Caterpillar Visitors Center

After our relaxing, water filled 2 weeks in Texas we packed up and headed back to the Midwest. We flew into O'Hare with Nana and Grampa helping us to pass the time on the plane.  But once we collected our luggage and picked up our rental cars we headed our separate ways.  Nana and Grampa North to Milwaukee (where we would meet up with them at the end of the week), and the girls and I took off South to Peoria to visit with family - and another set of friends we made in Chile.

We battled the thunderstorms (yep, Midwesst in the summer) and still made it in time for dinner at A and G's house.  We settled in quickly - and my girls set off into their basement, with the two oldest of A and G's girls, never to be seen again unless someone was hungry.  A and I sat down to catch up on the 18 months it had been since we had last seen each other.  It felt like old times in Santiago, just in a different location. 

But we couldn't stay in the house the entire time we were in town.  In between visiting with family, and a photo shoot I had scheduled, we a bit of free time.  And since we had never been to the the Caterpillar Visitors Center, it was the perfect place to spend an afternoon.  And really it is a must see for me and my girls, given our history with the company.

This is a model of the new campus that is being planned.  Covering over 31 acres, it will span 6 blocks downtown.  See story here.

After watching a short movie - the kids were more than ready to go see and play with the trucks and tractors up close...

Why can't I go down this way?

That is one big tire!

We visited the past.

And we got a chance to get hands on with the machines from that era.  And we got to work the machines like they did back then, manually, with no computer or electronic aids.  Much harder to work one of these babies!

.

And we got to see the special exhibit of the Dieselettes - the world's oldest amateur softball team.  They started as the Caterpillar Girl's in 1936, and though they went through a few name changes in their years, they didn't let it affect their winning streak.  

We oohed and aaahed over the Caterpillar sponsored NASCAR race car.

And then we got really hands (and feet) on.  We climbed in the cabs, we handled the controls and we played on the simulators.

We tried to snap a picture of the whole crew...in a bucket nonetheless...

But some of us wanted nothing to do with it after about 2 seconds...

And of course, we posed for a picture in front of the biggest of the trucks...

Finally, they had seen and touched it all.  We were ready to call it an afternoon - but first we had to stop by the gift shop for a few pink souvenirs.

Once home, the girls got some energy out and got in some final play time.  

 I wish we would have had time to see some of my old friends while in town but because we still had to get to Milwaukee for two family parties, time was very limited. Next time, for sure.