Soo after my short trip back to Chicago to see the doctor Thursday and then back to Homewood for the night, I am again back in my home for the weekend (:  Knee update: the doctor's appointment went pretty well, I took a painful shot of cortisone like a champ and "didn't even cry," my mother was so impressed. Stocking up on some more vicodin and anti-inflammatorys that I'm NOT allergic too (wooo - I can't do ibuprofin or anything of the sort), I think I'm ready for the next leg of this trip.The short 33 mile ride into Chicago ended up being closer to 40something for Mary, Steve, and I. We wanted to get the full Chicago experience: off-roading through gravel and bumps, bypassing a few creeks, walking down some train tracks,  ending up in Indiana, all to return back to this one lovely pizza place for a second time... and it was closed, typical. We stopped at South Shore beach for our rest stop, bringing back the lovely memories of my high school job with the Chicago Park District... 20 6 year old boys running rampant through the water... oh how it haunts me. We took off and after finally getting through the chaos that was left over from the Hawks parade, we walked our bikes into Millennium Park to a very warm greeting from family, friends, and left over Hawks fans who had no idea why they were cheering. So much fun.Ma and Pa picked up Priscilla, Shao, and myself and we headed toward the south side, stopping at Tony's along the way (best Italian beef ever!!). For dinner, as I have been requesting since I decided to do this trip, my mother cooked us up steak and potatoes, and it was glorious, Moms are the best.With Priscilla and Shao taking the place of two of my brother's, we rented The Messenger, popped some corn, and had a family movie night. I'm not sure if the movie was good or not, because as expected, we all fell asleep on the couches before it ended.Today is my rest day in Chicago so of course my mother and Ms. McCormick are planning a bash in the backyard. From what I'm being told, food was being prepared until 2am, and my mother is about to get started on some more in the kitchen... plus there's a monster of a tent in the backyard to shield out the rain. I'm all about the "all out" or nothing mentality, so I'm not complaining. The only other thing I should do I suppose is draft a presentation of my trip so far with a question and answer session... I mean, this will be the main topic of discussion anyways... kidding, I could talk about this trip on repeat all day, and I'm sure I will (: