from Chicago

I'm downstairs at Karen Virkkala's lovely home on Lake Charles in Westmont, a Chicago suburb. This will be short because we have to go pick up a rental car soon. Karen is going to take us for a spin around downtown Chicago before we take off for Michigan later today.

All has gone well with the trip. Mother had one wild wheelchair ride through Phoenix airport, but she was loaded down with luggage so she stayed in the chair. Don't know why the guy was trying to wipe out everyone in his path, but he got her to the gate in one piece.

Will write later when we get to Michigan, so stay tuned.

From Kalamazoo: Well, it's almost 7 p.m. We lost another hour when we came into Michigan. I am much more at ease after driving out of Chicago to Kalamazoo; it was a piece of cake. I had heard such horror stories, but the route we took wasn't nearly as stressful as I-5 south of Seattle. I'm sure it will be much more challenging on Wednesday, but today it was relaxing more than anything.

I've never been in Indiana until today, and as Jean Shepherd so aptly wrote in his Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories, that part of Indiana is purty darned ugly. Once we crossed the Michigan border, the scenery improved considerably.

Mother is talking a mile a minute while I'm trying to think. She's downright giddy being back in her home territory. Our motel is just a couple of miles from Nazareth where Mother went to school and just a mile or two further from where older brother Mike was born at Borgess Hospital in 1944.

To all the newly-met relatives who might be checking in on the blog for the first time, it sure was nice to meet you all last night. The get-together at Karen's house was a highlight for Mother. She was thrilled to meet you, to say the least-----as was I.

Karen took us on our downtown tour this morning. It was definitely enough to whet my appetite to return some day and get to know it better.

As I'm writing, Mother is finally leaving me alone because Mike has called from Atlanta. He's sitting in the airport there waiting for his connection to North Carolina. So, they're getting caught up on each person's respective trip.

The Fairfield Inn here is newly remodeled. Not purty on the outside but our room is brand new. We can't complain anyway, cuz the price is nice, and I'm writing this blog on wireless for my first time ever.

More tomorrow. Hello from Michigan. With this wireless, I'm definitely checking email so drop me a line.

That's all, folks!