Our trip home did not include as many stops as the trip East. We spent most of our return trip in the Chicago area visiting family and friends. We overnighted in Bangor, Maine; Albany, New York; and Cleveland, Ohio; before arriving in Western suburbs of Chicago at the home of my good friend Andrea.
We also spent a day visiting with my brother and his family. We had lunch at Buona Beef for a good Chicago Italian Beef sandwich. Buona offers a gluten-free bread option, so it was great to have an Italian beef SANDWICH. We had a nice time doing a short hike through the grounds of the Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center. The Schoolhouse is an area that caters to kids and tries to get them interested in the nature that is around them. They have many exhibits both inside the building and outside the grounds. My niece and nephew really enjoy spending time there. That night, the order of business was Chicago pizza. And yes, most people think of Chicago pizza being the typical deep dish pizza, but I’m a fan of the thin crust. Lou Malnati’s had a great gluten-free crust that I thoroughly enjoyed.
Then we were off to Racine, Wisconsin to visit Will’s college roommate. Rob and his wife, Vera have a nice place right on the lakefront of Lake Michigan. It was a beautiful day when we arrived and we took advantage of the weather and went for a bike ride. Rob and Vera gave us a nice tour of the local bike paths and downtown Racine.
The next morning, we were up early for our 9am tour of the CASE IH factory. Their facility in Racine manufactures agricultural tractors. We ended up getting a 3 hour tour as our guide loved to talk and gave us an in depth tour of the entire factory. Learned a lot about tractor manufacturing and it was quite interesting. Lunch was at the Blue Bear. This was great little café with many vegetarian and gluten-free options. Another beautiful night which we spent down by the lake. Rob and Vera have a nice fire pit and we enjoyed roasting marshmallows.
Back to my friend Andrea’s as we had another friend and former Chicagoan joining us for the weekend. We had plans to see the Cher Show the following evening. They are planning on turning the show into a Broadway production about Cher’s life and career. We thought some parts were really funny and entertaining and other aspects need some work. I did think the woman that plays Cher in her later years had a great voice. Before the show we stopped to get some appetizers. After 40 minutes and still no food we had to hurry and get to the show. After the show still hungry we went to Smith and Wollensky’s. This is a well-known and expensive steak house chain. I ordered the pot roast. Well, imagine my surprise when I sliced into fat. Yep, not sure where the meat was, but it didn’t make it to my plate. Sent that back and my friends were nice enough to share their dinners with me. I guess, I just wasn’t supposed to eat in downtown Chicago.
According to the weatherman, the heat index was at dangerous levels in Chicago. We didn’t let that stop us and we headed back into the city the next day for a boat tour. We went on the Wendella boat tour of the Chicago river and the Lake. In 1900, the flow from the Chicago river was reversed and the lock system put in place to help control the flow of water. This tour takes you through the lock system to access the lake from the river and provides details on the architecture of various buildings along the route. I have done these tours before, but it’s been over 10 years and a lot has changed. It was an interesting tour and the 3 of us who had lived in Chicago, all learned some new things. The heat and humidity took it out of us, but the breeze out on the lake it was lovely. Back for a second stab at eating in downtown Chicago, Lou Malnati’s pizza again. And yes, this time I got to eat.
Well, it was time for us to continue the trek home, so, we headed out the next morning for Forest City, Iowa. On our way, we stopped off in West Branch, IA. This is where Herbert Hoover was born and spent some of his childhood. It is a National Park Site. They have visitor’s center with a movie about his early life and a small museum of items from those early years. On the grounds, you an tour his birthplace cabin, the blacksmith shop of his father and get a sense of what the town looked like during those years. Hoover’s presidential museum is also in the town, but we didn’t have enough time for that. There is a charge for the presidential museum, but the boyhood home area and it’s visitor center are free.
Got to Forest City and checked into the Lodge. Forest City is the home to Winnebago a big RV manufacturer. So, the town boasts a large campground facility, but only two hotels. The Lodge hotel is in a lovely park setting, but the facilities themselves are in need of renovation. So, if you find yourself in Forest City check out the Super 8 hotel. Might be a little better.
We had wanted to do the Winnebago tour, but got there and found they were full for the 9am tour. They had openings for their afternoon tour, but we had to get on the road. So, in spite of their website saying to make reservations for groups of 6 or more. Go ahead and make reservations if you are interested in doing the tour. They did have a small museum about the history of the company that we went through and a couple of vintage models from the 1960’s. There were also some newer models outside that we were also allowed to walk through. It was refreshing to be able to tour an RV without a salesperson coming around.
The next night we spent in Lincoln, Nebraska. Checked in to the hotel and they had free tickets to the local minor league baseball game that night. So, we figured why not. Unfortunately, we never made it as a large thunderstorm started right before game time. Oh well, we found a nice microbrew place in downtown Lincoln instead called the Boiler Brewing Company. It’s set in the former boiler room of a historic building. Once a month they offer a tour of the brewery and the building, which was originally constructed as both a post office and a federal court house in 1904.
Continuing our journey home, our final stop before crossing the border back into the Land of Enchantment was La Junta, Colorado. At one time this area was the international border between the US and Mexico. We went and toured Bent’s Old Fort, a trading post in the 1830’s and ’40’s. This was the first stop between Missouri and Santa Fe for those traveling on the Santa Fe trail. National Park Service rangers here dress in period attire and provide a really good history on how things worked at the fort. Our guide provided great information on what kind of people worked there, what was traded, and how the owners ran things. A restoration of the fort was under taken in the mid 1970’s as the majority of the fort burnt in a 1849 fire. The reconstruction was aided by a topographer that had stayed at the fort for an extended period of time while recuperating from an illness. He liked to draw and had done a few drawings and also a floor plan of the fort compete with measurements. This information proved invaluable in creating an accurate reconstruction.
After 8,165 miles and Laney going over the 200,000 mark, we finally pulled into our driveway to await our next adventure.
