Airborne from Anchorage @ 1:45 am. 2 hrs 45 min to Seattle. Smooth
flight & fast, had to be a good tailwind.
We both had seats ahead of the emergency exit which do not recline so our
napping time was sporadic and not the most comfortable.
In Seattle, we have a healthy breakfast from Kathy's kitchen: Hard boiled
eggs, a slice of cranberry bread & a section of some reindeer sausage.....
with a local side order of Starbuck's coffee.
Seattle to Chicago(ORD)= 3 hrs 25 min. Middle seats for both of us. We
don't like middle seats. We walk over to another Alaska gate where our
oldest son Nick is arriving from SEA in less than an hour & is on time.
Then we 3 ride the Metro train from O'Hare airport to Union Station
downtown(45 min). Here we will take another train to Lafayette, Indiana in
about 2.5 hrs.
Meanwhile, we store our suitcases in a locker @ Union station & Kathy
makes a local phone call to her longtime friend, Joyce, who lives in a
Chicago suburb. They talked last week of perhaps a rendezvous when we
arrive @ Chicago's Union Station, but tonight, Joyce says: "She was
expecting us earlier, now timing is bad, rush hour traffic is heavy and
they have a party to go to this evening." When Kathy asks her about
getting to the main downtown area and to Millenium Park, Joyce replies,
"you are 7 blocks too far West & 7 blocks too far South."
This Union Station is something else. It's a turn of the century,
grandiose building still bustling with activity. Kathy well remembers as a
child, riding the Milwaukee Railroad train with her father on many
Saturdays when she would help him at his printing business. The train
terminated @ this Union Station and she reminisces about all the
activity...the hustle, bustle of so many people, shoe shine boys, several
restaurants, flower vendors, and yada, yada!!
Now that the "Joyce plan" is out of the question, Kathy still wants to see
the downtown Christmas decorations. So it's outside to the very cold air
with a strong North wind we go. Nick is dressed with 3 layers of clothing
& a hat. Kathy is also well dressed with 3 layers but Monte is cool, he
has no hat & only a thin Patagonia jacket. Getting a taxi or bus is not
good as it's bumper to bumper traffic moving slower than our walk. So we
talk the walk & walk the walk. Down Monroe to State St. We make it to
Marshall Fields(15 min) & have dinner: a great hamburger & the best fries
in a long time @ the Infield Grill in M.F.'s basement. This was a good
stop & my blood begins the recirculating status again.
Now for sure, Kathy is energized & her goal is to see the large tree in
Millenium Park, across Michigan Ave. She just heard about this tree en
route to Chicago on the aircraft from another lady. So we start walking
East,the cold wind is even colder than the Alaska cold...it's a humid
cold. Nick & I are a little uncomfortable about not only the cold air, but
also the time bind we are getting into. We are not sure how much further
this Millenium Park is and if we walk back to Union Station from where we
are now, will we have enough time? Hmmm, finally Kathy admits this plan is
not feasible tonight & we MUST catch a bus back to Union Station to make
our train on time....and we did. Phew!
By the time we retrieve our luggage from our locker, it's a rush job to
board our train. Train travel is still very relaxing for me. It's not the
European style that runs on time one can set your watch to but it is nice.
This line south to Lafayette is not too speedy. From what we know, the
track is owned by the freight companies & they have priority over
passenger cars. Several times en route, our train pulled off on a siding
to allow a fast moving freight train to pass. This resting time set our
ETA back by one hour exactly. Approaching Lafayette, Nick calls our
younger son, Zack, on his cell phone. Zack will be meeting us at the
station for a pickup.
Four hours from Chicago to Lafayette, Indiana. We disembark & look around
for Zack....nowhere in sight. We begin walking across the Wabash river on
the people's plaza bridge to our Hilton Hotel for the night(5 min). Nick
calls Zack and while they're talking, the three of us are walking across
the bridge. On the other side of the bridge a car comes out of nowhere &
practically runs us down...it's our young son, Zack. He was parked @ the
train station waiting for us. We walked the opposite direction and just
didn't see him.
In our hotel room, we talk for nearly 2 hrs, then Nick goes with Zack &
spends the night @ Zack's studio apartment.
We are tired... Lights out: 2:45 am Eastern Time
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