Day 8 - Wrigley Field

Hopped on the train again to the Loop, transferred to the L and rode up to Wrigley Field for the Chicago Cubs/Atlanta Braves game. This ball park is everything we expected it would be - a jewel of a park with history, tradition and the benefit of some remodeling about 20 years ago (we were told) that improves comfort and sight lines that Fenway, of the same period, does not have. The day couldn't have been nicer. The place was packed with enthusiastic fans and we numbered ourselves as one of those. Dusty Baker (former SF Giants manager) is having a tough year, and this game did not make his life any easier. The Cubs led for a good part of the game, but, just like the A's, they fell apart in the last 2 innings and the Braves won the game. The very vocal fans booed their team. It was a study in contrasts to the enormous enthusiasm of White Sox fans - the difference between winning and losing!!

Day 7 - Millennium Park

We took the train into downtown Chicago. Walked to Millennium Park which is right next to the Art Institute of Chicago and a fantastic addition to the city. There is a huge fountain which many people love to frolic in, a stainless steel "jelly bean" sculpture known as Cloud Gate you can see your reflection in.



We saw the Frank Gehry designed pavillion (Jay Pritzker Pavillion) which would be a wonderful concert venue (we didn't get to do that). The gardens will be lovely in about 2 weeks - we were a little ahead of the season.

The Art Institute of Chicago is a place one could spend several days in. We had an afternoon and focused on the American art collection, the Impressionists, and a special exhibit on the ancient Indians of the Southwest (Anasazi, etc.) which displayed primarily the pottery. It was wonderful.

Day 6 - Oak Park, IL and US Cellular Park

We spent a lovely morning and afternoon walking around Oak Park, IL. This beautiful town is noted for its Frank Lloyd Wright homes and Wright's own home and studio which we toured. There are many homes designed by other famous architects during the first 20 or so years of the 20th century, so it is a feast for the eyes. The one pictured here is a famous Wright home which has been cared for so well.

The other house pictured here is the most beautiful Victorian we'd ever seen. The roof line is amazing - such a steep pitch.

We parked our car in Oak Park for the evening, took the L in and transferred to the train to US Cellular Stadium for a White Sox/A's game. This wonderful baseball park is very new with views of the Chicago skyline. Oh, well, the A's lost, but it was a good game. Chicago Sox fans rock! The park rocks! They are still celebrating last year's World Series Championship BIG time!

Day 4, 5 - Winterset, IA and Urbandale, IA

We have driven by Winterset many times, but never stopped here. This time we got off I-80 at Omaha and drove across western Iowa on Hwy. 92. Iowa may sometimes get a bad rap as being nothing but corn. Yes, there is corn, but the hilly country is a weave of trees, green grasses, crop fields plowed to the contour of the land, small irrigation channels, streams and lots of wildlife.

We stayed in the Winterset City Park Campground – perfectly manicured grass, full hook-ups (which we love!) and lovely trees. We finally had a chance to visit three of the Bridges of Madison County which we had always wanted to see. They all look pretty much like the one pictured here.

At 1:30 a.m. the next morning the warning bell sounded on the refrigerator – a malfunction of the controls. Great! What were we going to do with no refrigerator?! Gary made a phone call or two and found a repair place in Urbandale, IA (just west of Des Moines and just a few miles north of Winterset). The guy really knew his stuff because he was able to do a reset on the control (which we didn’t know how to do), and he had us switch from electric to LP gas for the cooling. So far, it is working fine, and we have some time to research what is wrong – Gary suspects it is the AC cooling mechanism, not the control circuit board. The repair “facility” that was our salvation is pictured here.

Day 2 – To Lyman, Wyoming

An Internet connection has not been as easy to find as I had thought! I will take advantage of this one to make up for lost time.

Our second night out, we fell under the spell of beautiful Lyman, Wyoming, just east of the western WY border on I-80. This lovely little town on a ridge overlooking the rolling prairie has a wonderful view of the snow-capped Uinta Mountains to the south. We had a great run from the campground to town (about 2 miles one way), ran through town and by a wedding at the charming Mormon Church, and back to the campground. The desert and prairie was very green all the way through Nevada and Utah with snow-capped mountains all along the way. Lots of water in the West this spring.