“It’s a fine night for flying”, said the Captain as we taxied out to the runway at O’Hare last night.  We’d been looking at the weather maps and watching as another storm was coming in over the plains and we hoped that we’d get away before it arrived.  Mary, flying in the opposite direction was setting off a little earlier, so we kept everything crossed that she’d be flying above it all.

 

 

We started the day in our usual “Tempo” fashion, with waffles for the waffle eaters and corned beef hash and sunny side eggs for you-know-who.  Though it was misty again, it was also rather warm and so strolling down to the North Bridge seemed a good way to spend our last morning here. 

 

 

Before long, we came upon Eataly, a familiar haunt from NYC.  We’d seen an ad for it the other evening and had been so close and yet so far – we couldn’t find the way in!  Needless to say, had we walked just another ten or fifteen yards up the street, we’d have seen the door.  Oh well, we made up for it this morning.

 

 

Mind you, it was a good job we weren’t shopping, perhaps?

 

 

So much choice…a little of everything to try, do you think?

 

 

We made it to the bridge without a purchase, however, and stood for a while watching the people and simply taking it all in.  I decided to cross the road, which turned out to be a little trickier than I’d thought due to various roadside barriers and stuff.

 

 

I took my photograph of the river, looking towards the lake and looked around for Mark and Mary.  But they weren’t where I’d left them.

Perhaps they were coming over to this side of the bridge as well?  But I couldn’t see them anywhere.

 

 

I stood and waited a while – an age, it seemed – and they were still nowhere to be found.  I took my phone from my bag and went to send Mark a text, only to find my battery at 15%.  “Where are you?” I asked.

No reply.  I was getting a bit panicky now.  Surely, they were wondering where I was?

I decided to use the last bit of power to ring him instead.  “Where are you?”  “Outside the Tribune Building", he said…  Somewhere in the shadows of the tall building on the right, they were waiting for me.  Crossed wires and mis communication all round, but thankfully, all’s well that ends well.  But that’ll teach me to keep my phone charged, won’t it?

 

 

We made our way back to our hotel – the slim glassy building on the left side of the street; our room being up there in the skinniest bit near the top, which made for wonderful views.  We couldn’t resist another bag of Garretts Popcorn on the way back however – Of course I’d find somewhere to squeeze it into my bag!

 

 

And that was that.  Off we went on our way to the airport, though heavy traffic.

 

 

Thankfully, we had plenty of time – Mary’s flight was leaving an hour or so before ours, so we’d be saying our fond farewells somewhere soon.

 

 

Actually, it was in the shuttle bus, after we’d left the red Grand Caravan (not as exciting as it sounds, believe me!) in the rental car lot.

 

 

Missing her already, we scanned the airport for a Virgin America plane from the comfort of the lounge, but sadly, we didn’t spot her.

 

 

Our flight was on time and we were lucky to be flying in the tucked-in-with-hot-chocolate-and-warm-cookies class, so we snuggled down under our duvets for the super-smooth journey to London.

 

 

Back to our own car, with the steering wheel on the right side

 

 

Back to normal? 

It’s been a stupendous trip but oh yes, it’s good to be home.