Chicago was to be our last destination together as a group. Both Hannah and Todd would be flying out from O'Hare airport and Peggy and Rez would be back to Bloomington to start their semester. We had three nights before that though and hoped to make the most of it in one of America's biggest cities.

We had to drive around three hours to get from our overnight spot in Indiana to Chicago. We didn't have anywhere planned to stay yet but we figured we could figure it out on the road. This proved to be a bit harder than expected due to lack of cellphone signal (our network basically only worked in cities) so we stopped at a McDonald's and used their WiFi to find a campground. There wasn't a huge amount to choose from that was anywhere near the central city so we instead tried to find somewhere close to a rail line. Luckily for us one of the districts had recently opened a new campground near a place called Palatine.

We had managed to arrive in Chicago late afternoon which meant that we got stuck in extreme rush hour traffic. It took close to two hours to get from the south side of the city up to the west where Camp Reinburg was located. The campsite was really new having only been open for a few weeks. We initially only booked in for one night but ended up extending each day until we had spent the entire time there. The camp was still within the city limits but felt very wild.

We went food shopping at a nearby Walmart which turned out to be one of the worst places to get food every. The fruit and vegetable section consisted of four small crates and there was no meat at all aside from prepackaged frozen stuff. We bought what we could any then went a bit further down the road where we found an amazing supermarket called Joe Caputo's (funny if you've seen Orange is the New Black) which had a huge selection of fruit and vegetables as well as other food.

The next morning we left in a bit of a rush to try and catch the hourly train in to the central city. We were doing fairly well until it got to paying for the station car parking. There was a big rusty box covered in numbered slots which corresponded to parking spaces. We eventually figured out that you had to poke your money down inside the slot and hope that no one came past and took it out. We made the train with a few minutes to spare and then relaxed for the hour long trip downtown.

We didn't have much in particular planned for the day aside from exploring. Our train took us to the Ogilvie Transportation Centre, just across the river from Central Chicago which is known as The Loop. I finally found a camera repair store and took my camera in to get fixed. After that we walked towards the Grant Park and the shore of Lake Michigan. Grant Park is huge and is full of interesting things like sculptures, a concert stage, a massive playground area, as well as numerous museums. The first thing we saw as we entered was the famous Bean, a huge bean shaped sculpture with a reflective surface.

I really liked how Chicago has such a huge area of open space right in the middle of downtown.

The Bean at night

After exploring for a while it was time for lunch and everyone had been talking about deep dish pizza since that start of the trip. We ended up at a place called Lou Malnati's and shared two gigantic pizzas between us. They were really good but also really rich. One of them was so cheesy I could only have a single slice. We kept some to have later but even so I felt incredibly full afterwards. As we left the restaurant we could hear the sounds of jets screaming around the city as the Navy's Blue Angels practised for an air show the next day.

We split up for the rest of the afternoon to do our own things. I went to pick up my camera which had been repaired (for about half the price of a new one). I then explored for a bit before ending up at a sandy beach just north of The Loop. It was such a hot day that I couldn't resist going for a swim, even though I had no towel or change of clothes. The beach was very busy and the water full of people swimming. It was so satisfying to cool down but I instantly regretted it when I couldn't get dry and had sand stuck everywhere.

That night we all meet up at the concert stage and watched a free classical music concert as the sun set. It was a really nice vibe with people sitting with picnics that they had brought. It was fun to watch different groups and try to figure out the dynamics. We ate our left over pizza and lay on the grass in the warm night air before finally walking back to the train station and getting our train back to camp. Tonight was the last night that we would all be together as a group. Sadly Hannah was leaving early the next morning. It was an awesome day though and a good way to end.

The Concert Stage

The next morning Peggy, Hannah, and I woke up extremely early (before 5 I think) and drove to Chicago O'Hare Airport. Even with no one else on the roads it was confusing and we took a wrong turn due to construction work and terrible signage. Instead of a sign the simply states the road to the airport they instead decided to name a tiny stretch of road as an interstate highway and then label it as such. We eventually made it and said goodbye to Hannah. Unfortunately her flight ended up being severely delayed making a mockery of our early rise.

We spent the day doing much the same as the day before. We caught the train in to The Loop and went to the Chicago library so that we could do some admin stuff, ordering books in particular for Peggy and Rez. Peggy, Todd, and I went to the beach I had visited the day before to watch the Airshow. We ended up missing most of it but arrived in time to see the Blue Angels do their thing which was pretty impressive. Todd left early to go to a baseball game between the two Chicago teams, the Cubs, and the White Sox. Rez spend much of the day at the library sorting things out. We ended up back at the concert stage in the evening and watch the concert once more, it really was that nice.

The Blue Angels

For our third and final full day in Chicago the four of us decided we wanted to go to a waterpark. Unfortunately after much searching there didn't appear to be much to choose from and what was available was both expensive and very poorly rated online. Instead we went to a beach on Lake Michigan. We picked a place called Evanston which while not all the way in to the city, was still a good 40 minute drive.

It was hot we when arrived and we were all looking forward to going for a swim. We found a park and walked towards the beach. When we arrived we found the area guarded by a fence with a single entrance where you had to pay to enter. I might be wrong but I think it was around $12 per person. Once on the beach we were forced to find a spot in a crowed roped of section of beach. Within this small area were three lifeguard towers where overly zealous teenages stood and blew whistles and shouted into megaphones every thirty seconds as soon as they noticed anyone who looked like they might be having fun. Out in the lake were buoys which marked the limits in which everyone was allowed to swim. Beyond the Buoys were more lifeguards in kayaks to catch anyone who might feel like swimming in water greater than waist deep.

The whole thing was completely and absolutely nuts. In the land of the personal responsibility brigade it seems impossible to do anything without a hundred stupid rules telling you what you can and cannot do. We felt like we had to stay for a few hours at least just to get our money's worth. It was a nice spot though and the lake was nice refreshing so it wasn't bad by any means. I just don't understand how anyone could think these rules made any sense.

After leaving the beach we stopped off for Baskin Robbins icecream which was much better than I was expecting. Somehow this was the first time we had had icecream on the trip which was pretty amazing considering how hot it had been. We each got Cookie Dough and Peanut Butter. I wasn't a huge fan of the Cookie Dough but the Peanut Butter was amazing.

Our last night was fairly low key. We went home early and had once last dinner. I think everyone was pretty exhausted by this point, at least in terms of being a tourist if not physically as well. It had been a whirlwind 45 days together in which we had visited twenty five states, four time zones, experiences vastly different climates, been wowed by huge cities and stunned by quiet back roads. It was an amazing journey with a great group of people but boy was it exhausting. I don't think I really appreciated it at the end. It's only now, four months later as I write this and revisit the memories that I realise just how special it all was.

The next morning we packed up camp for the last time (This would end up being the last time for me too). We then drove back to O'Hare to say goodbye to Todd. Peggy, Rez, and I then started the drive back to Bloomington.

I'll write a retrospective post about our time as a group next before continuing on with the rest of my solo journey.