5 states and 2,717 miles

Back in 1998 I had been to Chicago but didn't have time to go up the Sears Tower. Usha wanted to go to Chicago for a long time and with our 10th Anniversary upon us, we decided to visit the Windy City. I checked the flight tickets and called some friends/relatives around there. One thing led to another, and we ended up with a long list of invites to visit. These invites were also from different places in that region - not just Chicago area. So, we both decided to go driving and took a week off from work.

Started in Albany on Thursday July 2nd morning. Here's our itinerary, in short - and the major places we visited:

1. Thu 07/02 - Albany, NY to Cleveland, OH - visited Tallamraju Madhury and Ravi family (Usha's cousin sister)
2. Fri 07/03 - Cleveland, OH to Darien, IL - visited Chaganti Mohan's family (Usha's cousin). Checked into Marriott in Elmhurst, IL for the night
3. Sat 07/04 - Attended the 17th TANA Conference in the Rosemont Convention Center - Chicago. Will write another piece about it. Returned to the hotel room at 1:45am in the morning, after the TANA programs.
4. Sun 07/05 - Chicago, IL to Rensselaer, IN - visited Dr. Chaganti Mallik and Lakshmi family (Usha's cousin).
5. Mon 07/06 - Rensselaer, IN to Chicago, IL - visited the Aurora Sri Balaji and the Lamont Sri Rama temples. Checked into the Marriott in Elmhurst, IL.
6. Tue 07/07 - Chicago, IL to Milwaukee, WI - visited the Betty Brinn Children's Museum and the Art Museum with its wonderful wing top (which closes every day in the evening). On the way back, stopped by Nori Vijay's place (a friend of ours), had dinner there and then returned to the hotel.
7. Wed 07/08 - Drove along the Lake Shore Drive, took pictures on the banks of Lake Michigan and visited the Navy Pier briefly. Watched a kids' Pirates show there, walked around and went to another friend's place in Elmhurst (Singaraju Trivikram and Smitha) for dinner before returning to the hotel room.
8. Thu 07/09 - Took the Double Decker Bus Tour around Chicago downtown; stopped at the Sears Tower; went up the building and ventured onto the glass chambers on the 103rd floor; returned to Navy Pier for some more fun times. Watched Cirque de Shanghai show there and went on a moonlight boat cruise overlooking the city's skyline at 10pm. Returned to the hotel room.
9. Fri 07/10 - Chicago, IL to Indianapolis, IN - visited Dr. Veena Nagappa (Usha's classmate in Boston Univ.) and her family; visited Prof. Kandukuri Lingamurthy of Andhra Univ Engg. College, who's visiting his children in Carmel, IN; and then went to Ayyagari Lakshmi and Raghava's house (Usha's cousin) for the night.
10. Sat 07/11 - Indianapolis, IN to Dayton, OH - visited Glen and Cindy Courtright (he's my previous boss in SAIC and a great friend).
11. Sat 07/11 - Dayton, OH to Columbus, OH - visited Vani and Srinivas (Usha's cousin) in Dublin, OH; visited Perala Umasankar and Sujatha (my friend from Andhra Univ) in New Albany
12. Sat 07/11 - Columbus, OH to Albany, NY - started there at 6:15pm and except for a few breaks in between for dinner, gas, pee-stops, came home at 5:15 am Sunday after unexpected, all-night driving covering 635 miles.

What a trip it has been - fulfilling, exciting, interesting, educating, fascinating, surprising and of course, tiring. We sure need another vacation to relax!! I will come back with details of these visits soon...

Swasti!!