PIR for Dummies
My daughter graduated RTC on October 16. This is my version of PIR and hopefully it will act to help guide those of you that are coming to their first PIR. Sorry for spelling errors
Transportation:
Airfare
....book early. Airfare from Calif to Chicago cost me $216 round trip by booking 6 weeks in advance. If she had delayed graduation I would have been assessed a $125 change penalty but that was well worth it. The same airfare two days before her graduation was $706 r/t. Use Expedia or some similiar source to help you find airfare bargains.
Having grown up in NYC, I originally intened to take public transportation to Great Lakes from O Hare. I though Metra would be a fun way to travel. I booked a red eye at 1:30am leaving Ca and got in Chcago at 1030am. I figured I would have the whole day to travel. What I found out is the Metra system, while cheap, is a long haul and with transfers would have gotten me into Great Lakes about 400pm that day. Also cab would have run $75-100 each trip from the RTC to O Hare. Since she was Grad and Go, I did not find out until the day of graduation what airport she was flying out of. A shuttle from RTC to Ohare would run about $50 one way. You can split this but the bottom line is a car rental from Enterprise ran me $28 a day for three days. A bargain considering the mobility. Get a car by all means.
When traveling on the toll roads most of the lanes are for I-Pass, a local electronic toll system. If you get in an I-pass lane by accident, you will get a violation in a couple of weeks by mail. Stay in your far right hand lanes when approaching toll plazas. Carry lots of quarters and nickels with you (some toll are $.80)
Drive by the RTC gates and see the area so you know the roads a little. If you are Grad and Go, like my daughter was., they will leave around 100pm on PIR day to go the the airport they have been told about the day before. You will get to spend about 1 to 1.5 hours before they have to go back and get ready. Once you know the airport you can get there and get a visitors gate pass from the airline the sailors check in at. (This was true for Midway..not sure about O Hare) I got to spend 5 hours with her at the airport so it was worth the trip to Great Lakes. Anyhow back to parking. Two statements. Unless you are Grad and GO...do not drive to the RTC. You will wait on line for a long time to get in and get out. If you leave your car at the Hotel and take a shuttle from the hotel ($3 for PIR), you will be on base in 15 minutes. Getting back is just as fast and easy, your shuttle driver will tell you when and where to meet. Take your sailor back to the hotel and then get your car.
If you are Grad and Go, take your car to the RTC the night before PIR, call hotel shuttle company and ask them to pick you up at the Metra Station by the RTC in a half hour. Drive to the RTC, the gate will be on your right for the RTC. Go about 150 feet further, the road will go downhill slightly, make a right hand turn at the light (Ohio ) and this will take you into the Metra station parking lot. For $2.00 you can park overnight in the designated overnight spaces. Put the money (use quarters) in the box at the beginning of the lot. Wait for your cab and go back to the hotel. If you want go back down the road and make a right under the tunnel and then turn right up the path to the Metra ticket office. There are usaully cabs waiting here but if you don't want to chance it, just precall a cab like I suggested. A cab ride from RTC Metra to the Residence Inn was about $10 and well worth it. Next day your car is close by and you can walk out the RTC gate and your car is about 300 feet away and you missed all the base traffic. Kill about an hour on base at the NEX and the traffic really dies down. Graduation ends at 1030 and I left base about 1200..
Hotels
Lots of good hotels but the Residence Inn by Marriot in Waukegan was the best for me. The least expensive close hotel is the Navy Lodge at $65 a night.The Resdience Inn has a real home atmosphere with a sofa , desk and kitchen and is perfect to sit with your sailor and spend some quality relaxed time. You can get cheap food across at Super Walmart on Waukegan Road to stock up you fridge for your family. $89 a night on top of great accomodations.They have the best Graduation Info Packet for PIR I have seen of any hotel in the area.
PIR
If you get the on the 630 shuttle, you will spend a lot of time sitting so be prepared. On the other hand you will have your chaoice of seats. Balcony seating is tough for pictures because you can stand up and the railing may block your camera view. The floor seating is good but your division will stand about one division to the right of where you are seated. There are no bad seats but light in the hall is bad for cameras so plan on buying pictures and enjoy the show.The NEX will have a Division photo taken that morning of PIR for $8 for an 8 x 10 It is a life changing experince you will never forget.
No pictures outside the the PIR hall. You could lose your camera to security. Take all your sailor pics back at the hotel or inside the PIR hall.
THINGS TO DO
Go to the Navy Pier and ShorelineSighting Cruises Architectural Tour of Chicago. Cool boat tour
http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/
Also go to Millennium Park in Chicago. Unreal architecture and sights
www.millenniumpark.org
Go to the Gurnee Mall. Lots of outlet stores
Sorry...did not eat out so cannot help you thert although the Residence Inn has a massive list of nearby places to eat in the PIR handout.
Just one persons experience but I hope it helps.
Transportation:
Airfare
....book early. Airfare from Calif to Chicago cost me $216 round trip by booking 6 weeks in advance. If she had delayed graduation I would have been assessed a $125 change penalty but that was well worth it. The same airfare two days before her graduation was $706 r/t. Use Expedia or some similiar source to help you find airfare bargains.
Having grown up in NYC, I originally intened to take public transportation to Great Lakes from O Hare. I though Metra would be a fun way to travel. I booked a red eye at 1:30am leaving Ca and got in Chcago at 1030am. I figured I would have the whole day to travel. What I found out is the Metra system, while cheap, is a long haul and with transfers would have gotten me into Great Lakes about 400pm that day. Also cab would have run $75-100 each trip from the RTC to O Hare. Since she was Grad and Go, I did not find out until the day of graduation what airport she was flying out of. A shuttle from RTC to Ohare would run about $50 one way. You can split this but the bottom line is a car rental from Enterprise ran me $28 a day for three days. A bargain considering the mobility. Get a car by all means.
When traveling on the toll roads most of the lanes are for I-Pass, a local electronic toll system. If you get in an I-pass lane by accident, you will get a violation in a couple of weeks by mail. Stay in your far right hand lanes when approaching toll plazas. Carry lots of quarters and nickels with you (some toll are $.80)
Drive by the RTC gates and see the area so you know the roads a little. If you are Grad and Go, like my daughter was., they will leave around 100pm on PIR day to go the the airport they have been told about the day before. You will get to spend about 1 to 1.5 hours before they have to go back and get ready. Once you know the airport you can get there and get a visitors gate pass from the airline the sailors check in at. (This was true for Midway..not sure about O Hare) I got to spend 5 hours with her at the airport so it was worth the trip to Great Lakes. Anyhow back to parking. Two statements. Unless you are Grad and GO...do not drive to the RTC. You will wait on line for a long time to get in and get out. If you leave your car at the Hotel and take a shuttle from the hotel ($3 for PIR), you will be on base in 15 minutes. Getting back is just as fast and easy, your shuttle driver will tell you when and where to meet. Take your sailor back to the hotel and then get your car.
If you are Grad and Go, take your car to the RTC the night before PIR, call hotel shuttle company and ask them to pick you up at the Metra Station by the RTC in a half hour. Drive to the RTC, the gate will be on your right for the RTC. Go about 150 feet further, the road will go downhill slightly, make a right hand turn at the light (Ohio ) and this will take you into the Metra station parking lot. For $2.00 you can park overnight in the designated overnight spaces. Put the money (use quarters) in the box at the beginning of the lot. Wait for your cab and go back to the hotel. If you want go back down the road and make a right under the tunnel and then turn right up the path to the Metra ticket office. There are usaully cabs waiting here but if you don't want to chance it, just precall a cab like I suggested. A cab ride from RTC Metra to the Residence Inn was about $10 and well worth it. Next day your car is close by and you can walk out the RTC gate and your car is about 300 feet away and you missed all the base traffic. Kill about an hour on base at the NEX and the traffic really dies down. Graduation ends at 1030 and I left base about 1200..
Hotels
Lots of good hotels but the Residence Inn by Marriot in Waukegan was the best for me. The least expensive close hotel is the Navy Lodge at $65 a night.The Resdience Inn has a real home atmosphere with a sofa , desk and kitchen and is perfect to sit with your sailor and spend some quality relaxed time. You can get cheap food across at Super Walmart on Waukegan Road to stock up you fridge for your family. $89 a night on top of great accomodations.They have the best Graduation Info Packet for PIR I have seen of any hotel in the area.
PIR
If you get the on the 630 shuttle, you will spend a lot of time sitting so be prepared. On the other hand you will have your chaoice of seats. Balcony seating is tough for pictures because you can stand up and the railing may block your camera view. The floor seating is good but your division will stand about one division to the right of where you are seated. There are no bad seats but light in the hall is bad for cameras so plan on buying pictures and enjoy the show.The NEX will have a Division photo taken that morning of PIR for $8 for an 8 x 10 It is a life changing experince you will never forget.
No pictures outside the the PIR hall. You could lose your camera to security. Take all your sailor pics back at the hotel or inside the PIR hall.
THINGS TO DO
Go to the Navy Pier and ShorelineSighting Cruises Architectural Tour of Chicago. Cool boat tour
http://www.shorelinesightseeing.com/
Also go to Millennium Park in Chicago. Unreal architecture and sights
www.millenniumpark.org
Go to the Gurnee Mall. Lots of outlet stores
Sorry...did not eat out so cannot help you thert although the Residence Inn has a massive list of nearby places to eat in the PIR handout.
Just one persons experience but I hope it helps.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by elidia on -
I've already made my air, hotel and car reservations for PIR 12/18 - I'm hoping it wasn't too soon. Does anyone have any information on the Ramada - is it safe and the distance from base? I'm not sure if I should drive to base from the hotel or take the shuttle My son is in Ship 06, Div 905. Anyone else have a family member in this division?
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Permalink Reply by elidia on
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HI everyone. My son's PIR is 12/18. I've already made my reservations - air, hotel and car and I'm praying it wasn't too soon. I'm staying at the Ramada - does anyone have any information on this hotel - safety, closeness to the base? I also don't know if I should drive to base or take the shuttle. I appreciate any information you may have. I'm new to this site. My son is in Ship 06, Div 905.
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Permalink Reply by mbville on -
Of those I met that stayed at the Ramada they were happy. We went there Thursday evening for the Meet & Greet. My teenagers met another teenager and they all played darts and pool. All this while I "worked the room" to find other families with a sailor in the same division. And it is close to base!
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Permalink Reply by elidia on
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That's great. I feel much better. I hear conflicting info about taking the shuttle and driving. I would prefer to drive, but would hate to be in a traffic jam or in line to get on base for an hour. What do you think would be better?
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Permalink Reply by KaylaLynne on -
i live in Il close to the base will i be able to drive and park at the base for graduation??
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Permalink Reply by pepper5 on -
My son graduated Nov 13 and it was awesome. As long as you have your gate pass you can park on base in a designated parking lot that is between the chapel and where they process you through. You need to keep the pass the whole weekend if you will be taking them back and forth.
Heres my 2 cents. We drove from Texas, yes long trip but well worth it. We stayed at the La Quinta in Gurnee which was very nice (stayed at one in Oklahoma on the way back not nice at all). Anyway the La Quinta in Gurnee has an IHOP, Outback and Olive Garden next to it. There is a Starbucks across the street and Gurnee Mills Mall with fantastic outlet and brand name stores just down the road. I would of chosen Residence Inn but they were booked and I picked this one so in case the weather got icy we could just walk across the parking lot. We had the Executive King Room which has pull out sofa bed, chaise lounge,desk, and computer connections. It took about 20 minutes to get to base and what has been said before is true, when you get on Buckley the right lane ends and that causes the most traffic problem with people trying to get in the correct lane.
They move you along pretty fast. Just have your gate pass in the dash where the guards can easily view it and have everyone's id ready to hand to the driver of your vehicle to hand to the guards. You will be directed where to park. Then you walk to the security building and stand in line to wait your turn. You will be outside for a little bit so dress for the weather and enjoy the view coz you will see recruits marching. They only allow 4 people for each recruit however we had an extra person and she was able to wait in the processing bldg with other "extra people" until everyone has been processed then they let the extra's in as long as there was room. Again this went pretty fast.
In the Hall where the ceremony takes place they have it marked for each division and you sit kind of at an angle to your division. They also show everything on screens so even if you are at the opposite end you can see whats going on. The bleachers are pretty narrow and kind of hard to keep your knees from bumping people in front of you. If I did it over again I would get the top bleacher coz you can stand up without blocking anyones view and have a wall for a back rest but those spots were filled.
Something I haven't seen mentioned here is, some of the recruits passed out! I kept wondering why this one person in uniform (sorry I don't know what rank or title they are) kept walking up and down the rows of sailors and it looked like he was whispering to each one over and over. He/She is asking each one if they are okay. I counted 8 passing out. Only one actually went to the floor and he basically sat down, the others were caught each time and assisted out of the hall. My son later said they were told not to lock their knees plus I'm sure they were all exhausted.
You can hug your sailor in the hall as much as you want to once the ceremony is over ( or at least a lot of us did). They will stop you from taking any pictures outside of the hall. No one shouted inappropriately during the ceremony at least within my earshot. They each have different times to report back to base, our son had to be back by 9 fri nite so we had him back by 8, by 7 sat nite and we had him back by 6 but spent some time at the NEX and he was able to walk back to his Ship by 6:30 and then by 9 on Sun so he was back by 8.
They were in their dress blues for the ceremony and then during the weekend our son wore his work uniform which is the brown or tan shirt and dark pants and others wore their dress blues.
Those toll roads, we went a different way on the way up there but on the way back we used I-94 and I-294 and apparently even though I had read about them before going up we managed to miss paying tolls and I went online to do it but they look like off ramps when you are driving so we thought they were similar to the ones in Oklahoma where you pay when you exit off. Nope. So when it says get in your far right lane it means way far right lane that looks like an off ramp. They are only 30 cents to 80 cents but if you don't pay within 7 days they add 20 dollars or more. If you are renting a car its well worth it to pay for the IPASS.
Our son wasn't a zombie except for when we were getting ready to order he couldn't make a choice about what to eat, after that he was fine.
If you need to take your sailor to get contacts/glasses we took ours to VisionMart in Gurnee Mills Mall, they were great but they cannot use the prescription given at boot camp so they will have to have another eye exam.
As others have said when you go back to pick up your sailor in the morning you will park in the same parking area as you did for PIR, try and get there a little bit earlier and park closer to the chapel end. You will be able to watch and hear your sailor's division march up to the chapel and liberty called.
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Permalink Reply by Navy Aunt (AF Wife) -
My husband and I advised our nephew not to lock his knees and explained why. I gave him some advice from his Grandpa. My Dad told me that when he was in basic training he would wiggle his toes so his legs would not fall asleep while standing at attention. He said it also helped him not to lock his knees. No one was the wiser that he was doing this because you couldn't tell with their boots/shoes on. I think it meant a lot to my nephew because my Dad passed away several years ago and it was like he was there for support. Hopefully on PIR day (01-08-10) he will remember this tip.
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Permalink Reply by pollychick495 on
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thank you My daughters graduation is Dec.30. all help is greatly appreciated.
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Permalink Reply by mrswilli6 on -
My son leaves for boot camp Dec.7. We expect him to graduate in feb. any body have a graduation in the winter? Any advise on how to deal with traffic with snow? California Family. need all the help we can get.
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Permalink Reply by Cindy on -
Most of your travel will be on highways that are cleared of snow and ice quite thoroughly. Also, once you approach Chicago, it is pretty slow moving traffic. If you hit a slippery patch, whatever you do, do not slam on your brakes. You will need to have coats because it's cold in February. Chicago is a really cool city during any season - lots to do and see. Best wishes to you and your son. Seeing him at PIR will likely be the most awesome thing you've ever experienced. Blessings to you and your family!
Cindy from Michigan
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Permalink Reply by Sue, Nate's Mom -
Our PIR was 11/13.....best advice, GET THERE EARLY.....we left hotel at 7:10 by shuttle bus (3.00 per person) from the Residence Inn by Marriot, and until we were processed we had to find limited seats half way up the lower bleachers. Lines did move swiftly however, but most of it is standing outside, so be sure to dress warm. The drill hall was also a bit cold, as was sitting on metal bleachers. If you want to purchase Navy items in the NEX, the one at the visitors center is MOBBED after graduation. However there you can get graduation day division pics taken during graduation, you can order your DVDs, and get the Division Tshirts. For other items, and the ability to browse at your leisure, take your sailor to the NEX in Burkey Plaza on Greenbay road, not too far from the gate where you entered RTC. It is not crowded and much more relaxed and is much like a Walmart with everything you could imagine including designer stuff that can be purchased tax free if your sailor is with you. I believe the grad packet the sailors get also has a 10% off coupon.....my sailor forgot to bring it along. It is a great day....enjoy it to the fullest!!!!
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Permalink Reply by kfalco -
We'll be going to PIR on 12/18/09 and I'm wondering if there is anything for people with medical concerns so they're not standing/waiting for a long time. My dad will be there and had knee replacement surgery (several times) and also has congestive heart failure. I don't mind waiting in lines but I'm getting a bit worried about him after reading how long the wait can be before you get in the hall for graduation.
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