The end is near, but Chicago is first!

Chicago was our last stop and it was a great way to end the trip.  We have all been there before, but it has been a few years since the kids were there and they loved it.  It is great city to explore, so much to do, and everything is pretty close together, so the walking isn't overwhelming for kids.

                     We went to dinner at Rosebud and ate enormous amounts of delicious pasta.

You can't visit Chicago and not make a stop at Garrett's Popcorn for some carmel corn...yum!

We talked with a police officer that let us know there were fireworks at Navy Pier that night, so it was perfect timing because we had missed out on 4th of July Fireworks due to the hurricane in Boston.  We bought tickets for the Ferris wheel and the fireworks went off as soon as we got to the top! 

We had to end the trip with more sugar, so we headed to Eataly for gelato and they just happened to have a Nutella bar, so I had to order a Nutella crepe...delicious!

Ted commandeered the camera that night and the guy seems to have a knack for pictures.  He took quite a few great ones!  See below...

Before we started for home the next day, we stopped at Millenium Park to see "The Bean" and then to the top of the John Hancock Building for the views.

And it so it ends.  3985 miles, six more states off of our list, fun times, lots of laughs and many memories once again.  Thank you to my traveling family for always being willing to take on these adventures even though it can be hard to be so "close" for so many days in a row.  We are stronger for it and it will be something that we will remember for the rest of our lives.  It's amazing to think that we only have two states left, Washington and Utah for summer 2015!  We have already started to talk about what 2016 could bring.  Do we decide to add on Alaska or Hawaii or do we go big and try for Australia?  Pennies will need to be saved either way.  I'm not sure that it will be the same if we are not driving it though.......