June 17, 2014 - Yorkville, IL

Early this morning around 12:30 AM, I looked at the radar for the Chicago area and just to the west about 200 miles I estimate, was a giant mass of red, orange and yellow depicting nasty storms headed our way. After seeing that, I checked to see what county Yorkville was in. Then I went back to see what alerts were up. The weather app I was looking at showed a couple red cone shapes which are how it shows circulation or possible tornadoes. They also had tornado warnings when selected. Kendall County was listed along with numerous other counties for Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado Watch Alerts. I slept fitfully, waking up every 15 minutes or so through the night to look at my phone for the update as to where the storms were. I also set my phone to alert me for tornado warnings. Thankfully it never went off. The storms skirted our area and went northeast. I slept to 9 AM as we didn't have to race out as our Untouchables Gangster tour was scheduled for 1 PM. After yesterday, I decided to leave at 10, figuring we could get lunch first before the tour, plus we had to find parking. The tour was to begin at the Rock and Roll McDonalds on Clark St. In Chicago. We found parking about two blocks away and had delicious flatbread pizzas at Lyfe Kitchen. I had a Margarita style and George had a mushroom, goat cheese with pomegrant drizzle. Both were so good! Then we proceeded up Clark Street and when we arrived at our destination, we decided to go into the McDonalds which is two stories with an up and down escalator in the middle. We went upstairs as George was curious since a sign said there was a gift shop. The gift shop sold hats and shirts. There were also decadent desserts and beverages upstairs for sale. We ended up getting .49 cent ice cream cones. I also noticed a Hard Rock Cafe across the street. When we went down to Nashville, TN a couple of years ago with our travel buddies Laurie and Bob, Bob bought a Hard Rock Cafe t-shirt with Nashville on it. So I texted Laurie to see if they wanted me to buy one with Chicago on it. They did, so we went and picked one out after our tour. Funny thing is I was expecting a school bus to pick us up, but it turned out to be an air conditioned Class C motorvan which holds approximately 20 people. The tour is fun and the gangsters who drive and narrate are standup comics. So we all were laughing a lot. I did learn a lot from the tour. One of the gangsters from that era was named Greasy Thumbs Guzik, which I really didn't know where that name came from, as my Mom and Dad always referred to my Sister by that name. She would get her beverage glass messy as a child, hence the nickname. When we got back to the the parking garage it cost $39. Yesterday, the cost to park was $28. Back in 1985-ish, my Sister took us to a free exhibit in NYC and parking cost us $48. So in reality, these are bargain rates. Tomorrow, I booked a Trolly/Double Decker Hop On/Hop Off tour. We need to get up early, so we can take the tour while it is still somewhat cool outside and before the storms show up in the afternoon. We also stopped at the campground office to let them know we were expecting a package and to our surprise, it had arrived. Last week, George ordered the parts to fix the cable that connects the brake assist on the SUV to the motorhome. And after they were delivered to our house in NJ, George's Mom shipped them to us by Priorty Mail. While in the camp store I bought two popsicles. Abby was glad to see us. Tonight we had leftover pot-roast and leftover potatoes. We are currently under a severe thunderstorm watch.