Great day in Chicago.  We managed to incorporate bunny-feeding (Colleen will probably be finding bits of parsley hidden around her apartment for months to come), an architectural boat tour around the city and Lake Michigan, the zoo (including a carousel, always a favorite), and best of all, designer cupcakes!  There was also riding the bus, which to my children is quite a thrill.  I’m sure the other people on the bus were wondering where the Clampitts came from, listening to them squeal in delight.

Colleen is the best friend ever.  She shared her bunny-studded Chicago lifestyle with us, gave up her bed – actually her whole bedroom – to put us up for the night, and showed us a lot of cool Chicago stuff in just over 24 hours.  My favorite was the Gran Luxe Café, the restaurant just off Michigan Avenue where we ate lunch.  It had vivid, golden-highlighted paintings and elaborate lighting fixtures.  There were Greek-inspired mosaics and Byzantine-like murals.  There was a line of 20 or so people waiting to get in when the doors opened at 11 am.  Also, the food was really good.  I ordered a chipotle-avocado burger, but I got around to trying just about everyone’s stuff, except for Zoe’s pulled pork sliders, which disappeared quickly.

                There were many chances to view the skyline from lots of different angles, including from a boat tour that gave many historical tidbits.  We got to ride the bus like locals.  And Colleen found a fine playground near her place.  The kids could have easily spent hours there, but for the stifling heat.  The next day, rain spoiled our plans to go swimming at one of those beaches on  Lake Michigan that surprised me so much on my way in.  The rain also tamed the heat a little, so our boat ride turned out to be very comfortable.  Second-to-last stop was the Lincoln Park Zoo, another place where we could have spent a lot more time, but Colleen had one more trick up her sleeve for the walk home: cupcakes at a special cupcake shop in her neighborhood. 

                We would do well to have a friend like Colleen in every place we stop, but this was particularly true for the next place we visited, Ed Begley Jr., Wisconsin.   Not even a friend as great as Colleen.  Just  a friend to tell us how to get to our campground.  Some sort of neutral third party.  Unfortunately, the streets of Ed Begley Jr. are rather empty after 9 pm on a Tuesday (I think it was Tuesday).  Also, although we were all excited about adding Wisconsin to our list of states visited, this place has the strange habit of naming perfectly fine road with single letters.   Unfortunately, our campground was on County Road X, a name that will live in infamy in our family for years to come.  Surely it must stand for County Road the Tenth?  No wonder our GPS was so spastic. 

                Truthfully, if the lady in the Ranger Station of the Ed Begley Jr.’s Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park had just said it’s about a mile past the Wysamooganie State Park and Boat Launch, just a few feet from the (busy) train corridor, we would have been in better shape.  Sadly we were left to look for the road just between County Roads IX and XI. 

                Please, tell us Colleen is waiting for us in Iowa.