My Kind of Town, Chicago is(n't)

I'm behind a day because of my lack of a reliable internet connection, so this is my second post today because the other one was for yesterday.

In Chicago I bought The Milepost which will be really helpful for the Canadian leg of my journey. It's got information similar to the research I've been doing anyways, but it's organized well and has a ton more info than I'd ever be able to gather.

While I was getting my oil changed at home, I was talking to one of the mechanics and another customer. The other customer told us that in some sort of article or something Mass was rated as having some of the best roads in the country. We all laughed in disbelief of course. Since this trip I'm starting to believe the claim. The roads in Chicago are horrible!! the pavement is really rough, poorly patched, potholed and full of trash EVERYWHERE! I realize it's right after winter, the worst time for roads, but you can tell these roads haven't seen fresh pavement in years. That was given away by the many crumbling patch jobs of different ages. I wonder what the flat tire prevalence is around here. It's probably astronomical.

I'm staying in Forest Park, IL, which is just outside of the city, so I've been doing a lot of cruising around the Chicago suburbs these past few days. Very interesting landscape. It's weird because you'll be in a really nice area and a block later you're in a horrible one. There seem to be pockets of wealth.

I've heard people say on many occasions that Boston is a comparatively rude city, hence the term Masshole. I'm going to have to officially disagree. I've been in Chicago for a few days and haven't come across many nice people. I consistently hold doors for people, say thank you and try to just be pleasant to strangers. I've found my pleasantness goes largely ignored. I've had more people ignore that I held the door for them, walk into a building in front of me and practically slam the door in my face, and ignore me when I say thank you (more than one person has just stared at me blankly when I said thank you, like I was nuts or something) than I ever have anywhere else. I don't get it. I'm going to assume that I've just come into contact with jerks while here by chance.

I realize this post makes it seem like I don't like Chicago, but I do. The lack of nice strangers and abundance of crappy roads isn't dictating the time I'm having here at all. Why should it?

Family Stuff

For the record, I hate goodbyes. I'm also weird about missing people because I usually don't. I just don't think about it. I'm always happy and excited to see people when I can, but if I can't see them I'm never really broken up about it. That's probably one of the reasons I don't like goodbyes.

I sort of disappeared when I left. Everyone knew roughly when I was leaving, but not exactly when. I wasn't sure, either, but even if I did know I probably wouldn't have been vocal about it anyways. So, for anyone left wondering if I've left. . . yup, I have.

MOM
I was able to stop at a rest area in New York that had Wi-Fi so I could get on the internet. My laptop was low on power, but I decided to stop anyways and send a quick email. The reply I got back made me laugh. It was just perfect. I included a picture of it to the right:




ERICA (Lilly/Tyler)
the day after I leave, of course Lilly starts crawling. She's been doing the backwards crawl for a bit now, so we've known it's coming for a while. The bad news is that her hysterical chubby thighs will start to dwindle. It stinks I missed it, but I've definitely got to get over that one because I'm going to be missing a lot more than that. She'll be a year old when I get home and will have taken leaps and bounds in her development by then. I didn't have much of a hard time with goodbyes in general like I said, but leaving the niece and nephew was the hardest. I know they're young enough that I'll miss a lot. Tyler is old enough to probably notice I'm not around, but not old enough to understand why. Lilly may just be too young so that when I come back she may not know me. I'll just give her candy all the time when I get back so she likes me again. Sorry in advance, Erica.

LeahTard (Sagan/Elton)
I'm just praying the cats don't freak out while I'm gone. They've been used to my presence since October when they were 6 weeks old. For Leah's sanity I hope they don't go crazy, because cats can do some demented things when they're upset. I've heard of a cat being mad about some sort of similar routine upset that decided to go to the bathroom on their owners bed. . . while they were in it. Let's hope. I do miss those little buggers already, though.

DAD
Thank GOODNESS he gave me a GPS unit and thank GOODNESS I finally learned how to use it. I find those take a bit to get used to. More than just the menus etc., you need to learn how to take directions from it. Luckily I was on 90 the entire way here so I had time to learn it a little without being worried about going the wrong way. I made the thing speak to me in German for the heck of it. I can understand little tiny bits and pieces of German, so I figured I'd get the hang of it and possibly understand more after listening to that German lady for 5000 miles. Everything's a game, you know. When I stopped for the last time before reaching Chicago I changed it back to English because I'd hate to get lost because of one of my silly games. I was delighted to find that the GPS unit has an English accent.

Before I found the setting to control the contrast I couldn't see the screen in daylight. I also didn't yet understand when it wanted me to turn based on it's directions. It says "go right," to warn you of which way you'll be turning, then when you reach the intersection it will say it again to let you know you have to turn there. At first I thought the thing was telling me to take right turn after right turn while I was in Downtown. I spent 20 minutes in downtown Chicago driving in circles around the same few blocks. I'm sure the other drivers were amused by my yelling at the thing, "I JUST WENT RIGHT, I"m NOT GOING RIGHT AGAIN," and "I'M AT A LIGHT, SHUT UP!" (because it told me to go right again). I was pretty spent by that time, so my patience was nonexistent.

I'm in Chicago!

4 energy drinks, 6 bathroom breaks, 4 gas ups and 16 hours later, I'm in Chicago. I left tuesday night at 9pm, so I've been here since yesterday afternoon. I was without internet yesterday, so I'm a little delayed.

I made good time, I like to think because of the nerd chart I made to avoid major cities during rush hour. I was traffic free (even in Chicago) minus some brief light traffic outside of Cleveland. It was just the truckers and me, which was nice. Having the road to yourself is awfully nice and made the driving really easy. Even if I didn't have the road to myself, I wasn't in Massachusetts at that point so people understood the concept of the highway which means I wasn't ever stuck behind any idiots in the passing lane. Despite the ease of owning the road the entire way, I have to admit that I was a little excited when I was driving around in downtown Chicago. You could say that I like a little challenge added to driving. This is why I like city and snow driving. I suppose the reason I didn't hurl myself off a bridge halfway through this too easy drive I had was because there was a challenge - to stay awake!

One of my favorite parts of the drive was a sign I saw about an animal testing area - the wording was strange and I was a little horrified. I understood once I saw a sign that said "ANIMAL PRESENT WHEN FLASHING," and of course it was flashing. Turned out Indiana is testing a new system which places sensors along the highway to warn drivers of animals in the road. The testing didn't seem to be going well. Out of maybe 15 signs (at varying increments anywhere from 1/2 mile to 2 miles apart), two were flashing and I saw Zero animals. Soon people will look at the flashing lights the same as they do those deer crossing signs. I bet the signs are cheaper. . . nevermind.

Bank of America put a hold on my account (fortunately right after I had made a purchase, and not before) due to unusual activity. Happy to see they're looking out for me, though. I had to call them and answer all sorts of questions. what amount was my last deposit, where did I buy my last coffee, what was my total at borders books etc etc. I mixed up most of my answers, giving totals slightly off on all counts. I'm good like that. I was in the ballpark, though. She asked me where I buy gas and I said, "well, let me think for a second. Last night I drove to Chicago from Boston, so I'm thinking I bought gas in MA, NY, Ohio and Indiana. She was instantly relieved because the gas buying was what tipped them off in the first place. Turns out buying gas in 4 states overnight isn't normal. She told me I should give them a call when I plan on doing anything like that in the future. I proceeded to tell her there will be plenty more gas purchases.

I'm planning on staying in Chicago with my friend for a few days. I didn't plan on staying so long because he's usually really busy, but he has some time off for a night out on friday, so I'm staying for that. Why not, right? The last time I was in Chicago I was a kid, so it's neat to see it through adult eyes.

Good Riddance (potential) Backseat Driver!

My car is packed and this whole adventure is finally real to me. Everything is going well, except. . .

Everyone bailed on me (through no fault of their own - Job issues) and I'm going it alone at this point. I almost had a last minute road companion, but that fell through, too. I'm disappointed about that one, but that's another story.
My parents are worried about me being on the road alone for that long, but I'm honestly not worried at all. My mother keeps calling me asking me if I'm still driving. YES, Mom, I'm still driving! I don't know what she expects to change from day to day. Unless a car for me to use in AK magically appears so that I can fly up instead, I'm driving! I've checked and double checked my options and driving makes the most sense for my needs. Parents schmarents.

Driving alone doesn't bother me, in fact I prefer it most of the time. I spent a lot of time alone on the road while I worked at MMR and I developed an appreciation for it. It's nice to only worry about one person's taste in music, bladder and hunger. I'll admit that sometimes the highway is a bit of a racetrack to me, so it's also nice to drive how I will without worrying about the level of fear in the passenger seat. Similarly, it's nice to not have to sit in the passenger seat of my own car, white knuckled, trying not to be a backseat driver. Having one person in the car eliminates any possibility of backseat driving.

Overplanning to Avoid a Strict Driving Schedule/ Interesting Canadian Destinations

I've decided to stay away from a strict schedule with pre-planned nightly stops. I think I'd be opening myself up to too much stress. I'd hate to push myself too hard and drive when I'm too tired just to get to my night destination and I'd hate to have to stop when I still feel like driving just because I've already reached my planned destination. I'm also thinking the amount I'll want to drive in a given day will be heavily influenced by the terrain.

I've started making myself a chart which I've populated with destinations along my route. Each destination is at most a few hours apart so I have the freedom to add or subtract a few hours from my daily drive while still having an idea of where it'll put me in terms of the next days driving. You can see it here, but just remember that I'm still working on it. I honestly don't know why you'd want to look at it, though. It's painfully boring. I'm just a nerd and happen to like lists and charts. A lot of planning is needed to avoid strict schedules, you know.

In my online searches I've actually found a few interesting places in Canada that I'm thinking of stopping.
-Signpost Forest - In 1942 when the Army Corps of Engineers was building what is now the Alaska Highway, a homesick engineer put a sign in the ground with the name of his hometown and the mileage from his location. The tradition caught on and now there are over 50,000 homemade signs and license plates hanging there.  I'll try to hang one for Swampscott while I'm there - too bad I don't have more time to make a quality sign.
-Liard River Hotsprings - Exactly what it sounds like! Natural hot springs in northern British Columbia. They have a lodge there, so I'm going to try to finagle staying there.

If you're ever planning a road trip, I highly recommend this site. It isn't very flashy, but it has really good information.

I can't wait to see what happens when my phone assumes Canadian behavior!

I'm mad at Canada again.

I just realized I can't use my cell phone in Canada. Sort of. In true wireless carrier form, it's complicated. I was able to gather some info, most of which means absolutely nothing to me:

-My phone is enabled to use in other countries, but I might have to switch the frequency?
-I have to activate the international calling feature on my plan, which is somehow dependent on my payment history and the length of time I've been with the carrier.
-My phone will behave like a Canadian phone once I cross the border. If only I knew Canadian phone behavior.
-It's $0.80/minute in addition to my regular rates. Super.
-I may only be able to call the US while roaming in Canada. May? Why aren't they sure?
-I'll only have service for half of the Canadian leg of the journey at best.

The moral of the story: Don't call me while I'm in Canada.

Food

One of my true life loves is food. I have a lot to say about food. Always.

While I'm on the road I'm not going to be doing any five star dining, that's for sure. I'm perfectly okay with that, but I dread almost all fast food. The other day Leah and I were on our way to visit Ian, my cousin, and we were both starving and unsure of the dining plans for the night, or if there even were any. We decided to stop somewhere to get a quick something before we got to his place. After missing a few exits we ended up at Burger King. I pointed at the "chicken fries" on the menu in disbelief - of course we had to get them to figure out what the heck they were.

We found out what they were: disgusting. I figured it'd be breaded and fried chicken cut into strips to resemble fries. I was half right - Only the chicken didn't seem to be cut into that shape, rather, they seemed to be molded into that shape. I took one bite and looked down at the exposed 'chicken' and wondered if I'd be able to take another bite. The best word I can use to describe what I saw is 'sponge,' I suppose. Everything about it was horrible, and I'm going to spare you further details. I will, however, tell you that the container they came in was cupholder-shaped and there was a little pop out on the top where you could insert your dipping sauce. The french fries were in a similarly shaped container, as well. And we wonder why americans are so fat.

I won't even explain how I ended up doing this, but I googled those horrid chicken fries, and what I found was truly hysterical. This is a direct quote from Wikipedia:
" . . .these products are intended to bring in a larger, more affluent adult audience who will be willing to spend more on the better quality products."

There is so much wrong with that statement. So much. If this is what they call quality and if this is what they're using to lure in a more affluent crowd, I don't want to know what they had on their menu before this! I know where I won't be stopping on my journey.