Ontario to Chicago..the trip to the starting line.

Ontario…. We do seem to keep coming back. We have made many good friends here. Every time we do come back we try to visit as many as we can. On this occasion the primary event was a wedding….much fun was had and then back on the road.

After restocking the fridge we battened down the hatches and started the epic journey west.

One quick stop at a serviced rest stop along the way to meet another friend for coffee and wouldn’t you know it…. Thump clang….. Yup we hit a huge pot hole on the ramp…. As we parked… Yup…. Water pouring from the bottom of the trailer… This time the freshwater.!!!

As luck would have it (if there is such a thing) another 30 mins along the road was CanAm RV, the airstream dealer we originally bought the trailer from. So… A quick stop…. Even though they were swamped busy… They had a tech take a look and gave us the bits we needed to do a parking lot fix… By we, I mean……

To be fair…I did hand him the screwdriver….and the screws…!!!

So with fingers and toes crossed we set off across the Ambassador bridge at Windsor/Detroit headed for an overnight stop at Maple Darling Farm outside Mason MI.

There was a bit of a debate about redirecting to the mothership in Jackson Centre, Ohio… But the water seemed to be staying in the tank…. So Chicago bound we were.

Next stop was with a very lovely couple in Crete Illinois. Another beautiful property close enough to Chicago for us to drive in without the trailer making things impossible in the traffic and begin at the beginning.

We drove in to walk around the corner onto the very, very start of the road.

……had a look around Millenial Park to have a peek at the Bean. (which was under renovation…!!)

……then quick back to the truck to catch a guided tour around the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio which are located in the Oak Park area of Chicago. Or so we thought…!!!

The route allowed us to actually drive that iconic corner around onto Adams and the journey has officially begun……. 😃

The day we picked to do this trip from lakefront Chicago to Oak Park was Memorial Day….and the Chicago Memorial day parade went down State St… We had to cross State St to get to Oak Park….(Argh..!!) We got to ‘park’ in traffic under the L-train for about 45 mins as traffic wove back and forth around the steel pillars and the trains rumbled overhead.

Nothing much to do but take more pictures…!!

Eventually we made it out…..and ended up only 10 minutes late for our tour.

A fascinating place…the beginning of the road also for Mr Wright it would seem..!!

This was one of the few houses that you are allowed to take pictures….

On display in the family room were the blocks that Frank Lloyd Wrights mother encouraged him to play with as a child….nurturing the architect……

The Oak Park area has a whole bunch of FLW designed houses…so a bit of a walking tour around the neighbourhood was in order……we were also surprised to discover in the area…the birthplace of Hemingway….who knew..!!

We arrived in Chicago at the beginning of the promised ‘Armageddon’ of cicadas……the three cohorts hatching this year. The noise from the trees was DEAFENING……..it must be crazymaking for anyone who lives here…..either that or you just don’t hear it after a while…!!!

Back to Americas Main Street. Having driven that iconic corner at the beginning of the road……next day…in the pouring rain we set off to sightsee a little of the outskirts of the city. Starting with a railroad viaduct (apparently its famous..!!) and then on to Castle Carwash.

I have to say…this navigating ‘the road’ is not the easiest. We have the ‘best’ guidebook, the map and the apps…….and it’s a lot of work to find the actual road….(I may repeat this statement often in the coming weeks…LOL)

A few more things in Cicero, Henrys drive through, the Steak and Egger. We stopped at the Steak and Egger for breakfast……not bad….!! Our waitress could have been the sister of the one in the “Hell or High Water” diner scene. If you haven’t seen it….check it out.

It is going to be interesting as we progress along the road to see how much we can actually stop at…… I suspect there may be many blurred pictures taken with my phone through the window of the truck as we whizz by…..LOL….. and unless it gets easier once we are out of the city learning to navigate this road is a challenge…I fully expect to be an expert by Santa Monica tho….. 😁

Extra Pix