Day 1
Well, I'm finally getting around to writing about the trip more than a week after the fact. Oh well, better late than never, right?
After a night of wet eyes and little sleep, Lauren and I got up around 6:45 EST. First on the to-do list was saying goodbye to my mother. She prayed for us, and then she left for church. We finished packing up and my brother helped us load the car. We said goodbye, and headed off for destination 1: Chicago, Illinois.
The trip began with damp eyes, but before long we settled into our driving groove with music and conversation. A carwash followed by a rain shower brought us into view of the Chicago skyline around 6pm central time with the typical road silliness. The laughter turned to fear as we realized we were nearly out of gas in the rush hour and still a few miles from our hotel.
Safely we made it to a slightly disappointing hotel room, and shortly aftter we were on our way to the train station to head towards downtown for some eats. Our stomachs echoed with groans as we walked around trying to find an open eatery on a sunday evening. Venturing into Greek Town, we nearly resigned to expensive Greek cuisine before spotting a pizzaria. Giordano's Pizza was the best I've tasted: an inch and a half of crust, cheese, pepperoni, and sauce.
We took our time finishing before heading back towards the train station to wait for the next train. While in the vomit-stained waiting room, we made pleasant conversation with Jeff, the Jim Carrey look-alike with stories about a recent camping trip that afforded him a snake-wrestling opportunity.
Finally, we caught our train back to the hotel, and settled in for a restfull sleep before heading to Nebraska on the following morning.
Stats:
Depart Belmont, NY @ 9:00AM EST
Arrive Elmhurst, Il. @ 6:30PM CST
Travel Time: 10 hours 30 minutes
Miles traveled: 590
Fuel: 23.83 gallons, $44.69
MPG: 24.76
Average PPG: $1.88
Average MPH: 56.19
Playlist:
John Mayer - Room For Squares
The Normals - Better Than This
The Juliana Theory - Emotion Is Dead
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Pillar of Salt
Jason Mraz - Live (at Java Joe's)
Jason Mraz - 7.25.03 Bakersfield, CA
After a night of wet eyes and little sleep, Lauren and I got up around 6:45 EST. First on the to-do list was saying goodbye to my mother. She prayed for us, and then she left for church. We finished packing up and my brother helped us load the car. We said goodbye, and headed off for destination 1: Chicago, Illinois.
The trip began with damp eyes, but before long we settled into our driving groove with music and conversation. A carwash followed by a rain shower brought us into view of the Chicago skyline around 6pm central time with the typical road silliness. The laughter turned to fear as we realized we were nearly out of gas in the rush hour and still a few miles from our hotel.
Safely we made it to a slightly disappointing hotel room, and shortly aftter we were on our way to the train station to head towards downtown for some eats. Our stomachs echoed with groans as we walked around trying to find an open eatery on a sunday evening. Venturing into Greek Town, we nearly resigned to expensive Greek cuisine before spotting a pizzaria. Giordano's Pizza was the best I've tasted: an inch and a half of crust, cheese, pepperoni, and sauce.
We took our time finishing before heading back towards the train station to wait for the next train. While in the vomit-stained waiting room, we made pleasant conversation with Jeff, the Jim Carrey look-alike with stories about a recent camping trip that afforded him a snake-wrestling opportunity.
Finally, we caught our train back to the hotel, and settled in for a restfull sleep before heading to Nebraska on the following morning.
Stats:
Depart Belmont, NY @ 9:00AM EST
Arrive Elmhurst, Il. @ 6:30PM CST
Travel Time: 10 hours 30 minutes
Miles traveled: 590
Fuel: 23.83 gallons, $44.69
MPG: 24.76
Average PPG: $1.88
Average MPH: 56.19
Playlist:
John Mayer - Room For Squares
The Normals - Better Than This
The Juliana Theory - Emotion Is Dead
U2 - The Joshua Tree
Pillar of Salt
Jason Mraz - Live (at Java Joe's)
Jason Mraz - 7.25.03 Bakersfield, CA