Day Twenty

It is REMARKABLE that both Tim and Bex are still alive*, after driving through Chicago today. The fact we weren't shot, car hijacked, mugged, eaten or kidnapped is perhaps even MORE surprising than the apparent dodging of the scabies mite.

So, we leave from sweet little La Crosse, where people with kayaks strapped to their cars are LITERALLY talking to us randomly in petrol stations, and shop-folk are like

"Oooh, hello! Where are you from? DO YOU LIKE WISCONSIN? I so SO hope you have a safe journey" whilst patting me gently on the hand.

We drive the 280 miles to Chicago (very pretty, corn fields and red barns, all VERY nice) and we hit Chi-Town approx 5pm.

I don't know what we were expecting, pitching up to Chicago at rush hour on a Saturday night, with no place to stay and no idea of the geography of the city. But sufficed to say, it wasn't our smartest decision.

After a few hours of dodging bullets and driving away from the glint of the knives*, we decided to GET THE HELL OUT and so drove out to Skokie, where by sheer luck and chance and charm we found a room. The price was good, the location was safe, WHAT COULD BE WRONG WITH IT?

Turns out, nothing at all.

Brilliant. Has a kitchen, and EVERYTHING. It was the last room. Maybe even in all of Chicago*.

So we braved the mean streets one more time, trying to avoid eye contact with the drug dealers and pimps* and took a trip to the food mart, stocked up and holed up in the room.

GOOD TIMES. I finished my book, we had some red wine, it was brilliant. All the more brilliant due to the great appreciation we now have for LIFE after our near death experience.

Tomorrow we go to the ball game.








*slightly embellished for benefit of anecdote

*may not be completely true

*not true


-- Post From My iPhone