But first I needed to do some shopping, and I also wanted to see Old Baldy, the largest dune in the park. I did both. Frankly, Old Baldy (Why couldn't they have called him Big Sandy or something more complimentary like that?) wasn't all that impressive. What was impressive was that because of wind and tides the dune continues to move inland from year to year, and if current efforts to halt the movement are not successful, it will eventually wipe out the parking area and (God Forbid!) the gift shop. Too prevent this from happening, the park service has planted various grasses and other plants on the dune to hold it in place, so that the dune is not really "Old Baldy" anymore now that it has a green hairpiece.
When I returned to the park in the early afternoon, I was thinking that perhaps I could still get to Chicago in time to do some sightseeing. I talked to the nice lady at the train station to find out when the next train would be leaving for Chicago.. She pulled out a schedule which showed trains leaving at 12:30 and 3:00. I looked at my watch. It said 1:00. Too bad; I missed the 12:30 train and 3:00 would be too late to start sightseeing in Chicago since the train ride takes almost an hour and a half. Fortunately, my good angel was still watching out for me. The nice minimart lady explained to me that the time was actually 12:00. We were now on Central Daylight Time and I had gained an hour! I happily hopped on the 1:00 train to Chicago. The train let me off just a couple blocks from Millenium Park and the Art Institute.
I went first to the Art Institute. It has some wonderful Gaugains and Van Goghs and Monets, a few Renoirs, and some of the other Impressionists. I haven't quite mastered the camera I borrowed from Elise, but I think I took a couple pictures. I also dropped by the Egyptian collection so I could report back to Elise, but the collection was really quite small - nothing compared to Penn's Archeological Museum.
Then I headed over to Millenium Park. The Crown Fountain is a shallow rectangular pool about 50 yards long with huge standing walls at both ends. A face is projected onto one of the screens and reflected on the other. The face gradually changes. At one point the mouth opens and water comes out. There is also water falling at brief intervals from the top of the walls. The "pool" is only a few inches deep, but it is full of kids having a great time running and splashing and standing under the "waterfall". There is a low wall around the pool where adults sit and watch their children. I sat next to a mother with two young boys. The older boy plunged right in and seemed a born comedian; the second boy was younger and more cautious. The mother was very good with both of them, calming down the one and encouraging the other. On my way out I passed another mother yelling at her child for no good reason that I could see. It's a great place to watch various parenting styles and skill levels- even better than a supermarket.
I also visited the nearby Pritzker Pavillion where I sat for a while and listened to a rehearsal of the Grant Park Orchestra.
Finally I walked over to take a look at the Cloud Arch, a structure of very shiny metal where I could see my own reflection.
At night back at the campground men's room, I talked with a young man in his late teens, early twenties, who was at the beginning of a bike trip to Massachusetts with a friend. We swapped a few stories and then brushed our teeth and moved on.
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