Illinois

I went to Chicago for a Conference. Thankfully, my friend Tim lives and works at a gym that he hooked me up on parking for the RV. But, it was so cold Tim took us in and was the BEST HOST EVER! He was amazing 🙂 It helps to have friends in Cold Places and places that aren’t RV friendly, Chicago, Illinois being one of them. If you plan on traveling to Chicago in your RV then here is some RV Friendly advice.

TRANSPORTATION

As far as getting around (since we parked the RV at my friend Tim’s gym) we took a Lyft once downtown to the conference which kicked us out due to his lack of navigation working. No joke, I’ve never been kicked out of a Lyft before and this guy was so mad he had to sit in traffic for about an hour to take us from Tim’s place to downtown. Chicago traffic is horrible!! But, the Lyft driver bitched and made it known he was pissed he had to take us. He told us he was missing out on money and never accepts rides downtown. So, maybe it was this one time, but FYI this could happen. Needless to say we were told it was this guy’s cell phone service that was probably the issue for his lack of navigation.

OPTIONS: They have Lyft, Uber, public transit (trains, buses) and taxi cabs. The prices on the public transit were something crazy around $8-10 per person each if I remember correctly.

RV PARKING

Of course, Tim’s gym isn’t a place just anyone can park, plus it is being torn down. But, If you’re trying to park an RV in Chicago plan on dry camping at a truck parking lot like McCormick Place Truck Marshalling.

McCormick Place Truck Marshalling
Address: 3050 Moe Dr, Chicago, IL 60616
Phone: (312) 808-3161
https://www.mccormickplace.com/exhibitors/freight-truck-marshalling/

Or, look for an RV park outside the city. FYI Chicago is NOT RV Friendly. They have tons of parking, but the city streets are narrow.

TOLLS

FYI on the way to Chicago we paid a lot of tolls. As I mentioned the city streets are narrow. We almost didn’t fit the trailer through the toll bridge. The tolls are steep too. I mean $1-5 USD at a time! YIKES! You can try to navigate around them, but plug this in the navigation way before you get close to Chicago.

EATING

We were only in Chicago for a day or two. But, one place we did eat an amazing meal at was Pesactos… Tim took us here for lunch after being so kind to pick us up from the conference (after the Lyft driver idea didn’t work out). We had salad, wine, Calamari, fish, pasta and steak OMG to die for.

SLEEPING

So I lied, we did end up boondocking in the RV one night behind a factory. I almost forgot it was so late when we left Chicago in the RV we were tired and the winds were over 20 mph. Somehow we lucked out and pulled off behind a factory in some industrial area where we found trucks parked along the side of the road all sleeping hunkered down for the night to weather the storm. So, I pulled in and snuck in a snooze for about 8 hours. It was so cold and windy. We left the RV engine running all night to keep the undercarriage from freezing. Ultimately I would recommend finding an RV park around the city to sleep!

I took the time to share my thoughts about HOW TO VISIT CHICAGO WITH AN RV you can watch:

HOW TO VISIT CHICAGO WITH AN RV

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Blogging Brandi

If we haven’t officially met, Hi I’m Blogging Brandi, an EX-Corporate Kool-Aid Drinker, born to be a Blogger, Creator, Digital Nomad, and Entrepreneur who loves RVing while running my own business on the road! Over 9 years ago, I traded my sticks & bricks lifestyle for a life on wheels. Quit my job, sold my house, and everything else, and then bought an RV! First, was a Travel Trailer, then Van Life, and eventually Motorhome Living! I created RVersity (RV + University) out of my love-hate relationship with RV Life!