JJ Bug and I had quite the adventurous trip to Chicago. We left of Thursday afternoon, and I thought the biggest problem I would have on the six hour trip would be my upset stomach. I truly felt bad because Bug and JJ were trapped in a car with the gassiest girl around. I think it may have something to do with the high fiber in the WW diet. I should have seen it coming, however. I should have known that a long car ride could not go without an obstacle or two when us three girls get together.
Bug slept the majority of the trip, so imagine her surprise when she woke up and we were parked in front of an Advance Auto store. JJ and I had pulled off an exit to grab a quick cup of coffee outside of Indianapolis, approximately half way through our trip. As we were heading back towards the highway, we were stopped at a red light when the driver of a minivan to our left started to rev it's engine. JJ took this as a hint that they wanted to race. We knew there would be no competition because she drives a SAAB with a turbo engine. When the light turned green, JJ stepped on the gas, and within seconds we were already way past the minivan. As the car's turbo kicked in, I heard what sounded like rocks under the passenger side wheel. We slowed down as we approached the on ramp of the highway, and all of the sudden her dashboard started flashing "Battery not charging, please pull over safely and call SAAB."
"Oh crap, I think your alternator belt broke back there," I stated as JJ did a U turn back towards the shopping center.
"How do you know?" she asked.
"Well I heard something drop, and I figured it was rocks, but I think it was the belt falling."
We saw an auto parts store on the left and pulled in. As JJ entered the store to get a service representative to assist us I popped the hood and glanced down and noticed the belt missing. Sure enough, after the diagnostic machine was hooked up, it confirmed our fears. This is about the time Bug woke up and tried to make sense of the whole scene in her groggy state. Lucky for us, there was a repair shop about two blocks from the auto parts store. We prayed the car would not drain of power before reaching our destination.
The mechanics were so accommodating, and had the SAAB all fixed up within an hour and had us safely back on the road. I have to admit that it was a blessing that we broke down close to all of the necessary resources. We could have broken down in one of the twenty mile long stretches of nothing but fields and windmills in Indiana or Illinois. After our six hour trip turned into almost eight, we were relived to make it to the hotel.
As we let the valet take our car, we wheeled our luggage into the W. Instantaneously I felt completely out of place. We walked into a very trendy, upscale, modern hotel. I was dressed in cargo capris and t-shirt. Bug was once again awake, and in RARE form. Her hair was a little disheveled and she was sporting a pair of athletic shorts and a tank top. JJ was the only one who remotely looked like she belonged.
After checking in, our first order of business was to clean ourselves up and check out the accommodations. Although our room was a little cramped, it had some great details like plantation shutters that looked right into the bathroom. Unfortunately, it did not give much privacy for showers or other bathroom duties, but when they were open, they gave the illusion the room was bigger than it was, allowed for conversation between rooms while we are all getting ready, and of course made for some great pictures:
Then there was the view. The view made up for the size of the room. Imagine waking up to this every morning. I was blessed to get to wake up to it for three mornings, and now envy the people living in the apartment building next door.
We were all a little tired from the trip so decided to stick around the hotel. We poured ourselves a few cocktails, and set out to explore. The W had a great rooftop bar, unfortunately it was all enclosed. I would have loved to enjoy a drink on an outside patio thirty-three stories above Chicago.
We decided since the rooftop bar was not yet hopping, that we would mingle in the lobby bar. We were each given a complimentary drink and made ourselves comfortable on one of the couches. Soon I noticed everyone getting quiet as the energy started to fade and you could tell JJ and I were exhausted. Bug was not of course, because she slept the entire trip. We returned to our room and were lame the rest of the night, jumping into our PJs and watching a movie. We figured we would conserve our energy for the next two days worth of adventure. If the trip up was any indication of how the rest of our weekend was going to be, we would need all the energy we could get.To be continued....
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