days 34, 35, & 36: REST DAYS

So remember when I said 2 rest days… well the boys talked us into 3. No complaints on this end, however, because that meant more time in beautiful Chicagooooo! Below, I gave the highlights from each of our days.

DAY 34: Our first night with the Petersen family

• woke up at the hotel & blogged at breakfast
• left the hotel around noon & ran a few errands (and got coffee, DUH)
• got the most delicious breakfast burrito at Bryn Mawr in Chicago on our way to Lake Michigan
  

  
• arrived at the boat harbor where Erika Petersen & her Dad (who we were staying with tonight) were waiting for us
• we sailed the day away on Lake Michigan, and even hopped in the water! The weather was PERFECT!
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
• we came back to shore and took a little trip to a Baha’i House of Worship (the only one in North America)
• we toured the House of Worship and learned about a religion that none of us had heard of before
• went passed the Home Alone house!
  

  
• arrived at Erika’s house where her Dad was already barbecuing dinner
• we had a huge steak, corn, potato salad, etc… all under the stars around the fire in her backyard
  

  

  
• our first day in Chicago was AMAZING! Thanks Petersen family!

DAY 35: Second night with the Petersen family

• woke up and were out of the house relatively early to go explore the city
• we toured Navy Pier, rode the BRAND NEW ferris wheel, and took in all of the scenery
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
• we met Sophie’s mom, who was in town visiting, for brunch at Yolk (Thanks for the amazing meal, Mrs. Buie!!)
• sat at a coffee shop for a bit, made some phone calls, etc.
• headed to the Bean (Cloud Gate) where we would be reunited with the boys
• REUNITED WITH THE MEN’S TEAM!
  

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• walked about 1.5 miles to our “surprise” dinner that only our drivers had known about for weeks
• arrived at Hugo’s Frog Bar and Chop House for dinner, courtesy of Jim Summers (THANK YOU MR. SUMMERS, YOU SPOILED US!)
  

  

  

  

  
• ate a delicious meal, had delicious drinks, and shared some crazy stories between the two teams
• at this point, the men’s team convinced us to take an additional rest day since they were taking one tomorrow so we could cross the Ohio state line together… we agreed
• we headed to a street known to have good bars, and ended in a little basement bar with good music and games (somehow we got in with three of us having invalid or missing ID’s. LOL)
• ubered back to our van that we had to park 2 miles away & drove back to the Petersen home where we quickly fell asleep

DAY 36: A night with the Gallaghers

• slept in a bit to celebrate our additional rest day, and eventually packed our stuff to head out (THANKS PETERSEN FAMILY!)
• went to a little bike shop to get a tune up… my disc brake has been making a lot of weird noises
• went to Coffee Bene for a while to drink boba, drink coffee, and handle some business/blogging (today was supposed to be more restful than the last few “rest” days)
  

  
• met with the Gallaghers (Mr & Mrs. and their son, Will) for dinner at a pizza restaurant… they had just hosted the men’s team the night before, and were so graciously willing to host us tonight!
• headed back to the Gallagher’s where they made us feel right at home
• cuddled with their adorable dogs, Sky & Jake!
• fell asleep quickly, realizing we have a long week ahead of us!

And just like that, our three rest days were over! If we didn’t have a date set to be in New York, I’m pretty sure we would’ve stayed a lot longer (or just moved in completely). We all fell in love with the city and all of its adventures, but it was time to move on to the next big adventures on the East Coast.

Thank you once again to the hospitality of the Petersen & Gallagher families! You made our stay more amazing than we could’ve ever have hoped for!

So for now… see you later Chicago & see you soon, New York City!

Also, update on some facts!

• total miles so far: 2218.82 miles
• total elevation so far: 61,836 feet
• total money raised: $43, 246