Starting July 8, my papa and I were on a road trip to Chicago! This is a (super long) article Burrito it!
Wednesday, July 8, Day 1: We rented a car from the Marriott and drove to Pennsylvania for lunch. Then I went to Ohio and slept over at my Great-Aunt Alice’s house. We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner. The car was a ginormous red Hyundai. The photo below shows Papa (left) Me (middle bottom) My Papa cousin Lynne (middle) and my great-aunt Alice (right)
Hours of driving: 7
Thursday, July 9, Day 2:
We drove from Ohio to Detroit. We had lunch at a café in Detroit, and then we drove to the Ford world headquarters. They have a Ford museum, so we spent about 2 hours there. It was really cool. I got to go in the real Rosa Parks Bus! There were also some cars, but not just any cars! The cars that the president of the US used to drive in! We saw Ronald Reagan’s, Teddy Roosevelt’s, and even the car where JFK was assassinated! Then we went to Ann Arbor and visited Papa’s friend who he hadn’t seen for 10 years!! We had a really good dinner. (you’re welcome, Jaime!)
Hours of driving: 4
Friday, July 10, Day 3:
We left from Papa’s friend Jaime’s house and went to another friend of Papa’s also in Ann Arbor. We met them at a diner (Papa thought they weren’t there, so he spent a few minutes in the parking lot calling Ozzy who was literally 20 feet away from him!) Long story short: we found them. We went to Ozzy’s house (oh, and at the diner where we met them, another one of papa’s friends from college was there who… actually came from California! We were at Ozzy’s house for half an hour and drove into downtown Ann Arbor (which was pretty fun except that I
had a bloody nose). We even got sushi and ice cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! About 10 minutes after we came back all 8 of us (Ozzy has a wife and 2 children named Felicity and Alice, and Matt has a child named Wiley, plus Papa and I, so that’s 8) drove up to the thumb of Michigan and stayed in a place called postcard cabins. We had Hot Dogs for dinner and of course Smore’s!
Hours of driving : 2
Saturday, July 11, Day 4:
On Saturday, everyone went on a hike around the camping site (still in the postcard cabins' property, but they have a ginormous property!!) Then we had Pushy Pies (cooked sandwiches over a fire, with your choice of jam, Nutella, and peanut butter. The only combination no one picked was PB & J!) After a couple hours of relaxing, we went to a brewery’s grand opening! That was really fun. There were 2 bouncy houses, a big lawn where I played frisbee with Wiley, and really yummy pizza! Also, we played a game called Skyjo. If you want to play, you can press this link! https://skymo.online/ Plus, for the real game you can buy it from here: https://www.amazon.com/magilano-SKYJO/dp/B06XZ9K244/
Hours of driving : 1
Sunday, July 12, Day 5
At about 10:00, We left for Chicago, but we had stops on the way! After about 45 minutes, we get to Bronner’s Christmas Land: The largest one on Earth! We went shopping (I bought a fancy red Disco Ball for $4). That was where we said goodbye to Ozzy’s Family. After that, we drove to the Warren Dunes State Park, and spent about an hour and a half there. We climbed a giant dune! Then, we were on our way to Chicago! When we finally got to Chicago, we met my dad, Emma, and my grandma! Dad had to carry me out of the car because I was barefoot, and that is because my socks had sand in them or something. We had a family reunion! (Kind of)
Hours of driving : 7
Monday, July 13, Day 6
On Monday, Dad, Papa, Emma, and I went to visit my dad’s old nanny Lucille. We had some really good food, and for a treat after lunch we had Mochinuts! From Lucille’s we drove to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, which was so fun! Wiley and I went on a mega-slide 2 times! (Emma couldn’t go on it: she had to be a few inches taller.) We did lots of other cool stuff there, like watching a ball travel through a mini Switzerland (JollyBall) and we also saw a really cool train. We also went through ‘The Maze of Mirrors’! Then we drove to my grandparents’ house and had a really yummy sushi dinner.
Hours of driving : 1 and change
Tuesday, July 14, Day 7
On Tuesday, Dad and Emma left on a plane for NYC, while Papa, Wiley, Matt, and I stayed in Chicago. Maybe about 2 hours after they left, we went to the zoo with my grandpa! We saw Zebras, Giraffes, and more! It was really fun. Then, Wiley, Papa, Matt, and I went to a lunch place a few blocks away. (Grandpa went back home.) For my lunch I had a sandwich (basically, it was a sandwich shop, so I guess everyone got a sandwich). Then we went back home and laid around for 4 hours. After those 4 hours, we went out to a Thai restaurant and had some very good noodles.
Hours of driving: 0
Wednesday, July 15, Day 8
Wednesday was the last day of my road trip!
First, we dropped the car off. Then we took the air train (Matt + Wiley got off at the second-to-last stop, and Papa and I got off at the last stop). Matt and Wiley’s flight left at 11:05 and ours left at exactly 11:00.
Hours of driving: 1
Hours of flying: 2
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how Papa, our friends, and I drove one-way from NY to Chicago. If you want to know how many miles it was, make sure to look at the answers page!
