Chicago (Like the Musical)

We arrived in Chicago to be meet by my cousin Gavin - Man it was nice to be met by someone! We went straight out to Rockford which is West of Chicago city where they live.

We spent a day chilling out in Rockford doing washing, catching up on sleep and meeting the cats. (Mingo and Mija) Nicky and Gavin had just come off a night shift so this worked well for them as well!

Friday was Wisconsin day. We drove up to Wisconsin (Because we could) to a town called Beloit, and then onto Janesville, we walked around the rotary gardens and enjoyed seeing Fall coming to life with the changing of the trees.

Saturday was Shopping day, We started off at Best buy, moved onto Linen and things, then onto the big one, Super wall mart. It was pretty cool to walk through such a big store, Tony's biggest thing was that there was a McDonald's inside! After this we headed onto Sam's club, and then finished off with Kohls. It was a really interesting experience going to some of the normal shopping stores in America and understanding the concepts of Bulk buying. Tony managed to get a years worth of Antihistamines for a ridiculously low amount of money. We managed to restrain ourselves somewhat and although it looked like we bought a load of crap we didn't really!

On Saturday night we headed out to hear a Treasure Hunter Bob Marx speak about some of his experiences. He was amazing, this guy has done deals with the Mob, been sued, had his Lawyers knocked off, been kicked out of 22 countries, and Knighted in 3. His stories were completely incomprehensible to a girl from Wellington, this guy used to drink with the Rat pack, the original one! Madness!

On Sunday we headed up to a place called The House on the rock . This could possibly be the weirdest place i had ever been! This guy Alex Jordan, built this house into a rock face, and then filled it with a whole pile of weird stuff. The coolest being these mechanical bands. He has whole orchestra's set up mechanically to play all sorts of different tunes. It is so weird but really cool at the same time!

Monday was our day in Chicago city. We headed into millennium park where we looked at all of the Water fountains and of course the famous Bean. We jumped on a bus tour and spent the next few hours listening to a guy tell us all about Chicago... a really easy way of hearing about it all! we went up the Sears tower to the 103rd floor. Man was the view amazing! We also went up the Hancock building to the 96th floor for cocktails at sunset. Afterwards, we headed to Greek town for dinner. We made it home just after midnight, thoroughly exhausted! but content with a fantastic day in the Windy city (Yep apparently it is meant to be windy to, but i don't think it has anything on Wellington!)

Today we are heading off to Las Vegas. We have had an awesome time here in Chicago, so thanks Nicky and Gavin, we really appreciate the hospitality you have shown us and i have really enjoyed getting to know my cousins again, (including Jacqui in New York!)