The Many Adventures of a Thede

I thought we got our van problems out of the way. We had the passenger van checked out in St. Louis, but they didn't really find anything wrong with it. But, less than a week later, on the road to Chicago, it broke down. On the coldest day of the year. It was a really bad day. Now the van is in a shop in Matteson, IL while we've rented a minivan and are now in Elgin, IL, outside Chicago. I think we're getting our van back on Feb 7th. Man, that's going to be an expensive rental car.

Well, in better news, we've been having a lot of fun exploring the towns we're staying in along the way. We had a fun day of sight seeing in St. Louis. We went to the arch and the accompanying museum. And now that we're in the Chicago area, we've been taking advantage of that as well. Yesterday we drove into the city and then went our separate ways...a couple people went to see My Fair Lady, one girl hung out with an old friend for the afternoon, and Alli and I went to Shedd Aquarium. We spent the whole afternoon there and got to see everything. And there are great views from the spot where the aqurium is, as a bonus, so I got some great pictures. In the evening, we all met up at a Spanish tappas bar and drank Sangria. It was a well deserved nice day.

Here's a few pictures from the road:

Me at the arch

Outside Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

I love this picture! It's the view from outside the Aquarium
overlooking Grant Park and the skyline. And it's now my
desktop.


Buying blankets and pillows for the vans at Target. Oh, how
we love Target.


The cast of Junie B. Jones


Our sick van...off to the van doctor.


I would say Alli and I are the most talented people
on the tour.

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