By Terri Nealon
We blew in and out of the Windy City this past weekend, which was the second time our geo-foursome had visited Chi town. Last year along with another good friend, we'd conquered 'Beverly' and other grid-filling caches, but this trip we spent a good portion being 'blown' away by the awe and beauty of the city.
Like all good geocachers, we stopped in route to and from our destination; at an awesome and favorited TB hotel, a glacial erratic to play awhile, the stomping grounds of Chicago's most famous ghost (Resurrection Mary), a D5 cemetery Earthcache with 6 waypoints, and a giant chicken (who knew?). But it was the time spent in and around downtown with three fun friends, walking in wind gusts over 35mph and temps in mid 40s that fills my memory the most.
The lake cache hike Friday had us bundled up and freezing but laughing all the way. We all felt some mist from the spray of the white caps as they crashed into the wall, but Capn Sea Bert, living up to his name, got caught in a big one unawares while signing a log for us all. Spiritwolf922 won the longest deep-dish pizza cheese string-pull at our table at Giordano's Friday night, before we hit up Vanille Patisserie for some delicious macarons. Saturday brought milder weather and many virtual wonders. The Cloud Gate, aka The Bean, was a must-visit to kick off our morning cache hike. How-D even brought along some 'MARVEL'ous muggles to join the party and make us laugh. As for me, TerriBikes+, I was just my quiet self-soaking in the camaraderie and the sights and sounds of the city.
My geofriends and I had such a great time again in Chi town that I brought up the idea about making this and every spring geotrip, as there's still so much to see and experience here. As Mark Twain once said: “It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago-she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them. She is always a novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time.”
Peace and Smileys, TerriBikes+
