Stayed in Chicago for P.I.R.

[Jim]

Friday April 6th,2012.

  Flew in Thursday to O'Hare rented a car from Hertz and drove in bad traffic . Stayed at the Drake in old town. Great hotel rate but expensive parking.Up at four thirty ,left hotel about 5:30. Plenty of time. Sat where we wanted. If you bring a good camera invest in a small telephoto. My Nikon lens just wasn't enough and my son was towards the front of his division. My son flew to A school next day so his liberty was only till 17:00. He got his pictures and we drove back to Chicago, in traffic again. We are from southern California but traffic on the 90 was bad. Had a great lunch at the Signature Room on 95th floor of John Hancock building. He was just happy to relax. The P.I.R. was awesome but people stopping him on the street to thank him for his service brought my wife to tears and made me realize just how proud I am of him. He stopped mid electrician apprentiship to join. He really wants to make a difference. My wife and I spent the next two days seeing Chicago and flew home to Orange County. A trip I'll never forget !

 Anyways, the lesson here is there is Chicago traffic to plan for, but easily doable. Thanks to all who leave there experiences for us newbies.