By James Bow

We see a lot of odd things when we drive on the American interstates: light artillery, disassembled helicopters. I wish I'd had my digital camera for those. But this was interesting. How often do you see a FedEx truck being moved? Would have been more ironic if it had been a U-Haul.

Here's a shot of Chicago's great skyline, most effectively viewed from afar (much like Toronto's skyline)

Chicago is an architectural treasure trove, and not just because of Frank Lloyd Wright. Whipping through the downtown in the back of a cab, I spotted this Mies Van de Roche piece...

We stayed at the Chicago Hilton for a bargain price, and were impressed by the splendour of it all. This was one of the few pictures that turned out. It's a pity my camera wasn't able to take a picture of the Grand (and I do mean Grand, like five storeys tall) Ballroom.

The next day (Saturday), we split up, and I headed into Oak Park to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio and Museum, housed here...

Some detail work on Frank's home

Another home on the self-guided walking tour. There were a lot of people with guidebooks about.

A unique (and, probably, very secure) entrance to a home on the Frank Lloyd Wright walking tour.

On Oak Park Avenue, near the Magic Mountain Bookstore, I stumbled on some commercial buildings that were part of the tour (not designed by Frank Lloyd Wright himself but one of his contemporaries). The entrance is certainly eye-catching!

After visiting Oak Park, I hopped on the Blue Line and rode the "L" for a while. I transferred to the Brown Line at Clark station, seen here.

While waiting to transfer to the Red Line at Belmont, I was startled to see this large picture of the Pope on the side of one of the nearby buildings (a religious school, perhaps?).

After a quick trip out to Howard and a brief exploration of the Purple Line, it was back to Belmont, and back to the Brown Line for the journey back to the hotel.

My sister-in-law Wendy contemplates an award-winning painting of hers. She's handing it over to her mom on this trip.

Proof that my digital camera is not very good for indoor shots. As we prepare to leave, I snap a picture of Wendy, Erin, Lars and my mother-in-law Rosemarie. I might as well call this picture "ghosts". It is, at least, an interesting effect.

I have no idea what this is, but it's on the roll from my Chicago trip, and it looks rather neat, so here you go!