Ashley in Chicago?!

During finals week I counted down until exams were done, not just because I'd be going home but because I would get to see Ashley on Thursday!  Ashley and her future mother-in-law and sister-in-law flew up to Chicago for a few days together.  On Thursday morning I scurried around the Wheaton campus taking care of stuff at the last minute.  I got a ride with my suitcase to the train station.  We pulled in just as the 9:57 train arrived.  I collapsed into a seat and paid my fair to Chicago with a few bills, coins, and five pennies.  The conductor who had greeted me when I got on the train said, "I knew there was something about you I didn't like."  Every time he walked by he asked if I had a nickel for five pennies.  

In the train station, I borrowed the cell phone of another Wheaton student to call Ashley and get the address of the her hotel. (Incidentally, this Wheaton student is a conservie who is singing for the Lyric Opera this semester in Porgy and Bess.  He had two more shows before break.)  It was a beautiful, clear today so I didn't at all mind the 12-15 block walk to her hotel on North Michigan Avenue.  

The four of us enjoyed an extravagant lunch together at the Grand Lux and a few hours together.  I took these pictures of the Chicago skyline on my walk to the L which I took to Midway Airport.  Is there anything more touristy than taking pictures of the skyline while wearing a backpack and pulling a suitcase?

Ashley is getting married this summer.  We spent Dec. 19 together - exactly six months from that date I'll see her again, a few days before the wedding!

Some day I'd like to walk across that.

 

There were giant chunks of ice in the river, fitting together almost like a mosaic.  

I got to the airport in time to stand in lots of long lines and fly standby on an earlier flight to Baltimore that ended up being delayed until about the time my original flight was to take off.  I don't understand why they delayed it since the weather wasn't bad yet.  Waiting is only going to make conditions worse I would think.  Radu picked me up and got to their house a quarter hour before my parents arrived from NJ.  Hugs, food, hot tub, and bed.  Life is good.