The First Leg of the Trip

The goal to get out of town was 10 am originally. With all of the errands we had to do (doctor's office, city hall, dry cleaners, gas, picking up swimsuits, scanning passports, bank, sandwiches.... and those are the ones I know about) we quickly bumped it back to noon. We were out of the city of St. Louis and on Highway 55 by 1 pm.

The van was packed to the gills -- very little breathing room available. Mother is the bag lady by far ~ she just has so much stuff to bring. On top of the large bags mom has along, there is a scattering of miscellaneous items that have yet to make into bags. We have plenty of time to figure it out tomorrow, right?? The surprising heavy packer was honestly my dear Uncle Dan who managed to pack a rolling duffel, a brown leather carry all, and a briefcase-like bag.

We arrived to our Holiday-Inn Rolling Meadows after 6 pm to check in. We were warned that our hotel is under renovation. The "holidome" is up and running. There is at least one pool down there and it appears there are two hot tubs to try out. Everything has a Polynesian theme and while its far from fished here at the hotel, the accommodation is still pleasant.

I arranged to pick up my cousin Kyle from the train station and off June and I dashed to get him. Unfortunately, the staff didn't know how to give us proper directions to the nearest train station and we got lost. Kyle was able to direct us to the station and we found him, brought him back to the holidome, and ordered some yummy Chicago style pizza. Delicious!

Tomorrow is our big day of departure. 5 of us have already checked in online and I have the PDA boarding passes on June's laptop. Boarding starts at 5 pm, we leave after 6 pm. We're hoping that security and everything runs smoothly.