We escaped the gravitational pull of Chicago, which was considerable. The decision to “see” Chicago was both a good and a bad one. We whizzed down Lake Shore Drive trying to see as much as possible while not infuriating the local drivers. They are an unruly lot, reminding me of LA drivers, i.e., not letting you “in”, etc. and honking a lot. I didn’t see any guns though. I was hoping to be able to spot a Chicago hot dog vendor so Abby could sample what she kept saying was the “local fare”, but no such luck. Pulling over in anything, let alone an RV pulling a jeep would have been sure death. We hopped back onto the Interstate that would take us East and ended up having to pay about $12 for a 3 mile stretch. The toll road continued, and I started worrying about having enough cash at that rate/mile. Fortunately, once out of the city, the rates declined significantly. On through Gary Indiana. It’s probably a nice town, once you get to know it, but from the freeway it looked like Chicago’s poor relative.

By this time, I was growing weary having negotiated the 50 foot beast through dense traffic and angry drivers. We pushed on to Michigan City, where I had made reservations the night before. We arrived exhausted, but satisfied that we had achieved some of our secondary objectives, such as visiting Abby’s mother’s old “hood”. If only we could have found an authentic Chicago hot dog stand! Nothing to commend this particular RV park I’m afraid, other than it was one of the few in the area East of Chicago, and for enough outside of the city to be graffiti free. At least we had a quiet, restful night.

After a number of hours going through small farm towns, and mile after mile of newly planted fields, we arrived at Lake Clinton. They have “camp hosts” here to advise, take your money, etc. They were pleasant enough, but I guess “alcohol” is a big no-no, so we were asked if we had any on board. I said “I thought we might have a bottle of wine or two”. The camp host kinda winked and said to keep it under wraps. Judging from here demeanor, I think she welcomed any travelers that would/could leave her a bottle or two.

We had a lovely isolated spot on just up from the lake, with a path leading down to a small beach. In the morning, we made Maggie’s day by taking a short hike along the lake before departing for Chicago.

In Chicago, we looked up the birth place of Abby THe Design Goddess’s mother, Miriam. It was in Argo-Summit, IL, just southeast of downtown Chicago. Things have evidently changed since she grew up here, as it the area was pretty grubby. The grocery store that here family owned, with living upstairs, was now a TV repair shop, and by all appearances, a crack house up stairs. The whole area had a peculiar odor, kind of like slightly fermented tomato sauce. Anyway, we took many pictures for RV Mama’s Mama, and will report the sad news about her old digs.

We decided to do a quick loop through Chicago, so headed straight East and hopped on the famous Shore LIne Drive. Chicago is another one of those places we wished we could explore more – a beautiful looking downtown, art museums, etc., but it’s not easy parking a 35 foot RV towing a jeep in a busy, crowded, metropolitan area! Again, maybe “next time”.