Good bye Chicago; Hello Wisconsin

On Saturday before Hamilton, we visited Willis Tower to view Chicago from 103 stories up and to, of course, stand on the glass ledge to look straight down.  The views from the top of the Willis are awesome and inspiring, but the glass floor was anti-climatic.  The expected sensation was not really there for me.  I like my Willis Tower picture of Lake Michigan with the morning sun shining across the water:




We visited the Museum of Industry and Science on our last day in Chicago, after an amazingly healthy and inexpensive "Corner Bakery" breakfast in the Loop.  The museum is a huge multi-winged facility.  And there were some interesting exhibits, but the museum seemed disjointed and not altogether "industry and science" related; e.g., the Colleen Moore Fairy Castle with truly real miniatures of working piano and organ, small books by famous authors, a postage stamp of Mickey by Walt Disney, and real jewels, vases and statutory from centuries ago.  Amazing and extravagant.  We would not put the Museum high on our list.  

We spent our first "Wal-Mart" overnight stay in Milwaukee.  It was near dark and totally urban when we finally headed out of Chicago.  We picked up the van at the airport (parking an over-sized vehicle with cartop carrier and bikes was not readily available downtown).  This is the beautiful sunrise that we woke up to the next morning:


 

I feel sort of ridiculous sleeping in a parking lot when we can easily afford a hotel room; but there is something rather youthful and carefree about sleeping in the car.  Alan and I were so responsible during college and afterwards and never had hippie adventures like camping across the country or backpacking Europe.  So, here we are, reverting to our youth and laughing at ourselves as we go.  Children, tell your friends that this embarrassment is just a stage that your parents have to get through.   By the way, the Wal-Mart parking lot was quiet and safe.  Wal-Mart may have something here.  We spent $120 in the store the next morning on food and supplies that we needed for the trip.  There went the cost of the hotel.

Wisconsin has been beautiful.  We drove to Kohler where the plumbing giant is located.  Kohler turned the beautiful dormitory for his employees into a fancy resort with 5-star golf courses.  The American Club owns Whistling Straits where the PGA or US Open has been held about 4 times.  

I wanted to stop to get a picture of a stain-glass sentiment that Kohler espoused:




Next blog stop will describe Camping in Door County.  Stay-tuned.  

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