Day Thirtyfive - Jul 17, 2004

Our morning began at a KOA far enough off of the interstate that we couldn't hear it, which is always a bonus. We climbed back onto the Ohio Turnpike and jetted in the direction of Chicago, which unfortunately lies directly between where we woke up and where we will sleep tonight. Not that Chicago doesn't look like a swell place to visit and spend some time, but we don't intend to this trip. We did our best to look out the side windows on the turnpike and it turns out there are is some very nice farmland scenery, sadly close to a major freeway. There is also a lot of another eastern turnpike phenomenon, the Travel Center. If you create a toll road and charge drivers to get on and off the highway, you can then create little "free" pullouts with one gas station, one fast food restaurant, one convenience store, and one random store. These "Travel Centers" (although the name varies by state) are run by concessionaires and the prices are like airports. We stopped at as many as possible to play along.

Ohio blended into Indiana, which eventually blended into Illinois. The Illinois border (and really Gary, Indiana east of the border), is for all practical purposes East Chicago. We had intended to take the toll road around Chicago, but as soon as we got through the toll booth we could see traffic was backed up to the state line. Being very comfortable with our knowledge of downtown Chicago, we dove off of the turnpike, onto Highway 41 which leads to Lakeshore Drive through the heart of Chicago. It turned out to be a lucky necessity, the drive provided excellent tourist viewing material and wasn't too much of a brain teaser. An hour or so later we broke out the other side of Chicago and crossed into Indiana. We hooked a left on Highway 50 and headed the half hour to our friends Joey and Anissa's. The four of us tought together in Anchorage when we were all new teachers and they eventually moved back to the midwest to be closer to family, taking up residence in Lake Geneva. It is a treat to see them again, and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner off the grill and a nice walk along the shores of Lake Geneva before calling it a very pleasant evening.