Days 2 - 4

Hey again!

I just arrived at my friends’ apartment in Wrigleyville, Chicago. They have an awesome spot on the top floor of their building and it’s just a three minute walk from the stadium.

Picking up where I left off, the rest of Friday was fun! I met up with a couple of friends to walk around campus and stop at the bookstore. I got a bumper sticker.

We're #1!

After the bookstore, I hopped on my bike and rode to the golf course where a couple other friends were shooting a round. It was over 85 degrees, and boy did I work up a sweat! The winds were really whippin’ at the end too – a big storm was rolling in. The storm was well timed, though. It cooled everything off and brought perfect weather for football.

I got a Papa Smurf from a local watering hole with a few friends. That’s a 32 oz. neon blue vodka drink that you’re only allowed to drink 2 of. After we finished, I went over to an apartment that my friends had rented for the weekend. We played a few drinking games and called it an early night.

Gameday was perfect. The weather had cooled off to a blissful 73 degrees, and because it was a night game, I had plenty of time to visit each of the tailgates that various friends were hosting.

The game speaks for itself. ND 31 – UM 0. Beautiful.

Daaaaa beach.

I woke up the next morning to discover an empty parking spot where my car used to be. It was towed, not stolen, and I had to pay $160 to get back on the road.

Being back on campus was fun. I especially liked watching the freshman bustle around campus on Friday night. I kept equating them to toddlers learning to walk - stumbling around clueless, with no real sense of where they are or what they are doing.

I finally got on the road around 4 on Sunday and headed right for Lakeshore Drive and the Chicago beaches. I was extremely impressed by The Windy City’s waterfront. There’s a long bike path, volleyball galore, and about 2 miles of beautiful sandy beach. The only thing that was really missing were some waves. Lakes don’t really have waves.

I got back to Carlos and friends’ apartment around 10, we watched the Mark Wahlberg/Michael Bay cinema classic Pain&Gain, and now I’m heading to sleep. Tomorrow I drive to Champaign, Illinois to visit Frankie for lunch and a movie, then backtracking to Bloomington, In. before a long Tuesday to Kansas City. 

Tim's roommate Rick has a lot of road trip experience. He told me a bunch of good roads to hit in Utah, and I can't wait to get out there. 

Chicago has a beach!