After two days of driving we finally got to our campsite and we were ready to go and set up camp. As soon as we were there however, we just started backing the truck in when the back made a loud noise. The bike rack there had just given up and it fell to the ground. The great news was that none of the bikes were damaged because they had been raised above the ground even though their carrier was injured. The really BAD news was that since our $200 bike rack was broken, and unless we bought another one we would have to discard our bikes. Uh-Oh. Looks like we weren’t going to the big city until later that day (we weren’t in a campground IN the city, but an hours worth away from it)! We called different places to compare prices and find the short percentage of bike-racks that were the size we needed. I slept in back for a while until we had to run a few short (not really) errands. On the drive we found a seller that would give us a bike rack that we needed for only $70. We drove an hour and a half to get to him and when we did we parked near him in the parking lot. We didn’t have the right amount of money that we needed to pay him (we only had some small bills, the others were in hundreds).
While we were in the store we bought a few items and then went outside to make our bargain. The bike rack was perfect except the fact that it could be easily removed. We needed to find a welder that could drill a hole in it so we could put a lock through. After talking for a while (it’s always great to meet a local) and saying our goodbyes to our new friend, we were off to get our problem resolved. After a long time of trying to fix our bike rack we finally (after 3 hours and 2 different companies) found someone that could do it for us. There was a dog inside that kept us company (the business’es mascot) until they were done and we could go home. Sadly we could not make Chicago that say, but we could the next. We went home to take showers and watch shows. One thing to note, however, is that the showers at the campground didn’t have any water. Not only that, but the SHOWER water was all well water. The water had minerals in it so that the sides of the stalls were brown! Not a very great way to attract customers back…

Anyway, the next day was definitely better than the first. Other than the simply outrageous travel fees and the moderately high parking prices (no offense anyone from Chicago, your city rocks. Where were from, however, the parking is day was a COMPLETE success. The drive to Chicago wasn’t that great until we actually got into he city itself. The buildings were huge! I know I keep saying this, but this is the place that I would want to spend more time in above everywhere else. We were all somewhat hungry but we decided to go to the Animal museum of Chicago first. It looked like one of those university campuses because it was so huge. Each of the building-sized rooms were put into catatories of general species. It really was pretty spectacular. The water tanks were the best part though! They must have had close to 500 tons of water that housed the sharks, dolphins, seals, and all of the other huge beasts that they held there.

The next place we went was to the shoreline. We had booked an architectural river cruise that our cousins had recommended to us. We looked down the boardwalk for a long while until we asked for directions and turned around to go in the actual direction of the tour. Once we boarded the boat we were in for a ride. Not just being an architectural tour, it was also a reach into the past of Chicago. The guide was great! All of the buildings had SUCH history in them! It was amazing to see what Chicago had to offer; from the RIVERS perspective. On the way we actually saw the Chicago Cubs! They were at a party inside a shoreside restaurant and the trophy sat in the middle at a table. On the way back the tour guide mentioned it and gave us credit for our spectacular find.

After we got off the boat we immediately searched for food. We were all so hungry that we thought about an Uber but we realized that we should just probably just walk and save the money. On the way back into the section where the BIGGEST buildings were we asked some cops where the best pizza was. One of them was a man, and one of them a  actually got into a heated debate about where to eat! The woman told us to turn left and the man told us to turn right. After a few minutes of arguing the man said this: 

“How many days will you guys be here?”
“Two”

“Why don’t you go one today and the other tomorrow?”

So that’s what we did. We turned left that day and had the best pizza of our lives (I didn’t LOVE the pizza, not being a criticized, but I think there was too much cheese. Everyone else, however, loved it). After that we went home (well, Camper home) and watched two shows again to perfectly end the night. I LOVE CHICAGO!