This is Karyn's foam roller, and it is totally awesome. Its wonderful for working out sore muscles. Its very dense foam, not squishy, but at the same time its not hard, so it massages you. You use your own body weight to provide the pressure. I like it for my back and calves. Tennis balls also work great for sore spots. I love to stand on a tennis ball. It hurts so good.

We made it back home to Texas. Its 20 degrees warmer here, and although there were people swimming in Lake Michigan, I think I prefer the 90's in order to go swimming. I've unpacked, done laundry, bought groceries, and swam some laps. I guess I'm ready to go back to work. Bleh.

Chicago, Day 4. We started with a gangster tour by bus. It was cute and corny, but fun. They didn't really have much to work with, because Chicago wants to forget about its gangster history. Dion O'Bannion's flower shop, Al Capone's furniture factory, and the site of the St. Valentine's day massacre are all empty lots now. The alley where John Dillinger got shot is still an alley.

Then we took an architecture tour of downtown by boat on the Chicago River. It was very interesting. The guide was very knowledgable, and talked about all of the major buildings by the river.

We walked over to Navy Pier and rented bicycles to go ride along the lake. Jon didn't want to at first, but did it anyway because I really wanted to, and he is the Best Boyfriend Ever. We rented cruisers, and you'd think they'd be very easy bikes to control. You'd be wrong. I almost fell over a few times, and starting and stopping was not very graceful. It was awesome riding along the lake though, we did about 10 miles or so. There were a lot of people out riding or jogging or swimming or just enjoying the park. I like to see people enjoy public parks.

The last thing on the to-do list was the Museum of Stained Glass Windows. It was pretty interesting. Some of the windows were very beautiful and elaborate. Tiffany knows his stuff.

We were going to eat at Ed Debevic's, but the host was an ass so we went across the street and had some wonderfully delicious Lebanese food. We later found out that Ed's thing is apparantly to have everyone be rude. I don't think you could make a burger and shake good enough to put up with rude servers. Go to the Lebanese place instead.

Chicago, Day 3. It was sunny today, so we went to the Sears Tower, and went up to the 99th floor. It was very cool being able to look all around. The city looked very big. I could see the giant Blackhawks jersey on the brontosaurus in front of the Field Museum--it looked like a red dot.

Then we went to the Museum of Science and Industry. More locusts there, of course. But there was also a German U-boat, U-505, that we captured during WWII. We walked though it as part of the exhibit. It was amazing.

We had lunch at a yummy Greek cafe in Hyde Park, and then headed north to Millenium Park to see the "Bean." It's a giant bean-shaped sculpture, shiny and reflective. It was fun to look into and take pictures of.

We went to the movies that night, and the theater was pretty nice. We saw Star Trek. I liked it, although I never saw any of the older Star Treks, and the time travel thing wasn't done so well. I will go see more Star Treks though.

Chicago, Day 2. We went birdwatching at Montrose Point. I've never seen so many warblers. It was overwhelming, but I loved it. Jon also spotted a Summer Tanager in full breeding plumage. I hadn't seen one before, but I had always wanted to, so that was great.

We then walked to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It didn't look that far, but it ended up being about 5 miles. Ugh. The zoo was full of locusts, but it was interesting. We saw a red panda, some warthogs in the mud, and some chimps playing in their own poo. The big cat house was really cool, it was the very old style that I've only seen in kids' books.

Then we went to the Chicago History Museum. They had an exhibit of dresses worn by rich Chicagoans over the years. They also had the bed that Lincoln died in. It was a small, ordinary looking bed.

Then...we went to Wrigley!!!! It was awesome, and everything I had hoped it would be. We watched the Cubs play the Dodgers. The Cubs lost, but it was a very exciting game.

Chicago, Day 1. It was a busy day, we went to the Field Museum of Natural History, the Adler Planetarium, and the Shedd Aquarium. Apparantly this is field trip week at the elementary schools, because there were school buses and kids everywhere. They swarmed like locusts.

The Field Museum has the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found. Her name is Sue. We saw her, and we walked through the bird exhibit (of course) and the Native American exhibit. Outside the Field there is a brontosaurus skeleton, and it was wearing a giant Blackhawks jersey. So cool. There is also an Olmec head outside, which is what I am standing next to.

At the planetarium we got to see two shows, the Stargazers of Africa and Night Sky Live. I think the first one was about African people using the stars for navigation, mythology, etc. I'm not sure because I fell asleep. The Night Sky Live showed how to find constellations. It was cool.

The aquarium was pretty cool, too. They had fish, frogs, snakes, turtles, and whales. Little Beluga ones. Very interesting.

We had Chicago deep dish pizza from Gino's East. It was delicious.

Jon and I are going to Chicago!! Yay! We don't have a specific reason for going, or any friends or family to visit, Jon just thought it would be cool to visit, and I agreed. Our seats on the flight were in the very back, and as you can see, I have a nice view of the engine nacelle and nothing else. Boo.

We got to Chicago ok and checked into our hotel. It was very nice and new, the Hotel Felix downtown. The bed was so awesome we both fell asleep and took a nap. Then we wandered out into the city, got metro cards, maps, and brochures, and walked around the shore of Lake Michigan.