Tom and I both left California at 12PM PST. We arrived in Chicago at 7PM CST on different flights. Tom came in from San Jose and^ I came in from Los Angeles. The three hour flight included a corny Hugh Grant movie (Music and Lyrics) and a chorus of babies. Turbulence never felt any sweeter. I could tell we were in a different state by the different trees. "Keep it Together" was playing on the plane as we were taxing to the gate. I only thought of previous Anime Central memories, and wondered what 2007 will bring.

Fortunately, my flight came in early. Tom was on the other side of the terminal. I wanted to meet him at the gate, but I turned around I found Tom! "Kiss me," I said to him. Luckily, our ride from O'Hare International, Patrick, was already at baggage claim. Oh, and I was happy to see Wicked sightings!

First thing we did is we tried some classic deep dish pizza at Giordano's. For the most part, we drove around downtown Chicago. I got to see Michigan Street. I was so tempted to hit H&M since the Los Angeles location won't be open for a while. We walked around Millennium Park and by the shores of Lake Michigan. We also stopped by Patrick's work, Jewel Osco. Tom discovered Diet Coke Plus (Diet Coke with "vitamins") that was already available in the Chicagoland area. I was amused by the "pop" section.

The very next day, we woke up at 10:45AM. Our lunch was the leftover pizza from last night. Tom and Patrick wanted to hit the gun store close by. "Let's get some guns." Not really, because Tom had to fly back to San Jose and didn;t want problems with TSA. But itmade the boys happy. Before hitting downtown again, we drove through the Elgin countryside.

We boarded the Metra line from Eglin en route to Union Station. It was an hour trip to downtown Chicago. It was very reminiscent of riding Cal Train in the Bay Area. By the time we got there, we got got our CTA passes and headed straight to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It's a free zoo and it was something to do. Afterwards, we had dinner at Navy Pier. Then we walked around downtown Chicago before we had to take out 9:45PM train back to Elgin. Tom and I were happy to see the Trump building near completion.

Of course, we went straight to Rosemont. As "Toy Soldiers" was playing on Patrick's mix cd, we deployed into the Hyatt. We stepped right into the belly of the beast and were ready for the first Traveling Valentine out of state event. Gotta live up to the name.

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