Chicago Gold Cup Road Trip: Day Three, Our Limo Awaits, CDW Tour

I don't know what it is about hotels and traveling, versus home, but I always seem to naturally wake up an hour earlier than the alarm is set even when I've gone to bed at 2AM (like last night). It's a strange phenomenon.

Perhaps today, though, it could be due to the anticipation of taking my first limo ride. This morning's plan was to take a tour of the CDW warehouse and do lunch with some of our reps. Just before we left, we found out that CDW is going to treat us right: we'll be picked up at our hotel in a limousine and taken to the warehouse for the tour, then to lunch (on CDW), and then back to our hotel. Well! We're honored, and what a great start to the day!

After that we've got options: the Untouchables tour of all the Mob Days gangster hot-spots, accepting an invitation to tailgate at a Chicago Fire MLS soccer match, or just hopping the El and doing whatever we feel like.

(10:00 AM) We find out that the town car we thought was our "limo" is not, in fact, waiting on us (unless Bariskov is Tewaney's KGB codename). Seconds later, a stretch limo pulls up and the driver asks for Mr. Scherman. That's more like it!

(10:17 AM) Apparently our limo driver is lost or something, as we are turning around in a church parking lot. Not easy with a stretch limo.

(1:05PM) Our tour of the CDW distribution center over, we're headed to lunch at Big Bowl Chinese and Thai with our reps Jeff, Brad, and Lonnie now. Their warehouse is awesome, about 1/4 mile two ways and highly efficient. We got to see Mantissa (?) Machine in action, that sorts all the prepped boxes and knows based on their weight where they belong. They have some impressive Quality Control facilities as well.

(2:16PM) Headed back to CDW to take our limo back to the hotel. I hope this one will have a sun roof! Plans for tonight are to see the art museum and planetarium, maybe check out some of the night life.

(2:30P) Nate tests the theory that farts don't stink in a limo. Myth Busted.

(3:00PM) "So what did you guys talk about in the limo?" ... "Space toilets."

(3:03PM) First mullet sighting. (Yeah, without a sunroof the limo's kinda boring.)