Our next stop was near Chicago, the Windy City. Our friends Martha and Ken (see the 2012 entries from our trip to Alaska) live in Romeoville about 45 minutes west of the city and we stayed at the campground at Hollywood Casino. The first evening Ken and Martha came down from their home and we went out to eat. Then we saw the sites at the nearby Home Depot. We had to pick up a couple of repair items for the motorhome. While we were eating it started pouring rain out. We knew a storm was coming from looking at the weather radar earlier so it wasn’t a surprise. After they dropped us off, we watched TV for a while and then the real storm blew in. At first it was just high winds and heavy rain but then we could here sirens going off all around us, so we knew it was time to take cover. Fortunately, there is a hotel about 200 yards from the campground so we jumped in the car and drove down there and hung out in their hallway until the all-clear was sounded. It was exciting.
The next day was sparkling and clear, with lower humidity than before the storm. We spent the morning around the RV and then, after lunch, headed over to Ken and Martha’s house for a little free high speed wifi and to travel into the city for some site seeing. We went to Navy Pier and hung around, viewing the stained glass exhibit and watching the boats go in and out. Then we had dinner and headed for the Oriental Theater to see the Motown musical. Very good staging and some terrific music.
On day two, Geoff gave Ken a hand getting their satellite dish onto their new motorhome. They bought a 2012 Newmar Dutch Star to replace the 2004 Dutch Star they have had for 7 years. They figure they might do another 10 years of RVing and they thought they might need something newer to last that time. Ken moved the old RV up close to the new one and we were able to just carry the dish to the new unit. Then they celebrated by going to Fry’s Electronics, a techie’s Mecca, and then lunch at Fuddrucker’s. Geoff also got to see Ken’s quad-copter, a nice little aerial photographic platform. Later, we went back to their house to watch some TV and hang out.
On day three, we went to their house yet again to have dinner and then we went out to a nearby park to watch the Romeoville fireworks. And then, on day four, which was July 4th, we traveled with Ken and Martha again into Chicago, first to the Art Institute of Chicago to see a display of Magritte art, and then to Millennium Park to see a free concert put on by the Grant Park Orchestra and Chorus. Both days were clear and warm, perfect summer weather.
That was the end of our time with Ken and Martha, for now. We will be seeing them again in a week. On July 5th we moved north to Arlington Heights, where we parked in the yard of Carol and Jim from Sun’N’Fun. Carol is in sewing with Ellyn and Jim is in the radio club. They are well set up for RV parking, with 50 amp power and water service. One strange thing about where they live, they are right in the take-off path of two runways of O’Hare Airport, so the whole time we were there, there were airplanes thundering overhead. They said the airport came out and installed new windows and sound insulation in their home and that there is a ticketing fee for everyone flying through O’Hare to pay for this for every homeowner in the area. Although we do not have heavy insulation in our RV, we did not seem to suffer for the noise. I guess we are used to camping near other noise sources, like train tracks and other campers.
On our one full day at their place, we went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens and spend a long, sweaty day walking through flowers, model trains, and butterfly exhibits. It wasn’t entirely sweaty, but the weather was on the hotter side of the weather we have enjoyed so far on our trip. It was a fun day and it was our last day in the Chicago area. Next we move on to Door County in Wisconsin.
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