This particular episode involves not only travel, but lack thereof. We’ve had a couple of major RV malfunctions surrounded by some great sightseeing. When we last looked in on our retired travelers, they were in Belvider Illinois. Outside of Chicago with plans to do some serious sightseeing. Downtown Chicago, an EL train, Wrigley field, etc. The best laid plans don’t always play out the way you expect, but we did see and do some very cool stuff.
Our first adventure was driving into Chicago. This became a learning experience between Siri and Google. We first attempted to drive from Belvider to Chicago using Siri as our guide. Apparently Siri wanted to see as much of rural Illinois as possible and scheduled a 59 mile trip to take 2 hours taking every back road and farm path to downtown Chicago. We then switched to Google who put us on the Freeway (albeit a Toll Road) and we arrived in a little less than an hour. Chicago is nicely marked but somewhat expensive.
We found a parking garage near Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) where we first had a wonderful coffee and doughnut. DD eat your heart out as this was one of the best old fashioned buttermilk doughnuts I’ve ever eaten. We then got our tickets for the elevator to the observation deck. We were pleasantly surprised to find that to get to the elevator, we had to walk through a diorama of Chicago which was both informative and interesting. Even ran into some celebs along the way. The express elevator took less than 60 seconds to get to the top and my ears popped twice!! As you can see from the pictures, the view was pretty awesome!
After seeing that, we hailed an Uber to take us to the Bean. Uber was a bit of a disappointment as 2 canceled on us as they drove past us. Trying to describe where you are in a city you’re unfamiliar with is a hassle and that is something Uber needs to improve. So off to the bean we went, only to discover that the damn thing was under construction and renovation. Seriously!?!?This is as close as we got, but at least the workers looked interested.
Then it was another Uber to Portillos for a Hot Dog for lunch. I had the polish with mustard and grilled onions and Vicki enjoyed a hot dog with all the fixin’s except Ketchup. Apparently that’s a sin in Chicago. After hailing another Uber, it was back to Willis Tower to pick up the Truck and head home. Had a bit of sticker shock when we paid for a day’s parking. $56.00!!! For less than 4 hours, talk about highway robbery!! But then again it’s been a while since we’ve parked in a big city.
Back to Belvider we trekked and Vicki found a highly recommended RV repair center that specialized in generator repair. Even Onan-Cummins certified! I cannot recommend Scott’s RV repair in Rockford Illinois enough. They diagnosed, ordered the parts necessary and replaced our generators control panel in less than two days.
While in Rockford we went to the Rockford Farmer’s market which had opened for the first time this year. Had a fun time browsing the assortment of homegrown things as well as enjoying the fragrances of at least 20 different food trucks. Picked up some tika-masala sauce and organic dog treats for Roxie. We then went to Girodana’s for Chicago Deep dish pizza. OMG!!! My new favorite thing!! Got a medium and ate on it for two days!!! Couldn’t believe how heavy it was carrying it out to the car. Talk about a box-full of deliciousness!!!
We then trekked to Buchannan, Michigan to stay at Bear Cave Thousand Trails. We basically chilled for the time we were there, but we did make a trip to the Lake Michigan beach and Vicki got a chance to use her metal detector. Sadly, we were skunked in the sand, but upon return to the campground, we did find 35 cents coin shooting. At this rate, we should have the rig paid off by 2320 using our coin shooting profits!!!!
Yesterday we were schedule to leave, but fate was not kind. Our wall slide failed to retract, so we were definitely in a bind. We found a mobile RV person to diagnose our problem and propose a solution to our dilemma. He thinks one of the motors is throwing a fault code which prevents the slide from coming in. So we are going to have to jump the motor to slide the wall in and replace the motor as soon as possible. Also we are going to replace the controller just to be safe, so in our next stop, hopefully it can be shipped to us and then the real repairs can begin. Definitely a learning experience and wish I had Dan Bailey to look over my shoulder!
Even though there have been a couple of mechanical set backs, we are still loving our trip to the east coast and look forward to more excellent adventures. Did I mention? We’re still loving retirement.
