The last picture taken on our trip to Chicago. Since this is a blog, you get to see the trip backwards. Highlights include fetching pictures of Sara and alarming contrasts between my appearance before and after my haircut in a unique Chicago barbershop. We went on the trip in May 2005, driving my new Ion. Since we were driving a Saturn, we left just as Saturn cleared the horizon at 8:57 a.m. on Sunday morning. This picture was taken on Wednesday night as we drove toward the sunset, near the Mall of America. 

I choose to think this picture taken in Wisconsin outside of a cheese shop has a kind of muted eloquence which mere words can only defile. 

Wall Dog mural in Belvedire Illinois, where we stopped to experience a grid point. 

At the Wall Dog McDonald's in Belvidere, we asked what the Wall Dog meant. We were told there was a band of mural painters who came through town in 1998 and left several murals on city buildings. 

The GPS antenna and the tub ducky souvenier from our Chicago hotel. 

This is the grid point we detoured to see in Belvidere Illinois. It is about 200 feet in front of the camera. 

Chrysler Daimler has a plant near Rockford Illinois. We drove by in search of a "power point" on the earth grid, and were amazed at the size of the plant. None of the photos give a good impression of it, but the sheer number of stacks on this wing of the enormous manufacturing facility gives you some idea of the intensity of the site. 

I am wearing my new hair cut and a crazed caffeinated look outside the Blues store. 

Mike Ditka is featured on the front page of the Red Eye paper in Chicago, the day we are leaving town. We saw him in person on Monday night when we ate at his restaurant, and he came out to greet the table next to us. We were too shy to ask for a photo or autograph, but we got the impression that he was a very nice guy when he wanted to be. 

Street corner in Chicago, near our hotel. 

This might be an arty photo inside our hotel room. 

Silhouettes and glassware set the mood in the restaurant. 

Before the dinner hour, some waiters outside an Italian restaurant compare theories about quantum mechanics. 

I hope this picture speaks for itself, as I have nothing to add. 

Here you see me clean cut with my barber. As you scroll down you will see the Sea Captain that she banished with her scissors. She told me she studied Improv at Second City, and I said she looked like Marlo Thomas. Marlo who? she asked. I recommended the french bistro in Old Town, where Second City is located, and she said she would try it. Then she said it was ironic that a tourist was giving her advice on what restaurants to go to in Chicago. Maybe she will do a skit about it. 

Downtown Chicago, the all-American city. 

This green god seemed to be wringing out his bath towel for the fountain's water supply. 

Sara with Cheney's mother's day present -- a beautiful necklace to complement her beauty. 

Across from the Sears Tower there is an office building with a sunken courtyard. Looking up, you see the tropics all year round. 

Lunch in Old Town, where I had gone to see the folk singers in the 60's. Now it was oriental nail parlors, frame shops, theaters and restaurants. 

This was one half a nicoise salad and a bowl of French Onion Soup we had for lunch at Bistro Margot. None of the plates matched, the food was incredible. This lunch was under $20. Go there, and tell them the Minnesotans sent you. 

In Old Town we found a fish store which featured great looking displays. Instead of suffering the crowds and difficult parking at the Shedd Aquarium, we had the whole fish store to ourselves. 

Coral in salt water. 

This pup fish seemed ready to bark. 

An odd piece of architecture on Wells Street in Old Town, Chicago.