Goodbye Chicago!

So the hectic trip over the border to Wisconsin actually went really well. We woke up in Joliet at the Cummins dealership and they were able to look at the generator right away after they opened. It turned out to only be a bent fan shroud (huh?) which was a simple fix. The guy got underneath the rig with a screwdriver and a flashlight and was done in two minutes. Obviously a bent fan shroud will make a mechanical device scream like a banshee when turned on. Bill said if he had known that there was a fan under there he could have fixed it no problem. So $55 later we were on our way north to Kenosha.

We got to the Walmart there early and as such I was able to have my eye exam done Tuesday morning instead of Wednesday morning. They did have to dilate my eyes though due to the diabetes and the fact that they have to check the veins in the back of my eyeballs for leaks. The doctor said that for the last year I had been wearing lenses with the bifocal area too strong. Which would explain why sometimes I had to put on my reading glasses even though I had the bifocal contacts on. A fine tuning to my contact prescription, dilation of the eyes and $105 later and I was out of there.

Then it was Bill's turn at the clinic. It was quite crowded as it was the low income clinic for the area. They were the only ones that would even take the BadgerCare and could schedule him in with such short notice. They had told me he needed two appointments in order to get his physical as the first one was to "establish" him as a patient. Well, that was not true, which is good. The doctor did the physical right away, highly suggested he have a colonoscopy done soon and told him to come back in the morning for fasting lab work which he did this morning.

We actually had time to hit a bucket of balls at the driving range right by the Walmart this morning before we left Wisconsin seeing as the appointment schedule went so well for once! I have now worked my way up to hitting with other clubs and not off of a tee. Like I said before, maybe some time this year I will actually be able to play the damn game!

We then left to get Dozey to his blood work appointment in Hammond IN. Dr. Doug thinks that the dosage is working well for him so there should not be any liver complications. Bad thing is that Doze gained 11 lbs which puts him at 101. Last weekend was the first time we could get him playing with his ball due to the nasty areas we were in and the fact that the Chicago area dog parks cost $50 to use.

So tonight we are sitting in the Walmart parking lot in LaFayette IN and we are both very, very, VERY happy to be away from the Chicago area. It was actually strange to see corn fields and areas without buildings. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I don't know how people actually live in cities like that but I guess if that is all you know it's all you know. I don't remember feeling trapped like that in Phoenix though. Granted there were run down and bad areas but nothing like how it felt to be in inner city Chicago. The only thing I would want to go back for is to visit the Shedd Aquarium which we were going to do this week if we had finished up with the stores there instead of being sent to Ohio.

So we are all happy, happy right now including Pumpkin as you can see. For some reason, he loves to lay upside down all the time...definitely not normal!