We make tracks through Chicago O'Hare Airport,
stealing a moment to appreciate
the pulsating neon "hallway."

A BLIZZARD hit the very next day.
(Can you spot the schoolbus
delivering kids home early?)

Robin kept warm and cozy --
taking his first stab at live Internet teaching.
(22 students "attended" from St. Louis to Pittsburgh.)

Outside, they were ice fishing
.

Lake Michigan was hardly frozen --
a chilly wind kicks up whitecaps.

Wind Point Lighthouse -- the tallest
and oldest on the lake.

We squeezed in a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's
Johnson building [as in Johnson's Wax].
Here's their Golden Rondelle Theatre,
first featured at the 1964 World's Fair.

Inside its spaceship-like dome.
(Beam me up, Scotty.)

We took a quiet ride in a FLW elevator birdcage --
fast and smooth, besides beautiful.

Aren't these dendriform columns awesome?
(You're supposed to feel like you're in a forest.)

Vicky Jo goes below deck
to see the ladies' room.

Our private guide Michael,
seated in a famous FLW chair.

He revealed where to find Kringles --
a rich Danish pastry peculiar to Racine.

Helen & Craig's Bistro -- yum!
The staff wears FLW ties and invite
you to ask what they represent.
(Wish you could see the unique
blown glass chandeliers.)

Sure it's a pretty view, unless it's YOU
standing around in 9-degree weather. Brrr!

Robin thought a 4-wheel drive could handle anything.
(He kindly waited until *after* we got home to
mention we'd been riding in a Ford Explorer
equipped with the notorious Firestone tires. :-O)

Dinner with the intriguing Lenore
and her fabulous husband Tom.
(She's the Jungian author of
"Personality Type: An Owner's Manual.")

Can you believe it? A Christmas cow.
(They're everywhere we go!)

Robin gets more comfortable
with internet teaching.

We have mixed feelings about going home to
California after a taste of white Christmas.
(The white stuff kinda grows on you.)