Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Chicago and....... Derby.....

With fond memories (ha) we left "Holiday City" in Ohio to head to Chicago, which was only a couple of hours away.  We decided to take the back roads as we didn't want to get their too early.....first state we crossed....

 followed pretty quickly by.....

 where we stopped at a park in a small town to have lunch.  This is where we realised we needed to get Joshuah a basketball to travel with...a footy isn't quite the same.

When we were in St Louis, Missouri, we crossed the Mississippi River and without realising, we were in Illinois.  Because we were only there for 1/2 an hour, we didn't think it was necessary to purchase a car numberplate, so instead got a motorbike plate...(much smaller).
We always knew we were going to Chicago to meet Morgan and Jakeb and when we crossed the border into.....

it finally clicked that Chicago is actually in Illinois, we would be spending 3 nights there and, dammit, would now need a number plate for our collection! Our US geographic knowledge is exceptional.
Our accommodation was about 50kms out of Chicago...one train ride in, so on the 4th July (Independence Day) we went to the train station to catch a train to downtown Chicago. As it was a holiday, the Metra, in all its wisdom put on the same number of trains it would usually do for a Sunday, which was one every 2 hours. So we had a long wait for our train, only to be told it was full (surprise, surprise...why would people want to be in Downtown Chicago on July 4th??) and so had to wait.  We eventually got into the city..and it was wonderful.
A little story about Chicago....it is called The Windy City, but is no windier than other cities in the US.
"As the 400th anniversary of Columbu arrival in the Americas approached, the United States planned to hold a world's fair to celebrate. This was considered an important time, due to the French successes at the previous World's Fair with the construction of the Eiffel Tower.
The prestige of holding the fair enticed several prominent cities to compete to host the fair. At the top, New York City, St. Louis and Washington, D.C. all fought hard for the right and many New Yorkers thought they had a win guaranteed. In the end, it came down to New York and Chicago. In 1890, Chicago won the bid to host the World's Fair, also known as the World's Columbian Exposition, after eight ballots.^[7] Many prominent New Yorkers were extremely irritated that a "frontier town" could beat them."
They said that the only reason Chicago won was because it was full of politicians who talked too much...therefore 'full of wind".  I like that story better than it is (weather wise) very windy.
We made our way to Millennium Park, along with 1000's of others.  It's a fantastic park, full of interesting images.....I loved this mirror ball, where you could see yourself and the Chicago skyline in it.  It was really, really hot and bright and sooo many people, but we did manage to get a few photos...

We then took a walk towards the canal amongst all these fabulous buildings.....

Everywhere you looked there was something interesting...but I thought it a little disrespectful that this bloke was leaning up against this woman who had a garden growing on top of her head!

There are always free concerts in Millennium Park and July 4th was no exception.  We were looking forward to something special, so made our way to the concert area, as the sun went down over this amazing city.

 The concert area filled up, people had chairs, blankets, food, wine....and it was obviously a place where a lot of people catch up, in a great location and to be entertained.  Well the first guy came on...I can't even tell you the type of music he was playing (synthesiser music??) (and I use the word "playing" loosely). Perhaps he was famous...I have no idea, but the music was appalling.......but for 45 minutes he did not stop the wailing music.  When he did eventually stop, everyone cheered really loudly, but then he started again! After 1 1/2 hrs he finished and a band came on...worse than the last guy...just noises and screeches, no singing....they left after 10 mins, and so over the loud speaker they played other peoples noises, screeching, wailing's...and called it music.  A bit bloody pretentious in my opinion...so we left.  But it did look fantastic......

Being the 4th July we had heard there would be fireworks at the Navy Pier, about a 20 minute walk away. So we followed the crowds and the crowds and the crowds, trying to find a good vantage place, but with 2 hours to go the area was pretty full.

 Josh and I squeezed in to this tiny area on a patch of grass, pressed up against a fence, while more and more people squeezed in around us.  There were no arguments about people pushing themselves into you, but we were literally like sardines......squashed! For 2 hours! 

 The sun went down and more and more people arrived.........

 It got darker and the anticipation built, this was going to be fabulous...4th July, Chicago, fireworks...well worth being in the most uncomfortable position for 2 hrs.....

and then the fireworks began......and people stood up, I couldn't see a bloody thing, peering through a wire fence.....and in less than 15 minutes they were over!

That was when I vowed and declared..I will never, ever put myself through this again for bloody fireworks.  From now on I will walk out my backyard at home and watch them from there....no people, no traffic and dare I say, the fireworks in Bunbury on Australia Day were far, far better than these ones......and a few days later, when we met Morgs and Jakeb, they said the same thing.
So after the disappointing fireworks we had 40 mins to get back to the train station...if we missed that train, we had a 2 hr wait, which would mean leaving the city at midnight!  So we pretty much ran all the way back to the train station, but I managed one photo of the city at night.....

With 5 mins to spare we made it in time, boarded the train which was pretty full.  Josh and I got a seat, Stu was standing next to a seat which a bloke had his feet on.  Stu asked if anyone was sitting there...he said "WHAT?" loudly and rudely. Stu asked again if anyone was sitting there....he said "NO" and left his feet  up on the seat, so Stu asked if he could sit there. Josh was watching it all and said Dad was literally fuming and he thought there was going to be a fight!  Finally this bloke sighed really heavily and loudly and slowly moved his feet off the seat so Stu could sit down. Not a pleasant experience. After a really long day we got back to our hotel absolutely exhausted.
The next day Stu and I went in to the city on our own, as Josh declared the previous day as the worst in his life! A little extreme perhaps, but OK...12  hrs in a city with your mum and dad, looking at buildings, shit music, and rubbish fireworks could be described by some as the worse day of their lives.
So with the day to ourselves we took our time...took in some good music.....

wandered around some lovely old buildings,

and even saw the Bunbury Milk Carton....come on Chicago...come up with your own ideas.....

We walked back to Millennium Park and watched kids and adults having a great time at the Crown Fountains.  The fountain is composed of a black granite reflecting pool placed between two glass towers.  On the towers are LED images of ordinary folk from Chicago...these faces change periodically and about every 10 minutes water cascades down the towers and water spouts out of the mouth of the faces.  The kids loved it....especially as it was another hot day.......

A garden in Millennium Park

A few people had recommended an Architecture Tour on a boat up the canals, so we booked one.  The sun was fierce but it was a great tour and a good way to see some of the city, with some interesting anecdotes from the tour guide.

Such a beautiful city...great weather, clear skies....and a good place to have your wedding photos taken?

Here is a video I took of some of the Chicago skyline, with buskers in the background who were far better than the musician the previous day.

That afternoon when we got back we had a call from Kristoffer, which is always lovely.  We had a good chat about his fishing adventures....fancy having a job where you take people fishing off the Kimberley coast.....we are so glad he is making the most of his time in the Kimberley.  From our experience, the 6 years we had up there were the best, and it remains one of my most favourite areas in the world.

After speaking with Kristoffer, we had a chat with Asha.  She was an entrant in the Boab Quest and has been fundraising for Derby DHS as part of the Boab Festival.
http://www.derbyboabfestival.org.au/boabquest.php
The previous night it was announced she was the Boab Queen Fundraiser winner.  I think I may have the official title wrong, but she raised $28 000.  Such an achievement and we are very proud of her. She won some great prizes including $500 to spend on a pearl necklace in Broome, $100 from a coffee shop in Derby, $500 voucher from Myer, $700 travel voucher from Virgin (to go towards their honeymoon) and $500 cash. (I think that's all).
My family would remember Theatre Restaurant which Catherine was always a part of, so it was with a little tug of my heart and lump in my throat,  to hear that Asha was also involved with this.  A full circle.
And Derby will always hold a special place in my heart...Morgan was born there and it's where we would do our 6 trolley loads of grocery shopping every 10 weeks, with 4 kids in tow, 45C and then drive the 500km back home to Wangkatjungka!  Aaah, such memories!
My friend took some photos of her on the night it was announced...we think she looks gorgeous....and we love that they are both spending their time in the Kimberley and making such wonderful use of their surroundings.

So that was Chicago......and Derby......we picked up Morgan and Jakeb (they had stayed with friends for a few days in Chicago) and we were heading up to Canada to check out Niagara Falls from the Canadian side.