Back home a day early and overwhelmed with all the photos I’ve taken. Our original plan had been to leave Chicago on Thursday morning and go to Georgetown, Kentucky to visit raja and go on a tour of the Toyota plant. I enjoyed it so much on my earlier trip, I wanted Renee to have the Kentucky experience, also.

We hadn’t counted on the crowds generated by last weekend’s Derby. We couldn’t get tour reservations and didn’t even try to get a motel. Then we thought we’d leave Chicago this morning and stop overnight in Ohio, maybe go to Cleveland. Instead, we stopped to see Eli yesterday afternoon then drove through most of Indiana. We had picked up some PR stuff on our way, and were tempted by an Amish flea market in Walnut Creek, Ohio. I will just say that, much as I love flea markets, this was not one of the high points of the trip. I don’t understand how so many vendors can all sell the same junk and make any money.

We drove through the center of Ohio, where I had never been before. There were rolling hills and wonderful, Norman Rockwellish scenes. We enjoyed the drive but had a few unanswered questions: how do some of those people make a living, with no cities and no obvious industry; and why are so many people growing dandelions instead of something more useful?

We really enjoyed Chicago; I’ll post most details later. Monday was family day for me. We visited with one of my Florida cousins who was in town, coincidentally. Then we went to the Bahai Temple in Wilmette, followed by more cousins in the evening.  On Tuesday, we were downtown, morning to evening. I took this shot of the skyline, but the wonderful lights on the buildings from Sunday evening were gone.