Day 21-23: Omaha, NE to Chicago, IL

Day 21 started out bright and early in Omaha... We were eager to get on the road as we had landed in the second rat bed hotel of the trip....which was not too bad considering we stayed in 13 hotels along the way.... There was a real genius running the Days Inn there in south Omaha.... She was doing her nails when I went in and I had to wait for them to dry for her to check me in.... I should have just walked out...but it was only 49.90 for the night....

We soon entered Iowa... As we traveled through the corn we could hardly wait to see the state welcome sign... and yep you guessed it... There wasn't one!!!!

So we continued through the corn and eventually made it to Illinois... Thankfully there was a sign....and we were on our way to Chicago.

When we arrived in Chicago, the weather was absolutely fantastic.... It was not even 80 degrees with a slight breeze off the lake... We walked around for a bit and checked out the "Magnificent Mile." Our hotel was right on the main part of the mile... It was great!!!

We stayed at the "Inn of Chicago." It was great... Below this pic is one of us in the lobby... You can see how nice the furniture was... The rest of the hotel matched it... It was really nice.

If you noticed in the pic above, we both had to put on warm clothes.... Walking through town after lunch we both got chilly because it was breezy and mostly in the shade...

After changing, we headed down to where the river flows through town... We took a water taxi down the river about 1.5 miles to the Sears Tower....

Views from the 103rd floor!!!

After we went up the tower we headed across town to the "Taste of Chicago." This is the annual 4th of July celebration there in Chicago.... There were sooooooooo many people there... I have NEVER seen so many people in one place!!!! There were tons of food vendors there and they had pretty much every kind of food you could imagine!!!

Just about a mile so walk from the "Taste" was Navy Pier.... The walk along the lake was really nice.... There were lots of yachts in the marina there... I felt like I was on a movie!!!

Insert Firework Video!!! (I have a great video to go here, but it is not uploading right now!!!)

After an awesome 4th we were ready for our last full day of fun on the road trip... One of the things I had been looking forward to the most was riding the segway through the streets of Chicago... it was every bit as exciting as I thought it would be... They were super hard to ride at first, but once you got the hang of it you just wanted to go everywhere.... Don't be fooled though... It was a workout on you feet and legs... Not quite as "relaxing" as I thought it would be.

After the segway tour Matt headed for some rest at the hotel and I went shopping down the mile... It was great!!!

Late afternoon I headed back to the hotel... We headed down to our final act of fun for the trip at around 7. We went to see the play "Wicked." We saw this in New York back over spring break and really enjoyed it... We wanted to see it here with a different cast and it was just as cool as it was in New York...

Insert Prize Video. (I wish yall could see it but its not uploading either...)

So...... I am happy to announce in writing that Kevin and Shelley Arrowood from my church!!!

Congrats to the winners!!!! I am so thankful for all of you who commented and anticipated the prize!!!!!!

Please stay tuned for more favorites from the trip!!!!

Day 21 Stats:
Mileage: 475 miles
Drive Time: 7.5 hours
Gas: $66.00 in Omaha and $73 in Rock Springs, IL

Day 23 Stats:
Mileage: 707 miles
Drive Time: 12 hours
Gas: $78.00 somewhere in Kentucky