Greencation: Day 1 & 2

After a day of packing and running around, we loaded up the newly fixed Civic (thanks FedEx for the wreck and the money to fix it) and took off on our "Greencation." We decided to really do our vacation as green as possible we should pile 5 people and luggage for said 5 into the Civic Hybrid and drive to Chicago where we are staying downtown and using only public transit.

So here was the scene prior to leaving Thursday evening. It all fit...barely.

The kids were ready to take off on our vacation even though they were sitting hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder. I was skeptical on how long this enthusiasm would really last. To my surprise we made it the first night (2 hours) with giddiness from all three kids.

Tidbits from the first night:
- We saw a set of fresh burn-out marks on the road and Matthew piped up: "That is a spin-out and I know how you do that. You put one foot on the stop pedal and one foot on the go button at the same time and keep it that way; then it makes a squealing noise and leaves the marks." I then turned my attention to J who gave me a look of "I have no idea how he would know that, I would never take part in that sort of activity." Then Jacob says "Yea, and its really fun too."

- We encountered every animal poo stench there can be while driving for 2 hours in IL. My city-grown children did not appreciate the odors of true nature.

Today we toured Abraham Lincoln's restored home in Springfield, IL before continuing our trek to Chicago. The kids loved the tour and remembered several things about the period from our trip through Callaway Plantation. While the history of President Lincoln and his home are very interesting, the tour of Callaway Plantation was much more informative and educational. I encourage anyone who might be in GA and have an opportunity to tour the plantation to definitely do so.

On the drive in the kids were looking at the skyscrapers and Emily asked if the Sears Tower really scrapes the sky and that is why it is called a skyscraper. Matthew chimed in with "yea, I used to think that is why they called them skyscrapers too, Emmy, but that was when I was a little kid, and then I learned about it." Ouch, that wasn't very nice.

We are in a very nice hotel; I'll write more about it later. Our kids are tripped out by the "FANCY" hotel and all the things that go along with it. They are adjusting to sights and sounds of downtown Chicago. Our hotel sits directly in front of an elevated El track so if you are outside when it passes you can't hear each other talk. Jacob told us later that all the sounds were giving him a headache and he thinks it is just too busy. This might be a long 4 days.