The first stop on our trip was Chicago. We got a rental car here and drove to Wisconsin to visit my parents as well as a couple of friends from my early days in the military who have settled here.

We went through Chicago twice on this trip. On the second time through, we only had a few hours layover until we caught our train to New Orleans, but we managed to meet up with a friend of mine who lives in Chicago to catch up on our lives in person.

I used to dread leaving Chicago via rental car, but iPhone Maps gives easy to follow directions to and from Union Station, and that makes the trip so much more pleasant.