Day 6 - Indiana covered all the way to Cincinnatti

We got off to a faster start as we left the hotel in northwestern Indiana at 9:30 and headed south on the 65 to Indianapolis.  After a great meal at Fazoli's on the north side, we headed downtown.  We walked along and across the White River and enjoyed the central downtown park area.  We didn't have time to go into the NCAA headquarters and the National Association of High Schools office was closed, but now we know where they are if we have a complaint, question or petition.

There were bikes and scooters available around the canal district and we found a duck egg and then gave it to a park employee for safe transport and delivery.  We walked across the River Walk - which is grassy also most of the way over the river.  On the west side of the river, we noticed the zoo and several weddings taking place.  As we walked south, we were outside the fence of the botanical gardens and got to see quite a few of the plants and greenhouses.  It was drizzling about half of the time.

After a quick stop at the Capitol building, we headed south and then onto the belt route and to the east until we hit the 74 south to Cincinnati.  They are only 100 miles apart.  Solinda drove and got us there in amazingly quick time...on the outskirts, she stopped and bought us some peaches from a roadside stand.  We loved the rolling hills and lack of traffic and visible buildings.  It reminds us of the Ozarks from last summer.

The hotel is amazing and we checked in there before heading straight to the Reds game against the Miami Marlins.  The start of the game was a very sticky 85 degrees and we sat in left field like Tim wanted with the sun blasting us in the face for two innings.  It was very hot, so Solinda, Sam and Sariah went to the Kid Zone and took pictures with Rosy Red and Mr. Redlegs, two of the Reds mascots.  The game was tight, but the Marlins were able to win 4-3.  Bruce hit a bomb and several Marlins players in Cont were able to say down some sac bunts.  Tim was crushed as Sam LeCure gave up 2 runs in two-thirds of an inning and took the loss in the 6th inning.  A highlight at the end of the game was watching Chapman face Stanton, a top slugger in the league, and strike him out in 3 pitches at 102, 102 and 103 miles per hour - a power-on-power match up.

We walked pack in the stickiness to the car and were amazed to find the time to be after 11:30...in bed shortly after that for church tomorrow... :)

Day 5 - Chicago Cubs and the North Side...

Well, Friday the 8th started off quite slowly.  After sleeping in as late as we possibly could at our booked accommodation in Oak Park Wisconsin, we came back to the room, finished our blogging and everyone cleaned up.  We ended up getting on the road at 5 'til noon heading south.  We drove 1 hour until the Chicago metro area was really upon us.

We first visited the Chicago Temple.  Just like last summer in Dallas, they were busy working on it's exterior, so we were able to use the Port-a-Johns as a potty break.  The temple is located in suburbia among nice neighborhoods.  Because we forgot to check on it earlier, we ended up going west and then east on Lake Road for 12 miles from the 94 to get to and from it.  In the end, we enjoyed seeing the area a little closer up as we got to see schools, parks and shopping centers, too.

Getting down to Wrigley Field ended up taking a full hour from there, as we worked our way slowly east towards Lake Michigan and the eastern edge of Chicago - which is where Wrigley is located.  These were the oldest parts of the city, with towering trees, ancient architecture and lots of close residences with multiple floors.  Noticeable things we saw were the old transit authority tracks above the city (which also runs just east of the field), a West African cafe on Broadway St, and a group of Muslim American adults and children leaving a school or some social function just northeast of Wrigley field as we walked into the game.  Nathan had lots of flashbacks to West Africa and loved it.

Although Solinda was very concerned about getting to the game on time, we did arrive about 30 minutes early to the game.  Subway lunch was the order of the day.  Tim and Sam chose seats in the outfield anywhere we wanted (that is how the outfield is during regular season).  They chose the top row in dead center just below the scoreboard where we could see balls and strikes, enjoy a cool breeze at our backs, sit in the shade, and see the entire park, both streets on the left and right field sides, and the skylines of high rises all around.  We loved looking at all the rooftop seats, fans and accommodations on the buildings out of the park and across Sheffield and the other avenue.  There were 3 fire sirens from the station just outside the stadium during the game.  Sam and Sariah liked the area to play in against the fence overlooking the city.  Although the actual park is small, it was neat to sit in seats other people have for the past 5 and 6 generations over the last 100 years (this year is its 100th anniversary).  The bathrooms were only on the bottom level, but on the flip side, it was very quick (less than 2 minutes to the street) and easy getting in and out of the stadium!

The actual game and weather were about perfect!  The Rays won in 10 innings 4-3.  The Rays scored in the 7th, 8th, and 10th innings, while the Cubs countered with a run in the bottom of the 9th to send it to extra innings.  We saw one home run by Desmond Jennings and 2 base runners picked off and thrown out on the back end of a double steal at second base, which are not common plays.  Timothy has Wrigley Field as his favorite park so far out of the first 14 we have visited due to the nostalgia and uniqueness of the venue.

Getting to our Quality Inn in Merrillville, Indiana took over an hour and a half but we are glad we changed our accommodations from Schiller Park to here 2 days ago as we would have been going in the wrong direction after the game.  We battled business district traffic, close stoplights and small crowded streets for over 15 minutes until we got out to the edge of Lake Michigan.  After going north on Lakeshore Drive (the 41) to scout out how to get to Lincoln Park Zoo, Nathan was very glad to stumble upon the Eisenhower Expressway to get us out of the congestion of downtown and the lakefront expeditiously.  Sariah was not feeling well, so we found a Shell gas station just into the South Side of Chicago with a security guard posted for everyone to empty out and stretch.  Just south of that we saw U.S. Cellular Field along the 94 which is the home of the White Sox - who we will watch play over a week from now on our way back through town.

We paid 2 tolls on the north side of the city and 3 tolls on the outskirts of the south.  The last one was just in Indiana, where we are staying.  Glad to be here though, as it is clear sailing towards Indianapolis and Cincinatti today!  Cheers!

Days 3 & 4 - The Great Mall of America and Wisconsin!

Day 3 - Wednesday, August 6, 2014...After sleeping in until 7:30 or 8:00, the entire family went down to a crowded breakfast and then loaded up for a 2-block drive over to the Great Mall of America...Sam enjoyed sprinting portions of the northwest section of the oval walk...and we picked up several souvenirs.  Highlights included the Lego statues and the rides in the center of the mall.  We all had a great time and could easily imagine what a packed and great place it must be in the middle of long and cold winters.  However, we did get out of town a little late.  On our way out, we decided to visit the St. Paul Minnesota Temple as it was right by the 94 east.  It reminded us of the Memphis Tennessee Temple from last summer.
Our drive through Wisconsin on I-94 was very relaxing and we made good time driving through all of the green trees and corn fields.  That evening, we checked into the Howard Johnson in Madison and made a drive up to the Wisconsin State Capitol building after dinner in a park right by downtown.  We all enjoyed the design of the building as all 4 sides have the same facing!...

We took this picture because of his rugged canoe trip of 60 miles around Catalina Island!

Day 4 - On to Milwaukee!  Only an 80-mile drive until we arrived nice and early into Milwaukee.  We went south beyond Miller Parkway to a park and then went back north to gas up and then into a Pick-n-Save to pick up treats for the next 2 ball games.  We sat on the top row of Miller Park and loved the view and weather.  Half of the roof was closed for the game and the weather was low 80s with a nice breeze off of Lake Michigan.  The Brewers won 3-1 over the giants in a game with no home runs and 4 doubles.  Probably one of the nicest weather games we have been to.

Afterwards, we trekked around Milwaukee to get over to the Wisconsin State Fair.  We found a house with 7 dollars parking just off of Gate 5 - the home of Mike King...he was fun to talk to and we got some pictures with him for memories' sake.  Highlights in the fair went as follows for each family member.  Sariah loved the baby pigs and the cranberries display (Wisconsin is the #1 cranberry producer in the world).  Samuel loved the big yellow 200-foot slide and the food in the Wisconsin Products building.  Timothy loved all the information he read about Wisconsin's agriculture statistics.  Solinda enjoyed the Wisconsin Products building with all the food and enjoyed her first brat.  Nathan's highlights were the draft horse teams, the draft horse barn and his brat draut dog - a Wisconsin specialty.  By the time we arrived at the overbooked La Quinta in south Milwaukee (Oak Park), we were wiped out but glad we reserved the room as we saw two families turned away and heard from Mike King that people were unable to find any rooms in the area!

Days 1 & 2 update for 2014 leg of Great American road trip

Well,  all has gone extremely well so far after 2 days of preparations and traveling to get here.  We are enjoying the temperatures and especially the people up here in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area.

Monday morning, Tim went running at Cross Country practice and we let the kids sleep in while Solinda had the sister missionaries wash the van and got to say bye to her friend Shannon Mawson.  We packed and loaded the van, then secured everything in the house and left just after 11 am.

The temperatures were incredibly cool on the drive to Las Vegas with 86 degrees being the high in the entire desert drive.  Almost constant cloud cover with some rain.  We checked into the Hampton on the east side of the airport in Vegas and then went to early dinner at In-N-Out (Sam and Sariah's favorite).  Bedtime was 7 pm and all were out by 8.

Yesterday, which was Tuesday, the 5th went quite well.  We got up @ 3:38 a.m. when Sam informed it was time to roll (this was 7 minutes before the alarm).  Our flight left at 6:10 and arrived 20 minutes early into St. Louis.  After over 2 hours of layover, we departed for Minnneapolis at 1:40 and arrived 10 minutes early.  Sariah really loved the takeoffs and the drops in the air which tickled her funny bone while others were screaming.

We got a nice upgrade at the car rental (Dollar), which is a black 2014 Chevy Impala with 1500 miles on it.  We are staying in the Comfort Inn in Bloomington.  The kids swam and cleaned up before we headed to the Twins and Padres.  The Twins won 3-1 on a clutch 2-out blast in the 6th.  San Diego almost tied in the 9th.  The fans were very clean and friendly.  We loved the stadium view and the shot of the skyline of downtown right behind it.  Bedtime was after 11...