Day 4: Tuesday, August 7, 2012

We got gas in Des Moines before getting back on the road.  We easily made it to Illinois and as we were about to enter Illinois, we passed over the Mississippi River! It really was just as big as everyone claims it is!  We pulled off the road so we could take a picture above a lookout for the Mississippi River.  Since we pulled off at the lookout, we almost missed the state line sign picture! After trampling our way through some buggy dead plants, we got the picture! 

Overlooking the Mississippi River

The Mississippi Overlook

With the Mississippi River

Since we were in Illinois earlier in the day, we decided to drive into Chicago to see some of the sights.  Unfortunately, the timing that we picked to drive there was not ideal because so many people were getting off work then and we got stuck in traffic!  After getting a little lost, we walked down to Millennium Park to take pictures and see my favorite Chicago sight, The Bean (also called Cloud Gate). 

The first sighting of Chicago

A street in Chicago

Chicago

Looking at ourselves in The Bean

The center of the Bean

This was a fountain near The Bean, where lots of kids were playing under.  The mouth of the person spit out water!

Finally we made it to my cousins Lynne and Phil’s house in Westmont, Illinois where my Aunt Carole was also waiting for us.  We were treated to a delicious dinner at a place called Standard Market.  It was such a cool place because it was a grocery store and a restaurant.  I also really like their water bar because you could choose from a bunch of different waters, which had different fruits or vegetables flavoring them like cucumber, berries, and even mint!  My family was so kind to Matthew and I and we both just felt so loved being there!