FFA--A BIRD'S EYE VIEW

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW
FFA Travels by Bus to Chicago
Today started early. "Be on the bus, luggage loaded and ready to pull out by 7:30 a.m.," ordered Rick last night.  Everyone knows Rick doesn't joke around.  That's the way to run a trip for 110 people.  We pulled out at 7:31 a.m. headed west.

Two big Brown buses are home away
from home for the week.

What to do when a big Brown bus pulls into a toll plaza on an interstate and the gate stays down!  The bus ahead of us waited.  Patiently in line behind him, we waited too.   No attendant. Our driver mused, "Maybe Indiana won't recognize New York Easy-Pass, but it's supposed to."
"No," Andy reminded him, "We went through the plaza on the Ohio-Indiana line without any trouble."
The lead driver climbed out of his bus and waved his hands at the gate.  It didn't work.  Then he walked over to the little toll house.  No attendant.  He got back in the bus.  We could see him pick up the radio.  A couple moments later, the gate went up.
"Just tell them to charge you again," paged Chuck on our bus radio, pulling up right behind the lead bus.  But before we could pass under the raised gate, it dropped.

Chuck figures out how to
maneuver through the tolls.

"OK," said Chuck, "We'll see if it is fixed now."  He inched right up to the gate.  It stayed down. 
"You have to beep the main building from the little red blinking light," blasted the radio.  It was the lead driver giving directions.
"I'm too far past it," replied Chuck.
"Back up!" came the radio order.
"Can't!" said Chuck.  A semi tractor-trailer had pulled in right behind us.

From the bus on I-55 we can pick out the Willis Tower.

                    Chuck got out of the bus, waved at the gate and checked the toll booth.  "There's no one in there," he stated, more to himself as he climbed back in and removed the Easy-Pass box from the window.  When he scanned in the number by hand from the blinking box, the gate went up.  That poor semi driver had to wait for us to remount the Easy-Pass box, settle in and adjust all the mirrors and restart the bus.
"I guess the camera wasn't set right," mumbled Chuck, as we caught up to the other bus which waited on the side of the road.  From that point on, we held our collective breaths at each toll plaza.

With the golden dome of the old administration building in the
background, members of Tri-Valley FFA pose at Notre Dame.

The first building of Notre Dame still
stands near the center of the campus.

A couple-hour stop in South Bend, Indiana gave us time to walk the main campus at Notre Dame.  "We need to refuel the buses," explained Rick, "and it's a good, safe, fun place to stop."
After the obligatory introductory movie about the history of the school, we had time to visit the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Grotto, the first Notre Dame building, St. Mary's Lake, Hammes Bookstore, Morris Inn and Eck Visitor Center.

In the late afternoon sun Chicago looks
beautiful from on high.

It couldn't have been a more gorgeous day to be walking along manicured quads lined with changing hardwoods.  The squirrels gathered winter stores as a brilliant sun glinted off the statue of Mary that capped the golden dome of the old administration building.

Standing on the glass extension
panels of the Sky Deck,
we can see down 103
floors below us.

Then it was on to Chicago.
At 4 p.m. we disembarked at the Willis Tower downtown, checked in through security, and took two elevators to the Sky Deck. Gorgeous weather attracted hundreds of visitors.  As we gazed out all the different glass panels, people took turns looking at the 360-degree pictures of the city.  They spoke to each other in Spanish, German, French and Indian.  It was a United Nations of interest and politeness.


From the street the Willis Tower
reaches heavenward.

With a bird's eye view of the entire city beneath our feet, we indeed had a panoramic picture of Chicago.  I held my breath and stepped out onto the glass panel overhanging the 103rd floor. The world was beneath, and it was quite literally breathtaking!   I could only gasp!

Andy reassures three Tri-Valley FFA members that this glass
isn't going to crack beneath them.