Days 37, 38, 39 - Chicago

"Look its simple.  Whatever mileage we put on, we'll take off"

"How?"

"We'll drive home backwards."

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

This is getting posted a little late, but I during my 10+ hour drive to Williamsport today, I did not want to waste any time.  Chicago blew the competition out of the water (not that these cities were ever really intentionally competing for my affection).  The drive in went surprisingly well, especially after my host warned me that GPS units often get confused in Chicago, and we all know how well Siri does under pressure.  After being attacked by a gang of 20 people on crotch rockets on US-55 I made it to Liz's apartment in the Lake Shore East neighborhood of Chicago.  The first view of the city was marred by clouds, so my initial impression was not great but the clouds disappeared as I got into the city and wow was all I could say.

But first, my host.  Liz and I met on the bus on our first day of high school, and after a few days of harassment from her we became friends.  Liz currently lives with her boyfriend Mike whom she met at Jefferson Medical College.  They are both just starting 4th year of residency, Liz in Pathology and Mike in Anesthesiology.  I could not have asked for a better place to stay, as their apartment sits on the 25th floor of a building facing Lake Michigan with Navy Pier on one side and Millenium Park on the other.  Liz and I caught up and then the three of us made our way to Lincoln Park to walk around and check out the free zoo.  Since it was a long day and they both worked the next day we relaxed back at the apartment and enjoyed some deep dish pizza.  I know there is great debate about what style of pizza is better, but I say they are not comparable and should both be equally enjoyed.  My bed was set up against the large window in their living room, and I slept under the lights of the city as if I were back in Canyonlands under the stars.  

The next day Liz and Mike went to work and I was left to wander around the city.  After having a coffee and enjoying the most recent episode of Breaking Bad I headed out into the urban jungle.  This is a complicated city to walk around as there are multiple levels and you can easily find yourself in the underworld very easily.  Naturally I got lost a few times and thought I'd never see the light of day.  Fortunately though I did not become some underground world dweller set on taking over the city (see Dark Knight Rises) and found the river and Navy Pier.  Navy Pier is the tourist district with shops, resturanants, an IMAX and children's museum.  I had lunch at Harry Carays and then bought a ticket for an architecture tour.

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

The architecture tour is apparently the thing to do when visiting Chicago as the river makes for a great way to view the widely spaced apart skyscrapers.  For $30 you get an hour ride on a river boat with a guide pointing out the various buildings and talking about their history.  Having been mostly destroyed in the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, Chicago became the the birthplace of steel-framed buildings and skyscrapers.  The highlight of course was the Willis Tower, formerly the Sears, now the second largest building in the US.  Our tour guide was entertaining, but certainly would have rather had Vince Vaughns character from the Break-Up.  

Next up was stop to check out the "Bean" the giant mirror sculpture in Millennium Park.  This was a very crowded place so I did not even attempt to get a picture without people in it.  Unfortunately my time was cut short by a summer afternoon shower.  In my attempt to get back to Liz and Mikes apartment I again got lost in the underworld.  There was a lady smoking a cigarette down there.  Now if this were Boston, New York or Philly I would not even consider asking for directions but this is the midwest and man was she friendly.  She gave me multiple options to get out including scenic ways vs the quickest.  The lesson here, get over yourselves east coast cities.  

Feeling as though I had seen enough of the city I only had one thing left to do in Chicago and that was go to a baseball game at Wrigley Field.  The benefit of a team being in fourth place in their division is that you can get tickets easily.  I bought some using the MLB app, with the tickets get loaded directly to my passbook and once Liz and Mike got home we headed to the game.  Only Fenway is older than Wrigley by 2 years, and seeing a game in such a landmark was pretty cool.  The game itself was lame and being an old structure there were tons of view obstructions, but either way I can now check that off the list of things every American should do once.

The next morning I woke up early and made the longest day trip without stops of the whole trip, a 700 mile venture along I-80.  Indiana and Ohio are the worst, as they entire drive is toll roads, with multiple tolls.  It ended up costing $25 just to drive on their awful highways.  Speaking of highways, this is just an observation (no judgment) but I noticed that the Blue States speed limits are much lower than the Red States.  One might say because the Red States are freer and another may say because people just want to drive through them as quickly as possible.  Again, no judgment from me.  Many of you may be wondering how it is that I made it home on day 39 but have been referring to this as a 40 day trip the whole time.  Technically the trip did not start until I was in Allentown.  I won't actually be there until the morning of day 41 (so 40 days and 40 nights).  I'll have one last entry then to wrap up this amazing adventure.  As always thanks for sticking around, the blog hit 4000 views yesterday!

Miles: 10,002
States: 25 (PA, MD, WV, VA, TN, NC, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA, OR, ID, MT, WY, CO, KS, MO, IL, IN, OH)
National Parks: 17
Miles Hiked 95 (not including urban hiking)

PS. This is what I came home to and will be doing all day tomorrow.