Riding buses in Chicago

Hello All, I should have put something about this topic on here a while ago! I live in South Bend, Indiana, this is nice because the great City Of Chicago is about a 2 hour drive or a 2 1/2 hour or so train ride from here! I like to try & make it to Chicago at least once a year, last year I set a record, I went to Chicago about 5 times, I think that is all. I looked through my photo albums & the dates I went to Chicago were: 1-31-09, 2-28-09, 3-1-09, 9-15-09, & 10-2-09. On the September & October Trips, I did ride on a Flxible Metro each time. About the CTA's fleet, they once had 800 Metros, the number is down to around 275, they were built in 1995 & will soon be retired. When I rode a Flxible on September 15th, 2009, I swear I damn near started to cry, I was so Happy I was able to ride one! Why did I almost cry, Well Because like I said, I grew up riding flxibles in South Bend & Mishawaka, so the Flxibles mean a lot to me! Anyway, I was in Chicago for the Bus Con Expo @ Navy Pier, after leaving there, I took an Orange Line Train to Midway Airport, then went to the bus station, I waited about 20 minutes just to ride a Flxible! I was waiting for one to pull in as a 55 or X 55 garfield bus, of course numerous New Flyers were running those routes, I said I have all the time in the world, to wait & I did! Then a Flxible came, 6303, one of the last ones in the order, the last one being 6329! I was happy, I rode a Flxible to the corner of 55th & Lake Park in the Hyde Park area, ate at a Pot Belly's sub shop, great food, better than SUBWAY! Then I took the South Shore back home. I also rode a Flxible on 10-2-09, I'd have to say that this poor bus was in bad shape, I rode through some pretty rough areas as well, I did not care though! Then hopefully on February 2nd, 2010 I ride one last Flxible, before being retired on or around the 7th.