Day 1:
We left Fresno Saturday just before noon. Ro was raring to go on the trip until he realized how long it was going to be. It didn't hit him until we got on the ramp to go from 99N to 152W. Then he needed to use the bathroom and we tried to use a side road to convince Ro to go to the bathroom next to the road. He's told us jubilantly before that one of the grandmas let him pee on a tree, but he just couldn't pee or defecate on the ground next to the car. We packed him back into the car until we exited on 59N towards Merced and got him to a Chevron in just in time. We realized that Ro might have just been hungry because he had refused to eat before leaving, and so he bought him a Lunchables treat and he seemed okay for awhile longer. We managed to make it through Los Banos and continued to 152W before hitting the cherry stand traffic on our way to Gilroy. Ro really started complaining about wanting to turn around to go home, but we made it to another Carl's Jr bathroom past Gilroy. After consuming a medium carton of French fries, he fell asleep around San Jose and slept for the hour until we exited the BART at San Francisco Airport. We took the red-eye with Alaska Airlines and Ro did great with the in-flight entertainment.
Day 2:
I arranged for a stay at the Edwards Hotel near O'Hare airport because our flight arrived at 0050 and the rental car lot didn't open up until 0500. The hotel was a little outdated, but it was clear and the clerks were nice. The Hotels.com website said the hotel had an airport shuttle, but I found out later when I called to confirm that the shuttle only worked from 0400 to 0045. Our Armenian Uber driver was very polite and suggested that we could walk to the car rental from the hotel. We managed to get a few hours of sleep after convincing Ro that it would be a good idea. B and I decided in the morning that I could leave everyone at the hotel, pick up the car, and then take it back to the hotel to load everyone in. I had reserved a full size car thinking that it would be nice for all of our bags and carting relatives around, too. When I got there, I told the rental car agent that I had a toddler and needed a car that could fit the giant car seat. B would have accused me of letting my Aunt Jane show, but it paid off. I was looking at maybe a Dodge Challenger to treat us to something somewhat sporty, but the car rental guy helped me pick out a dark red Jeep Cherokee instead in the next price class up for the same price that I originally reserved. It was pretty nice to drive a Jeep again and to have all of the room. We piled everyone and everything and drove to Manny's Cafeteria and Deli in southside Chicago. Lunch was great. Each time we thought that we understood portion sizes, we watched the employees double the quantity. We bought a side of corned beef with mac and cheese, meatloaf with greens and mashed potatoes, matzo ball soup, WBC root beer, Green River soda, and apple juice to share between all three of us. Ro really liked the mac and cheese, the broth from the matzo ball soup, and his corned beef sandwich with mustard he made using a brioche roll. One gem Ro said was, "These people make good soup for all of their customers."
We went to a White Sox game after lunch. After finding our seats, we went to the customer service counter to get Ro his first game certificate and button, checked out the kids area, but then realized that Ro didn't have the right shoes to participate in the batting cage stuff, and hung out in the bleacher area for most of the game. The White Sox ended up losing the game, but I think I like these "underdog" stadiums because everyone is still a fan and happy when any runs are scored. The seats and food usually tend to be pretty cheap, too.
We got into Ottawa around 7pm, settled into the room we reserved at the Super 8 on the northside of town, and then met our aunts at the Cracker Barrel for dinner. We had originally thought we might be able to make dinner at Aunt Jane's house, but changed plans when it seemed like it would be getting too late for it to make sense. Ro was happy with his chicken noodle soup, B had a grilled fish plate, I had chicken and dumplings (I always have chicken and dumplings at the cracker barrel), and my aunts had a fried fish plate and a southern fried chicken plate. We had desert at Culver's before everyone turned in at home. I took one more trip alone from the hotel to buy some things I forgot to take from home, extra snacks and water, and a Lego set for Ro to play with when we visited my aunts.
Day 3:
After breakfast, we drove to Streator and bought ingredients for dinner at Aunt Jane's house. We then went to Aunt Jean's apartment to do laundry and hang out for a bit to catch up on news. Her cleaning lady showed up just as Ro was starting to have a meltdown from being cooped up inside all day. We took Ro to the city park and he had a lot of fun playing on the jungle gym and running through the sprinklers at the splash pad. There were a ton of other kids there for him to run around with.
After that, we took Aunt Jean and the dinner ingredients to Aunt Jane's house to barbecue on the charcoal grill. It took awhile to make sure I had everything because Aunt Jane bought a bunch of stuff she didn't really need and didn't have everything in one spot. It was also really stressful to walk inside the house and see all of the clutter. My aunt likes to make a lot of impulse purchases despite having a limited income, but she has always had this tendency. I think she is trying to fill a void and really needs to figure out another coping mechanism, but how do you tell a family member that when they're happy enough playing cell phone games when they get home from work? We saw a lot of stuff still in the original packaging, but not put away. The drawers were unorganized and it took awhile to find the matches for the barbecue. In the end, I did have to drive to the Ace Hardware store to buy a charcoal chimney, but luckily we were able to find other supplies. By the time Aunt Jane got home from work, we had burgers, corn, cantaloupe, and potato salad ready to eat. B helped me cook all 12 burger patties that we bought and ten ears of corn total. We started the grill around 1700 to cook the corn first around 1720. We left the grill to keep running (because why would you stop the charcoal and the temp was keeping steady at 300 degrees Fahrenheit). We started the burgers on the grill around 1815 and they were plated right when Aunt Jane arrived. The weather forecast said it was supposed to rain at 1900, but instead started to rain at 1800. Aunt Jean, Ro and I stayed outside on two of Aunt Jane's nice patio chairs while B was inside cutting the cantaloupe when it started to sprinkle. Ro was mostly busy running around Aunt Jane's fenced in backyard. Aunt Jean said she would be okay, but I had a feeling it wouldn't be and so we quickly moved the chairs under the carport just as the rain really started pouring down. I tried to run out to move the other three chairs under the carport, but they were soaked before I could even touch them. It doesn't rain like that at all in California. B didn't hear the rain start and was surprised to see the rain when he brought out the cantaloupe. I moved the Jeep around in the carport so we could put the food in the back of the car buffet style. Ro had fun under the carport playing with his Legos. The barbecue stayed in the rain and I closed the top air vent. It didn't cool down much during the rain, which worked out. Dinner turned out great and we were able to bag everything up for lunches for my aunts for the rest of the week.
Day 4:
Aunt Jane still had to work and Aunt Jean had a noon bingo game, and so we decided to head to Starved Rock State Park for late morning/early afternoon. We went on a short trail to the Starved Rock outlook and then looked out at the river near the park area. Ro then decided where we were going next and we went up all the stairs towards the St. Louis Canyon. We had just walked past the restaurant when Ro decided he was tired and it was time to go to lunch. We drove from Starved Rock to the Lone Buffalo in Ottawa. B had a turkey sandwich with a salad, I had an avocado burger with mashed potatoes, and Ro had mac and cheese with French fries. The food was really good and we left feeling happy with our lunch decisions. We went back to the hotel. B and I took a long nap while Ro watched tv and played with some extra napkins. After Aunt Jean told us she was done with her bingo game, we jumped back into the car to meet her at her apartment. Ro chose to play with Legos while watching Pete's Dragon (1977) in Aunt Jean's room. We all sat sideways on her bed as if it was a sofa. I went to Kroger quickly to get the ingredients for a southwest chicken bake. I browned chicken thighs in a pan with chopped onions and then dumped that with mild salsa, canned corn, and canned black beans in a baking pan to bake in the oven until the chicken fell off the bone. I served up the dish with slotted spoon and added a dollop of sour cream and corn and flour tortillas that Aunt Jane brought when she arrived after work. Ro ate his leftover mac and cheese instead of the chicken. We all ate chocolate cake for dessert. Ro decided soon after that it was time to go home and fell asleep on the way. While he was asleep, B and I ran back to Culver's for more custard before going to bed.
Day 5:
I had a work call scheduled for 0915 PST/1115 CST, and so we went to the Streator Library after picking up flowers at the Kroger. The Streator Library is amazing because it has maintained its funding from its designation as a historical site being a Carnegie library. The ceiling alone is worth looking at and Ro had a lot of fun playing with toys and reading books while I went outside to take my phone call. After the library, we had a good lunch at the Broadway Pub which included an Italian beef sandwich, cheese curds, and mini corndogs. We then picked up Aunt Jean and drove to Dana to visit my grandparents' gravesite. Ro was introduced to the concept of going to a graveyard to talk to relatives that had passed away. I'm not completely sure what he thought of it, but I think it cemented his realization that when someone dies, they're not coming back. A discussion about zombies may have also been included to explain things. We stopped by the Gold Rush diner just to use the bathroom before heading to Kim's sweet shop in Wenona for flurries, marshmallow Cokes, and candy. Ro chose an alligator lollipop toy and was entranced by it anytime afterwards that he was in the car with it. We went to the cemetery in Streator briefly before going back to the Streator Library. I talked to two really nice librarians about how Streator had changed, good restaurants to visit, and what to do. Both were total Midwesterners with strong accents. I told one that we went to the Gold Dust Diner briefly and she responded with, "I know. They serve such tasteless old people food that you just want to take your whole spice rack over and beg them to use it." When I mentioned going to the Broadway Pub, they said, "Their avocado burgers are so good. Did you know that tomorrow is National Avocado Day? Avocados are my favorite!" It's had to type out the accent, but I'm sure an angel was getting its wings during that conversation. We all stayed until I noticed that Aunt Jean was getting bored, and so I left B and Ro there to drop Aunt Jean off at home and fill up the gas tank. We then stayed at the library until they closed at 1800. Aunt Jane and Aunt Jean wanted to take Ro to see Toy Story 4, but Ro decided he didn't want to and he acted like a poop anyways. We took Jean to the theater instead and started our drive back to Ottawa. We were pretty hungry as we left Jean's place and decided to go to Smitty's in Leonore. Ro feel asleep on the way and I had to set up a couple of chairs for him to sleep on while we ate our broasted chicken, broasted potatoes and raviolis. We stopped at Culver's for custard and kid food for when Ro woke up when we got back to the hotel.
Day 6:
We woke up super early to start some laundry at Aunt Jean's house and meet Aunt Jane at Chippers. Now, the last time B and I went to Chippers, we swore we'd never go back because their dinners were typical downstate Illinois meals. I think B said something like, "If Uncle Jake came back and requested to go to Chippers, I'd still have to turn him down." Somehow we ended up back there, but it worked out and we had a good breakfast. Ro and I shared a biscuits and gravy combo with the gravy on the side. (It turned out that Ro didn't like gravy and I couldn't eat it anyways.) I think B had a chicken fried steak and my aunts also had the biscuits and gravy combo. We said goodbye to Aunt Jane before she went straight to work, and we drove Aunt Jean back to her house so we could finish laundry before leaving. We checked out of the Ottawa hotel and drove back to Chicago afterwards. We took Ro to Lincoln Park Zoo and the Lincoln Park Conservatory. We then took Ro onto the bus to Millenium Park to see Cloudgate and eat Giordano's deep dish pizza. We bought some souvenir tins of Garrett's popcorn before taking the bus back to Lincoln Park to pick up the car. Every time we go to Chicago, there is always something that happens while riding on public transit. This time, two ladies on their way to dinner spent the bus trip flirting with Ro. He opened up pretty quickly and we were able to tell stories such as this one:
Ro: Can we buy this?
Me: We don't have any money to buy that.
Ro: But you have a credit card, don't you?
Driving to the next hotel in Arlington Heights was pretty uneventful. Ro fell asleep again until we got to the hotel and then he demanded milk and popcorn. It was then time for bed again after we organized our suitcases and Ro had been enjoying listening to the book Fudge-o-mania by Judy Blume until he went to sleep.
Day 7:
We woke up around 0400 to make our 0555 boarding time. We checked out of the hotel at 0430, quickly filled up the gas tank, and drove the car to the car rental terminal. About seven months ago, O'Hare built a car terminal to put all of the companies in one place and cut down on the number of shuttle busses at the airport. It was a good idea except for when temperature reached 100 degrees during summertime and the internal temperature went to 130 degrees, per information from the car rental clerk. It worked out for us though because the car return went really smooth and the shuttle bus to take us to the airport arrived within a minute of walking down to the waiting area. We arrived at the security checkpoint we needed and got to our gate by 0530. Then the airline had to switch planes for our flight to a much smaller plane and needed people to volunteer to be booked on other flights. B asked and they were offering vouchers for $350. We decided to take it since we didn't really have any plans for the rest of the weekend. They ended up giving vouchers to us and five more people. We thought they would give $350 to our whole group of three, but instead we got $350 per seat, which was a very nice surprise. They booked us on a United Airlines flight leaving at 0800 in a different terminal. We moved terminals and the gate attendant managed to get us seats together. Everything seemed fine until it was time to board the plane. Another lady who had already gotten her ticket didn't listen to the agent when she was told she had a seat change and stubbornly insisted on sitting in her aisle seat blocking our way into the row until we called a flight attendant to kick her out. Until then, the staff took quite awhile and I had to sit in another row holding up the heavy car seat. None of us had any idea what crawled up Queen Beezy's butt for her to make such a big stink about it. We were trying to figure out what the deal was, but luckily everyone around only talked to B and I think Queen Beezy's daughter sucked up to B because she realized how inconsiderate her mother was. B was still riding the high from getting the travel vouchers that he could deal with any Queen Beezys heading his way. Ro was good for most of the flight, but got really tired at the end. We made it to the car without any incident and Ro fell asleep for the whole ride back to Fresno.
Things we've learned about flying with a toddler:
--Take the car seat: Ro knows that he needs to be buckled in to be safe. Moving the car seat through airport security and carrying the thing through the airport and through the airplane is a hassle, but Ro has no inclination to leave his seat once he is buckled in for the flight. My mom thought she would be able to survive a plane trip when he was two without the car seat and found out the hard way that Ro would hide under other passenger's seats during takeoff and landing to avoid having to sit in his own seat.
--Make sure you have over the ear headphones and planned entertainment: Over the ear headphones are more comfortable than earbuds for anyone, but earbuds never fit toddler ears properly. I always have shows downloaded on my cellphone and we always bring Ro's kindle. Unfortunately, the Kindle took a dump sometime during our stay in Ottawa and he commandeered my phone during the return flight. Luckily, I had checked out Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner to read during the flights.
--Allow yourself to buy the kids box during the flight: By doing this, you don't have to make sure you packed the extra snacks or worry about whether that squeezy applesauce will make it past security.
--Take the kid carrier: There are so many trips where I thought we'd be okay without it and where I wished we had taken the backpack later (hiking in Maui and walking through snow in Montreal to name a few). Going through security is also a lot easier with a kid carrier, too. TSA just has to swab your palms after going through the doorway sensor. I've heard of others suggesting to take a stroller so you can pile all of the bags in there to roll to the gate, but we've found that it more matters how close the security checkpoint you go through is to the gate because you can use the complimentary trolleys to move to the right checkpoint and often there is someone driving an electric cart who is willing to cart families and persons with disabilities to the right checkpoint or the right gate.
A few other thoughts:
--We love to eat out, but we also really like eating at home when we have a lot of family around. Ro is already pretty excited from all of the new people and then can be pretty unpredictable at a restaurant. It's much better to be at one of my aunt's houses for him to run around, and I have no problem making dinner to make that happen.
--I love slow travel, but I don't really like going to movie theaters during a trip unless I'm spending a month somewhere. It takes time away from being able to talk to relatives and Ro just really doesn't like being confined for that long. I'm not even sure how my mother-in-law can take Ro to a movie.
--I like having low expectations while traveling. I will plan things around breakfast, lunch, and dinner because whether or not people have been fed makes a bigger impact on how happy people are than what they are doing. Especially true when dealing with a toddler.
--I prefer to book a hotel with a free breakfast than an upscale hotel with no breakfast. There is a lot to be said for having breakfast available nearby and right away in the morning before the day's adventures.
--I will definitely make sure to call hotels before booking to confirm details such as airport shuttle hours next time. It was fine to fix things with the rental car agency at the last minute, but I would have preferred to not worry about anything that can be planned ahead of time.
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