Corn fields, Chinatown and much more

So Ginger mentioned we saw lots of cornfields in Indiana, some knee-hi and higher. She left out the part about our rented Garmin GPS failing a at critical moment, missing highway 30, resulting in us wandering around small towns and by-ways like Kouts. (is it pronounced Koots or kOUTs?) We did not stick around long enough to find out. Indiana does it's road work in the summer apparently, just like Alaska. So we had to wander much farther on country roads then we wanted to. However, the lush green farmland and beautiful farmhouses (of which some would be mini-mansions in San Diego) were nice sites to see, if we had not been on the road an hour, maybe 2? longer. Anyway thanks to my sister-in-law and brother's directions the trip back to Chicago airport was much quicker and direct.
Speaking of getting lost...we took the "El" train/subway from north shore Chicago to Wrigley Field for the Cubs ball game. Quite the cosmopolitan experience for us Alaskan folks. Coming out of Wrigley after the game we needed directions back to the El station. We boarded the correct train...standing room only, very congenial if a bit close for personal space. Thanks to the hotel's printed instructions we got off at a stop thinking it was the one near our hotel. Confusing signs and confused Alaskans (us) caused us to make a decison to get back on the El going in the opposite direction. Before we could blink twice, maybe 30 times, we were in Chinatown and downtown Chicago was far off on the horizon. Kindly folks around us confirmed we were indeed going the wrong way. So off the El in Chinatown, back on and heading the other way, yet again. We got off at the stop we originally thought was ours and sure enough, after climbing out of the subway's bowels we found we were in the right place. Good thing we are flexible and had no pressing appointments. Overall the trip to the mid-west was enjoyable and seeing my brothers & families was the highlight of the trip for me. The heatwave that hit Indiana on the weekend, I could have done without. Yikes, how do people live in that weather!! Sunday we happily boarded our plane and were greated by a cool Alaskan breeze once we were in Anchorage again.
Our next door neighbor, Mary, puppy sat the dogs for us and we were worried they would fall in love with her and not want to stay with us! No worries there, though Mary comes to visit often, we are still their Moms.
Hope all is well with you! Enjoy the summer.