Saturday – September 6, 2014 Sunny, Clear & Crisp Morning – 56 degrees
It was early in the morning when we drove out of Minneapolis. We had enjoyed our time in the city and it was time to move on. After a mediocre breakfast in Menomonie, Wisconsin and some discussion, we decided not to stop in Milwaukee. Perhaps save it for another trip. Wisconsin was another green agricultural state with corn and soybean fields along all the roads. We had abandoned the slower routes and continued eastward on Interstate 90.
Speeding Along
By nightfall, we rolled into Elgin, Illinois for the evening. This was the former home of Elgin Watches and about an hour west of Chicago. We planned to stay near Chicago so we could visit Oak Park, Illinois the next day and visit the Frank Lloyd Wright House and Studio. We decided to save the big city of Chicago for another future trip. We were tired of traveling and we preferred to see ‘The Windy City’ when we had more energy.
I had noticed the industrial flashlights at the check-in desk in Elgin. The hotel receptionist informed us they had experienced a “micro burst” tornado the evening before which caused power losses and many fallen trees.
Elgin seemed like a pleasant suburban town with attractive houses but the tornado left many large trees broken and scattered on neatly trimmed lawns. Using Tripadvisor, we discovered a gem of a restaurant for dinner: Francesca’s Campagna located in the next town of West Dundee. We had an amazing Italian meal which might have been the best meal of this entire trip. Ah, the joys of civilization….