March 12, 2009--Museum of Science and Industry

I'm finally getting around to blogging about our trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago a week and a half later. It's been so crazy busy here lately I just haven't had time to sit down and get the pictures off the camera and write about it. Jay celebrated his 12th birthday on the 1st of March, and so a couple of days later Erick took off a day so we could go up to Chicago. We left really early and stopped and picked up my brother in Lafayette on the way. Rachel was cranky and tired, which we figured was normal considering she had to wake up at 5:00 A.M. and sit next to her brother all the way up there, but as the day progressed we figured out she wasn't feeling well on top of it. It was really cold--only 12 degrees. Lake Michigan was frozen and the wind was blowing across the ice, making the wind feel even colder. The museum had been totally remodeled since the last time I was there (I think it was '94 or '95) and we had a hard time figuring out where to park. They have a new underground parking garage, but we didn't want to pay to park. We had purchased a membership, but it only offers reduced parking rates and it was still $12. So we had to park and walk in the cold. The museum itself was so beautiful and big and full of interesting things to see and do. We started out by going on a coal mine tour, and then we went to see a movie at their Omnimax theater since members get free tickets to that. It was way too long, though. It had a big domed ceiling and it made you feel like you were actually there. A few times you almost fell like you were falling into the picture. It was pretty neat, but Erick couldn't handle it because it was making him dizzy and he had to leave. Some of the kids didn't like it, either, and spent most of the time with their eyes shut and their hands over their ears. It was all about how the sardines are endangered by global warming and too many human predators and how we should leave some for the other predators like the sharks, etc, and had quite a bit of billions and billions of years ago thrown in for good measure. It was also way too long. We ended up leaving before it was over. Whoever had taken all the footage of sardine shoals swimming in the ocean must have been very proud of their work, because they wanted us to see all of it. So, other than the length of it and the propaganda, I thought it was pretty cool. We also got to see a huge submarine, and the Zephyr, which is a diesal train. It was a streamlined silver passenger train that broke all the speed records back in 1934, and was so popular that it influenced the clothing style and even toasters and vacuum cleaners were styled after the Zephyr. After our visit to the museum we went to see my sister and her husband and my niece. They are training to be officers in the Salvation Army. Then we went back to my parents' house to drop off my brother and we spent the night there. The next day we went to Indianapolis and bought a truck. It's a gold extended cab Ford Ranger. So we are a two-vehicle family again. Yay! Here is one picture from the Museum. It's a model of Chicago.