On the road

Tuesday 20 July

Tony and Aileen took me back to the airport to pick up my rental car and we said our farewells - such great hosts and I had a great time with them despite it not exactly going to plan...

So I set off in a green Chevrolet Cobalt for Chicago. It was quite a small car but comfortable and it had cruise control which made the drive nice and easy. The drive through Iowa passed through miles and miles of rolling farmland - not unlike rural England as it was all very lush and green. I came off the Interstate and drove through Iowa City which is a very pleasant small town. A few miles further on and I crossed the mighty Mississippi into Illinois. Even at this point the river is huge, bearing in mind it has a thousand miles or so to go before it reaches the Gulf of Mexico.

Illinois was a bit flatter than Iowa and the road to Chicago was a toll road. Irritatingly, instead of collecting the toll (about $5) all in one go, there was a series of tollbooths collecting small amounts so I had to keep rooting around to find change.

Eventually the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower) loomed up ahead and I arrived in Chicago. I checked into the Travelodge (a bit faded but clean and comfortable) and left the car at the rental location.

Lake Michigan, Chicago

The hotel is about 10 minutes' walk from Grant Park (where Obama made his victory speech on election night in 2008) so I wandered down there and through to the lakeside. It was remarkably tranquil and hard to imagine that this enormous expanse or water (Lake Michigan) was just a lake. It's about 100 miles to the other side.

I wandered down to the Field Museum and then back through the park and up S State Street to the Thai restaurant attached to the hotel.

Looking forward to exploring more over the next few days.