Chi-town

We're here, in Chicago, at Becky's. It was a long, cold drive from Maine....

On the road again (cue Willy Nelson)... we've noticed a big difference in drivers in the eastern states we visited. Pennsylvania drivers tend to be fairly considerate; Massachusetts and New York drivers are a lot more aggressive. When they pass, they cut right back in front of you, forcing you to step on your brakes (thus stopping the cruise control and making Bob curse). At first, we thought maybe it was just one or two people, but nooooooo, it appears to be ALL New York drivers.

We noticed a LOT more trucks on the highways the farther west we went. Almost no trucks in Maine and Massachusetts - maybe they're closer to the suppliers? Or maybe things are shipped via rail??? At any rate, a ton of trucks on the roads in Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

We're getting lousy gas mileage on this leg of the trip. We did great on the way East, but now, westward, it's horrible. They add ethanol to their gasoline here, and we're wondering if that's the cause. We also bought new tires in Maine and had them filled with Nitrogen, so we're wondering if that's an issue.

In Indiana, the highway department is using their cones to great advantage, even though it's really no longer cone season. We're thinking that the old Beach Boys could've written a good song about it - "The Cones of Summer." And speaking of cones, we hereby hand out the Nelson's "Most Creative Use of Cones" to the state of Illinois at the Chicago Skyway, where the lovely orange cones direct traffic (in one lane) first to the left, then to the right, then back to the left, then back to center - all without any evidence of people actually working - just before you drive on to a very high bridge....way to go, Illinois!

Now, to complain a little about Illinois - they need to learn a lesson from their neighbor, Indiana. When they have a tollway, how about they give you a ticket when you enter the tollway, and then charge when you leave? Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York and INdiana all do this - works great. No slow downs. But Illinois? Nope. They stop all drivers every couple of miles so that they can charge you another $2.85.

A note from our night near Buffalo: If you are ever in that neck of the woods and are hungry for steak, go to Curly's in Lackawanna, NY. Fantastic steaks!

And now, we're in Chicago....It rained all the way here, and continued all day yesterday - Bob told me that it was just a quick walk to the Chicago Home Depot - he lied. (and it was raining, and windy)

Anyway, here we are, visiting more kids.....I've already posted wonderful pictures of these 2 beautiful grandbabies, so I'll cease and desist already.

We'll have an early birthday dinner with Becky (her birthday is November 1), and then we'll be back on the road again to Mitchell, SD, next Tuesday.