T H E   S A G A   C O N T I N U E S  .  .  .

After oatmeal, half a grapefruit, hot coffee, and cold orange juice in the dining car for breakfast yesterday morning, the Lake Shore Limited crossed over the Chicago River and rolled into Union Station, downtown Chicago, almost on time.  Sometimes the trains run late, but if you care about service with a smile, you will love the Red Caps that meet you in Chicago. ♥  If you ask for their assistance, they will pick you up as you get off the train in one of these . . .

They drive you into the station, deposit you in the Metropolitan Lounge to wait for your next train, pick you up later on and put you on your new train; or, if Chicago is your destination, they take you to get your luggage; they know how everything works, and are so helpful.  Our Red Cap, “Moses,” even drove us in this cart, with all our belongings through underground passages, directly to our rental car!  Now that’s what I call heaven.

And so off we went (musica for the moment, click, then come back) in a strange car, on strange freeways, with a strange and oddly cranky voice on GPS, always upset with us . . . to the point where I had to turn her off.  She seems so mad when we don’t turn right when she tells us to.  Joe thinks one of those kind of people in the car is already one too many.  ♥  We’ve given ourselves two days to drive the seven-ish hours, kitty-corner across Wisconsin to St. Paul, Minnesota, on Highway 90, so we could do a little meandering along the way and see the sights. First meanderment?  Lunch!  We don’t know where we were; it was big, it looked clean, and there were a bunch of cars out front; it had good bean soup; the lettuce for the salad was ice cold, and there were chunks of creamy blue cheese in the dressing.  Who could ask for more? Afterwards, with a tip from the waiter, we made a beeline for a town called South Beloit, with our eyes peeled for “a red roof”. . . we knew we’d come to the right place when we saw this little item waiting outside the entrance door.

Wouldn’t that be darling in the yard filled with pumpkins?  Too bad it wouldn’t fit in our suitcase!  It’s still there if anyone near Beloit is reading this and needs a pumpkin wagon! Here’s something else that got away.  .  .

This one was a bit more painful to let go . . . I have the perfect place for it!

Don’t you see my name written all over it?  I thought long and hard about how to get it home; the pros and cons of having this thing with the curvy trim; the sea green drawers with the glass knobs, the grooved spacers, and the Beatrix Potter decoupage, shipped; it wasn’t very expensive either . . . but taking its picture gave me such satisfaction, enough in fact; so there it sits, for the next lucky, and more local, person who has a Peter Rabbit Room they are trying to decorate! In South Beloit, on the Illinois/Wisconsin border. ♥

But you won’t find this there anymore!  This is safely tucked into the back of our car! Watch for it soon, I’m out shopping for you; I bought this quilt for the Vintage section of our store, for some lucky person (unless something happens and it accidentally goes home with me!).  I also found a gorgeous banana dish.  Still looking for embroidered dish towels and cute vintage jars!

These woods are what we see from our hotel room window.  We’re near Wisconsin Dells, and it was very quiet last night!  Good sleeping weather, only to the high 50’s today, yipeee!  Sweaters, socks, and green shawl.  Looking forward to tasting our first “Butter Burger” at Culver’s today. ♥ Have a wonderful day Girlfriends! ♥