Chicago

Today was a lot of driving. It started out with unburying the car from 3 inches of snow. We leave Kalamazoo behind headed for Chicago. A quick 2.5 hour drive or nap depending on which seat you're sitting in, we arrive at the Field Museum (also called the Natural History Museum), our only stop. The museum is very educational, with a large collection of exhibits. Not surprisingly, it is very similar to the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. There were even a few items on loan from the Smithsonian on display. I'd have to say the Smithsonian's museum is better, but just by a little bit. The Field museum is huge and could easily take several days to see everything. We view interesting exhibits about the Aztec, Pirates, Dinasaurs and the Lions of Tsavo. If you saw the movie The Ghost and the Darkness with Val Kilmer, the two lions that terrorize the village are at this museum. If you watch the very end of the movie, it mentions this.

After the museum we decide to head out of Chicago. We planned on going to the Sears Tower but the weather was so overcast we couldn't see anything anyways. Staci's getting a little anxious to get back, so we push on to South Dakota. This is a long stretch of freeway through many states, each suprisingly different. Michigan which we already passed through to get to Chicago only stands out in my mind as a snowy place with lots and lots of road kill. I've never seen so much roadkill on one freeway in all my life. From Michigan, we dip into Indiana for a brief few miles. Nothing note worthy happened. Next is Illinois and its crappy tollways on I-90. Without warning a toll booth appears demanding $0.80. Luckily we have exactly that much change in the car so we're on our way until we hit the next toll booth. And there's no chance to get off the freeway to grab some cash because all of the off ramps have toll booths also. After frantically searching the ashtrays in the car and coming up empty, I tell the guy I can't pay the toll. He shakes his head and gives me a pink slip. That's what he called it too. I can pay the toll online within 7 days. He also tells me where an ATM is a few miles down the road. Through Illinois we pass through 4 or 5 toll booths with tolls ranging from 80 cents to a $1.60.

From there we enter Wisconsin, the Cheese State. I see a billboard for, and drag Staci to, a Cheese shop outside of Madison to get some blueberry white cheddar and Elk jerky. Both are good. Besides cheese, I remember the ski mountains. We begin seeing signs for skiing ahead at places called Cascade Mountain and Christmas Mountain. The funny thing is there aren't any mountains around here. We naturally assume they are off in the distance, but oh no. The "mountains" they ski on in Wisconsin are really just hills, and not even good ones at that. Queen Anne hill in Seattle is taller and steeper than the hills we saw. It made for a good laugh.

From Wisconsin's rolling hills we cross the mighty Mississippi River into Minnesota. After a somewhat hilly climb we reach the top of a plateau which we never come down from. It's flat, flat, flat. Lots of farm land with barns, tractors and cows. Very pretty country. The flatness made for a good sunset, until right before the sun went down. Everything that was remotely reflective shined directly into my eyes. Since we were heading towards the sun, there was no way to avoid the blinding light. Eventually it set and I could see the road again.

We make it into South Dakota just after dusk. We are staying outside Sioux Falls on the eastern border of South Dakota and tomorrow will head for Mt. Rushmore near the western border.