I was finally able to schedule my appointment with the Chicago Passport Agency today. I was hoping to be able to get an appointment for today, but the last one was taken at 11:30 PM last night (I would have been able to take that at 12:01 AM this morning)! So, it looks like I'm going to be making the trip to Chicago on Monday. But at least I finally have the appointment: 12:00 PM on Monday, May 4.
I've decided to make this Chicago trip a kind of "pre-vacation" vacation, instead of thinking as an inconvenience. I love Chicago, so it shouldn't really be that bad. I may pay a visit to the Art
Institute or the Field Museum of Natural History or something. Both of those are within walking distance of the passport agency, and I'm sure I'd have a good time at either one.
I got a backpack/suitcase to use on the trip a while ago, and I think it's going to be perfect for me. It's actually a suitcase with wheels, but it has a backpack that unzips from the front. Also, the whole suitcase has straps on the back so that the entire thing can be worn as a backpack. It looks really compact, and when I first saw it I was a little worried that it wouldn't be big enough. But when I loaded it up, I was surprised by how much it could hold. There are a zillion pockets all over the thing, and it kind of expands like an accordion if you need it to.
We also bought some locks to use on the bigger compartments, just to try to discourage people from taking anything. The hostels we're using have security lockers where you can store your stuff, but a little extra protection probably isn't such a bad idea.
There's actually a funny story about this backpack. When I got it in the mail (I ordered it through Amazon.com), I opened it up to look at it. When I opened the main part of the bag, there was a small black case inside. Inside this case was a Chinese-English electronic dictionary, one that was obviously not new, since it was on and had a word on the screen when I opened it. I don't know how it got in there. Perhaps the bag was returned with the dictionary still inside, or maybe someone at the place where they packaged the backpack dropped it in. I can't really use it since all the buttons are in Chinese, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I figure it must be kind of expensive, so maybe I should just sell it.
Anyway, here are some pictures of the backpack and the dictionary, in case you're curious! (You can click on the pictures to see a larger image.)
