Lollapalooza = traffic

We got caught up in the Lollapalooza traffic yesterday afternoon, which added 2 hours to the trip. While we got to Illinois around 2, it was 5;45 before we pulled up in front of Becky's. About 100,000 people arrived in Chicago yesterday evening - and I think we found most of them on I90/94.

While we were in Minnesota yesterday morning, we followed a city-owned car (I think we were in St. Cloud, MN) that had this bumper sticker: "My goal is safety." Huh? First of all, "safety" can't be a goal....by definition, a goal has to have an ending - you have to know that you got to your goal. Second, I'm not at all comfortable riding on a highway with this person.....how do I know where he is on that continuum? Maybe he's just starting out and hasn't made any progress at all toward his goal. One hopes that he's well on his way, but who knows? Very disconcerting.

No good signs or anything to take a picture of in Minnesota, Wisconsin or Illinois. Well, there's corn, of course, but that's just not all that photogenic.

As soon as we hit Wisconsin I missed driving in North Dakota and Montana. In those states trucks (and everyone else, for that matter) know how to drive. One stays on the right EXCEPT TO PASS. I'm not sure what part of that concept misses the folks in Wisconsin and Illinois, but they clearly do not get it. I was going along just fine, passing the trucks, then getting back over in the right lane until I came up on the next truck, then repeating. But in these two midwestern states, I kept getting stuck in the right lane behind the trucks, because some yoyo would pass the truck, BARELY, then sit there in the left lane, so no one else could get over to pass, thus creating long lines of cars in the left lane, and a single truck in the right lane. The truckers in Illinois and Wisconsin also drive the same speed as the cars (often faster) and they don't even make the pretense of staying in the right lane....so, then you've got a long hill, and two trucks, side by side, holding up both lanes of traffic. Staying on cruise control is hard out here in the corn belt!

We are home at Becky's now, with Miles. (He'll be with us through Monday.) He's running around, giggling for all he's worth.....he's pretty happy that his Papa is here! The training wheels are coming off the bike tomorrow. Whoopee!!!

Oh, yes, Naomi chose blue for her cast this time. Shocking pink last December and blue this time. I'll post a picture tomorrow.