Road Trip Part 6….Found
Upon hearing that the hotel didn’t have our reservation, we stood there and looked at each other in complete disbelief. We had just been through a day of hell, and now to top it all off, we didn’t even have a room to stay. After explaining our situation, I think the clerk felt sorry for us and we managed to get a room. With the room squared away, we were relieved that we didn’t have to pay a return visit to the YMCA, and our thoughts turned to finding our friends. We were all concerned for Todd, Tripp and Dilly, wondering where they were going to stay for the night, and generally worrying about their safety.
Eagle decided to use the pay phone to call his mother to let her know that we were ok and that we had checked into our hotel. He filled his mom in on the day’s events and told her that we had checked into the hotel, and that the other group of friends was still lost. Eagle’s mom was both elated and confused, as she had received a call from Brad Dilly’s Dad, letting her know that Todd, Dilly and Tripp had checked into the hotel and WE were still lost. We felt like we were in the Twilight Zone, but we were relieved at least to find out that the other group had made contact with folks back home.
How could it be that the others had found the hotel, if we were at the hotel and already checked in? After several phone calls back to Omaha to Eagle’s Mom, we confirmed that the others had checked into the Super 8 Hotel. We explained to Eagle’s mom that we had also checked into a Super 8 Hotel, but the others were nowhere to be found. After speaking with the desk clerk, we discovered that there was another Super 8 just a few blocks away. We took a walk outside the front entrance, and sure enough, like a beacon in the night, we see the sign for the other Super 8!
Ed went inside to cancel the reservation he had just made, and we hopped in the car and drove over to the other Super 8, barely 2-3 blocks away. We were excited, but I remember being completely pissed that there were two Super 8’s within a few blocks of each other. We pulled into the parking lot and instantly saw the Tempo. Todd, Tripp and Dilly came out to greet us, and we all exchanged our stories of the day’s adventures. Our struggle was over! We couldn’t believe we had been trying to find each other for the better part of the entire day, and we ended up within 2 blocks of each other. I’ve often wondered if we had actually passed each other several times during the day, and if we were always just a few blocks apart. Looking back, I wonder why nobody had the bright idea to contact Eagle’s Mom sooner. We probably could have found each other hours earlier.
Completely exhausted, but relieved that things were back to normal, we settled into the hotel room. It was now nearing midnight, and we decided to take a late night tour of Chicago to do some sight seeing. After the day we had just been through, the six of us all piled into Todd’s Tempo – 3 in the front, 3 in the back. It was a tight squeeze, but nobody was complaining. Besides, now that we were all together again, what could possibly go wrong? As we left the parking lot and headed back out into the streets of Southside Chicago, we listened to the radio with barely an afterthought as it was announced that the Chicago Bulls had just won their first NBA Championship.
As we would soon find out, our adventures for the day were not over….
Stay tuned for Pt. 7………Da Bulls!