Road Trip Day 3 and 4 Recaps
Day 3
Woke up to news that the tornado passed through Paducah and the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky which were a few miles away from Metropolis. Considered staying in both places the night prior. Waking up 3 people deep in 2 double beds seemed like a luxury compared to tent camping in a tornado. Packed our stuff up and headed to the main attraction in Metropolis, IL. The Superman Museum. Enjoyed the Man of Steel in a light drizzle that made the sleepy town seem really sad. Poked around the gift shop and picked up a postcard. Hit the road towards St. Louis. The rain opened up into bright blue skies. Lots of frustration about not being able to see the Gateway Arch as we approach SL. Hung out in City Garden park which extends through downtown and directly below the Arch. Flooding from Ohio River closed down the boardwalk near the Arch. Kids played on the sculptures and playgrounds right through the middle of the city. Spent around 3 hours and spent only $3 while we were there. Sorry but thank you St. Louis. Found a campground in central Illinois about 2 hours north. Drove through 50 miles of cornfields through country roads. Nothing but corn, blue sky and big cumulus clouds. Monday so we were the only tent campers. Set up the tent, went swimming then checked out Tony’s diner in town. Back to the campsite to catch fireflies then pile into the tent. The temp was below 70 so we were actually in our sleeping bags which is a nice change. Spaceballs for the tent movie. Fell asleep within the first 10 minutes.
Day 4
Woke up with a very odd feeling. An eerie silence. Slightly sore from sleeping on the ground I popped my head out of the sleeping bag like a turtle. Everyone is still. Sarah moves. She silently steps over children, unzips the tent door and exits. I follow. Outside of the tent we whisper acknowledging the phenomena. We are awake. Morningtime. All the children are asleep. Hadn’t happened in years maybe. Didn’t last more than 5 minutes but it was quite the moment. And waking up naturally is an amazing feeling when compared to the norm which is “I’m hungggggrrrrrryyyyyyy….”. Or Cormac just skips the talk and pulls your sheets/blankets directly off of you saying “daddy up”.
Kids eat cold oatmeal and nuts and dried fruit while we pack up the tent. Greta and Ruth reveal they stayed up and watched all of Spaceballs which is now their new favorite movie. Weather is great. Head back out through the corn fields. 35 miles back to the interstate. Hit 55N towards Chicago. Hit traffic and get off the interstate driving through towns like Wilmington. A few miles from my father-in-law’s birthplace, Joliet. Nice to see old small towns still alive. Makes me think of small towns in Georgia which are either ghost towns or soon to be ghost towns. Pull into Chicago with a semi-superficial feeling of nostalgia you get from living in a place for less than 2 years almost 10 years ago. Hit up Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain and Millenium Park. Chicago is a great place for freeloaders. Saw symphonies warming up in the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, hung out by the lake, went to the Bean (Sarah corrected me that it wasn’t the Jellybean). Weather was great too.
Went to hang out with Sarah’s aunt, uncle and cousins in Irving Park. First time spending time with this crew all together for me and it was great. Ate tacos. Forgot how great Mexican food was in Chicago. Later went over to our friends place to hang out and play with her dog, Hot Sauce. Hot Sauce and our kids went crazy and became very tired. It was late so we headed back to the Airbnb which had 3 beds…luxury.
Every time we get in the car now Cormac says “No home, daddy. No home”. He doesn’t stop saying it until I verbally confirm, “No home Cormac”.
