Chee-ca-go, Part 3

Okay, my bad. Almost forgot to finish my story.... Last I left off, we had just finished our Gino's pizza and Robert and Marina were heading back to the base.



So we get to the Sears tower, but our tickets, and get in line. We jam into an elevator so that we can go I-don't-know-how-many stories up. We get up there and the view is like WOW. Even despite the fact that it was foggy and you couldn't really see too far out, you could still get an idea of just how high up you were. It was amazing. You could see the entire city. I got plenty of pics. =)



After our view, we headed down and hit up the little gift shop, walking away with even more crap to bring back. From there we took a cab back to the train station and made our way back to the motel from hell. So we get there and as soon as we turn on the TV we start hearing these warnings about a Tornado that is set to touch down in North Chicago, in Lake County. Wait a minute! That's exactly where we are! What the....

We don't quite freak out right away and decide to take our leftover pizza to the lobby to warm it up in the microwave. That's when people start telling us what we already know: A tornado is coming. Except now it seems real because not only are these people confirming it to us, but now we can also faintly hear the distance the sound of air raid sirens. Oh yay! We are starting to get scared at this point. It's not like we have a basement to run into. On top of that we are in the worst motel in America.

We hang out for a while waiting for this thing to come, text messaging our friends and sisters to let them know what's going on, but it never ends up coming. Thank GOD in heaven--the thing has passed us. Well, now we have our funny story about how we almost got caught up in a tornado.

So, we start getting ready for bed. Katie decides that she can't take not having air conditioning anymore and starts fiddling around with the thermostat. She figures out that the batteries are not in correctly, puts them back in, and the A/C starts up. Next thing you know,we hear these loud noises from what we think is the roof. I'm thinking it might just be someone up there adjusting the satelite for the tv or something and we ignore it. I take out my contacts and get into bed.

Just as I'm hitting R.E.M. sleep, I hear something explode. My first thought is that the person walking on the roof is now coming through the roof and is going to land on me, so I jump out of the bed as quickly as I can, screaming, "what's happening?!" (Mind you, I can't see because I don't have my contacts in.)

That's when Katie says, "the air conditioner exploded."

It sure did. There was water gushing out all over the place. It was crazy. Katie calls the front desk and they tell us they are coming to take a look. They never show up. I give up. I'm tired, I had been walking all over the city of Chicago, and I just want to sleep. Katie waits another hour or so, and still nothing, so she goes to bed. These idiots never showed up to fix the thing or to at least move us to a better room. Frickin low class, disgusting place!

So we get up the next day. It's time to go. We pack up all of our stuff and just as I'm walking out the door I notice something under Katie's bed.... Rat poison. Nice! Like the cherry on top! Ay ay ay!

We take Marina to O'hare and say our goodbyes and start heading for Midway, when I see a sign: "Wrigley Field - Next Exit" I'm like, "we are so going."

We had plenty of time. So we go check out Wrigley field, take some pics, eat one of the best brunches I've ever had at Chicago Joe's, and then head off to the airport to sit there for a long time (another delayed flight). We eventually made it home, and despite all the crazy stuff that went down, it was an awesome weekend. I really did have so much fun and I can't wait to go back to Chicago some day. It has to be one of my new favorite cities. So clean and so friendly.

Yup, I'll definitely be coming back. Three days was not long enough...