The final lessons

We're home from Chicago now. Matt was going to post about his day with the kids, walking 14 blocks from American Girl Place to the Hilton. Hopefully, he will post about the journey. I was at the conference that day.

Our final roadtrip lessons were about homeschooling and not knowing where you're going. On the second day in Chicago, Eleanor and I got to the homeschooling lesson. We sat at the hotel room desk and worked through her math problems. Afterwards, we talked and decided that it's not good to do math problems at the tail end of a five hour drive, in a car, or when hungry. I think we all feel much better about the future of homeschooling math.

On our last day in Chicago, we went to Little Village, a neighborhood where mostly Latinos live. The time we spent there was fun. We went in some stores and bought some unfamiliar sweets. We *all* tried breads and pastries and had a good time doing it. Getting there, however, was a bit of challenge. We were unsure how far we had to go or where the "heart" of the neighborhood was. "Should I go straight? "I should have turned where?" "It's cold- do we want to get out of the car?" (It was really, really cold.) "Where should we stop?" "Here?" "Here?!" "What do you think?"

Later in the day, we again had to face the road trip reality of driving without knowing where you're going. We planned to stop in Indianapolis at a (relatively) healthy fast food restaurant. Following only directions from memory, we ventured 15 minutes off the highway in suburban sprawl. (This is a big commitment on a 300 mile drive.) When we arrived at the restaurant, there was a sign on the door announcing that they were closed. "Sorry for the inconvenience." The nearby choices (ignoring traditional fast food) were Quizno's (meat on your salad? or a single disgusting veggie sandwich option?) or Culver's (grilled "cheese" on white bread with ice cream) or further searching (and not making progress toward home). Feelings of disappointment, frustration, fatigue, hunger, and uncertainty are part of a roadtrip. It's an aspect of roadtripping that has traditionally led Matt and me to snap at each other. (I think we are part of long traditions of such behavior.) We did much better than in the past on this trip. I look forward to learning to be just as calm as on a trip to Keller's IGA. ☺