and walk down the middle of the street trying to sell bottled water and even cowboy hats! I'm very thankful that during our stay we didn't get in a car accident or run over anyone! The fun part about our long drive down Cicero Avenue was that because we were so close to the airport, every 2-3 minutes we saw planes descending dangerously close to the buildings! Amaya and I oohed and ahhed A LOT!
We finally reached our hotel shortly after 7:30pm and headed to dinner at TGI Friday's which was within the hotel complex. There were 8-9 different hotels located on the complex with 3 different restaurants attached, so it was pretty convenient to grab a bite to eat.
Amaya was still pretty wired from the trip, so even though it was after 9pm, we got on our swimsuits and dipped our toes in the pool (LITERALLY). The water was sooo cold, that I could only get my feet in. Amaya didn't really care about the temperature - she just wanted to swim. And Steve managed to get in up to his waist, but it was still pretty frigid.
We crashed for the night and were eagerly anticipating the next day to see two of my college friends and visit North Park University where I went to school.
Tuesday, August 10th: North Park University
We planned to meet Jenn and Helen at Old Main on campus around 10am.... which I guess meant we'd actually show up around 10:30. How do people even plan to arrive anywhere on time with the traffic being so crazy?!?
I've always thought that North Park was a beautiful campus, but to come back and see it again after nearly 10 years and all it's changes it's even more beautiful. Here are Jenn, Helen, Amaya, and me in front of Wilson Hall - the art department. Jenn majored in art and we spent A LOT of time here "studying".
A lot has remained the same: This is Carlson Tower, where most of my classes were held.
The bridge across the North Branch River...
But so much more has changed! This is the new library that was built shortly after I graduated.
Another view of the library and the walkways.
The new gymnasium!
The inside of the gym - complete with work out rooms, cycle classes, a track, and basketball court. I was a little disappointed to learn that the gym was only for practice and that no basketball games would be held there - they would continue to be held in the old gym.
The new Viking Lounge. (We NEVER spent any time here because it was a dump, but now - WOW!)
I was really curious to see if we could sneak into the nursing lab and fortunately, a student was there and let us explore. WOW! We used to have 2 beds and 2 ANCIENT mannequins to practice on. Now they have several beds, IV pumps, even an isolette used for babies in the ICU... WOW! I was massively impressed!
They even have a lab set up to be a mock outpatient area!
Amaya felt pretty comfortable around campus and posed for us.
Then she wanted Jenn to run with her!
And Jenn, being the good sport that she is... DID!
One of my top priorities while at North Park, was to eat lunch at Tre Kronor. It's a cute little Swedish restaurant that has the best Swedish meatballs! Steve ended up getting Vanilla Orange French Toast and I got a cup of the Baked Onion Soup and Meatballs with Swedish Style Potatoes. Amaya ended eating a little bit of everything! It was awesome! (Guy Fieri of Diner's, Drive-Ins, and Dives visited Tre Kronor and his insignia was up on the wall.)