Join us in Chicago 10/26 for our patient forum on immunotherapy! - 1266141

Going to drive down from Minneapolis with my wife Lucy to attend, looking forward to it, thanks for having it.

Rooms are kind of spendy (about $300) for a country hick like me, and parking for the night is an extra $65.

Cancer sure is expensive!!!

We'll be driving down on Saturday the 25th, driving back to Tomah, WI and spending Sunday night there, and finishing the drive back to Minneapolis (9:30 appointment downtown) early Monday morning. If anyone wants to ride along, let me know.

Hi Tom,

It's possible to get better rates out in the 'burbs and drive in to the hotel for the program. You can also search for cheaper parking here: http://chicago.bestparking.com/

JimC
Forum moderator

Of, that was kind of tongue in cheek for me. That's not terrible for right downtown.

The parking fee was a nice touch, I find it mostly amusing.

Lucy and I have reservations downstairs Saturday evening at Michael Jordan's Steakhouse. We'll see if he can cook a steak like he played basketball or he played baseball. :)

The ride offer was just for someone on the bubble of being able to go, I know that odd's are pretty low, but we are driving an Expedition and have the room, even for another couple.

See you all there!

A recap of our trip follows.

This is a little late. but a well deserved THANK YOU to all involved for holding this forum, Lucy and I were able to attend for a long but informative day soaking up a wealth of information, and are still digesting it.

The meeting room was elegant, a great breakfast, and if a box lunch can be called great, that was great as well. All for $25, with world class doctors thrown in to boot!

The people were fantastic!

Not all was unicorn and rainbows, however.

Lucy and I got in the truck at 7AM Saturday, anticipating a 4PM arrival in Chicago. Halfway there - BANG! - a spark plug blew out of the cylinder head, we limped into Black River Falls, left it at a closed garage, found a used car dealer who rented us a car and were on our way, lost a couple hours though.

Then the Illinois Tollway! 4 lanes funneled to one for twenty miles, still full toll! And the Expressway in Chicago! And downtown traffic, vehicle and pedestrian! Then, it turns out that Michigan Ave has two levels, got turned around and on lower level. Oh boy, what fun!

Missed our 7PM, then the rescheduled 8PM dinner reservations, checked into the hotel about 8:15, got room service ($77 for a steak, glass of milk and a bottle of Stella) and crashed for the night. Good view from the 26th floor.

Next day was the conference, as I said before it was great. Drove back to Tomah that night - avoid the chili at the Winchester Truck Stop in Edgerton, WI, just sayin'. Next morning, called the garage, they could fix it that day! Yay!

However, we had to stay in the motel until 2, then picked up the truck (only $185 to fix, I was very happy) and dropped off the rental. $180 for three days car rental, $185 to fix the truck, oh and $65 to park in Chicago.

Took Tuesday off work as my bad knee had flared (all that stop and go traffic, but it's getting better).

Can't wait for the next one! This time with our new Expedition we picked up last night. Anyone wanna buy the old one cheap?

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the story. It sounds like the type of adventure I might have trying to get from Birmingham to Atlanta on any given Friday, which is why I do it as rarely as possible. Especially since I need to get my Subaru aligned. I'm even hesitating to get it looked at for fear they'll tell me to stop driving it until I can sell an arm or leg to fix it. I hate you missed your reservations, I love love an excellent restaurant. At least I don't have to drive far, Birmingham has many.

I'm glad it was worth it though.

I hope your wife is feeling well. You also.

Janine

Hi Tom,

Yes, as Janine said that was quite an adventure. I've made the drive between Chicago and Tomah, but never with so many complications!

Glad you enjoyed driving in Illinois/Chicago. If you've heard anything about the financial situation in either, you'd understand why they wouldn't be giving any breaks on the tolls.I wouldn't be surprised if they begin filtering the debris picked up by street sweepers, looking for loose change.

Best to both of you,

JimC
Forum moderator