Every summer as a kid my parents packed up the van and drove cross-country back to their hometown in the middle of nowhere, Illinois. Most kids look forward to summer vacation from school, but not me, because I knew the entire vacation would be spent on a decrepit old farm, with no friends and nothing to do. I think it’s funny all these years laters that I made the decision to move to Illinois permanently, albeit not out in the middle of nowhere. I did a lot of research, and decided that Orland Park was the perfect place to raise a family. It’s close to Chicago, but not TOO close, because we all know how much trouble there is in the Windy City. Orland Park is the perfect middle ground between a small town and a big city, with a lot to do, but still the quiet pace and friendly folks you like to surround yourself with. One of the things I really like about Orland Park is that it stays so temperate as compared to the rest of the state, I don’t need to use my central HVAC system as much as other people do. The winters can be rough, this is still Illinois after all, but the placement of Orland Park gives us some natural protection from wind, which carries over the snow drifts of the winters. I have a heater that I need to use regularly for two or three months a year, but otherwise I hardly touch my thermostat at all. Check out the website for Orland Park for weather forecasts.