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Published: July 26th 2009
Truck is full!
It's amazing how everything packed always takes exactly space needed... It’s 10 a.m. and Sophie (the traveling blog dog) and I are in a dog park in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Very nice—at least 25 dogs all running around here off-leash. She certainly earned it after the all-night drive from Chicago on day two of our Chicago to Salt Lake City trek…she also earned the remains of my breakfast at a diner here (veggie omelet: $7.99; coffee $1.99)
It was bittersweet leaving Chicago—sweet to leave the city and bitter that it takes so much to get out of town; the traffic was terrible all the way from Bronzeville (our base), through the city and out past O’Hare. It continued onto the tollway, where they managed to both get money outta' me and hold me back/slow me down. In a city continueously moving toward “nickel and diming” its citizens, I guess I could view this as a “relaxation tax.”
The packing took four hours, from 1 p.m. to 5:20—I hope I packed everything—there’s nothing that I can remember that I missed. I guess I will miss what Jennifer and I are calling the “crazy lady,” a women on
Chicago condo view
Starting point for trip... the next block who screams, “Hallelujah” at all hours of the day and night. She might actually be bi-polar, or in a tug-of-war between God and the Devil, as she blasts religious sermons out of her 2nd floor window in the morning, and down-and-dirty blues tunes at night…I wonder which side will ultimately prevail?
Gassing up on the oasis tollway ($2.58), I rejoined the traffic and finally made it through Rockford, IL. at 7:45 p.m. Rockford, home of Cheap Trick, is a small/mid-sized town. I’ve seen the band on their 20th (30th?) anniversary concert there, where Billy Corrigan from the Smashing Pumpkins joined them onstage. Also, in the 20th row, I sat next to Bun E. Carlos’ brother. During the song “Surrender,” the Kiss records tossed out by Rick Nielson was caught by him.
The state park, Rock Cut, is over 4000 acres and very pleasant (although, the din of the Hwy 90 is a constant sound). I've stayed there at least 5 times; it's a nice park that is an option to camp at (and only technically 2 hours' time from Chicago).
North of Rockford, I finally felt free, as the tollroads and construction
"Relaxation tax"
2.5 hours to go 90 miles were quite restraining and slow-moving. In fact, there’s been extensive construction on 90, consisting of many miles of 1-lane roads (requiring deeper concentration).
As darkness approached, I drove up through Wisconsin, past Madison (a quaint, hip college town and state capital). Jennifer and I have visited before and have ridden our bikes around the smaller of the scenic lakes that help define the town. Also located near Madison is Baraboo, a “tourist/circus-type” town, complete with a casino and Devils Lake State Park (home for the past 3 years of my friend J.T. and mine’s “winter camping trip,” where we camp in our tents. The lowest temperature of the three years was 8 degrees). By the third year, we had “figured it out,” and were toasty, toasty warm after a long day of skiing at Cascade Mountain (the trick, as it turns out, is to place a tarp over the tent’s rain fly. This extra layer keeps all the heat in).
One driving error—I accidently missed the 90/94 split near Lacrosse (the border between Wisconsin and Minn.). The round trip mistake cost me 25 minutes and 9 miles, and I had some choice curse words in the
In traffic...
Self-portrait, in car cab of the truck. My mind had wandered, as is often the case on long drives. I was remembering (and singing) a “playground song” from my youth: “There’s a genie on my weenie, knock it off. There’s a genie on my weenie, knock it off. There’s a dozen on my cousin, can’t you hear them suckers buzzing, there’s a genie on my weenie, knock it off.” I think that there’s another version of the song as well, that has something to do with mosquitoes (thus, the “buzzin',”) but, in either case, I was thinking that it’s quite odd to ask others to take care of the problem.
The second error was a “gas miscalculation,” which forced a dido into Winona, Minn., and adding an extra 25 miles of less-than-55 driving. It’s certainly true that late-night in Minn. and South Dakota that there’s no gas available. Well…there is gas; it’s just buried in the tanks 20 feet underground of closed service stations…
I crashed out in a rest stop 80 miles from the South Dakota line, spooning Sophie while covered in her sleeping bag. It was a 2.5 tank night, but I’d rather try to make it
out west into new territory rather than cover my 3-5 times a year visit into Wisconsin to camp.
Random stats and figures:
Lowest gas price: Sioux Falls, S.D.: $2.29 (gas is also cheap in Minn.)
Worst “Billboard Sign Pun”: From a bovine ranch: AGS Bovines: Beefin’ up the gene pool.
Laws broken on drive: 5
Number of cops seen: 5
Accidents seen: 2 (fender-benders)
Dave’s physical ailments: itchy left finger, sore sole on right foot, rug burn on left elbow
In a nod to McSweeny’s humor magazine (formed by the great Dave Eggers), here’s
Dave’s snappy comments delivered with a various degrees of bemusement to Illinois Tollbooth workers: “No, thank
you” “I dropped my eraser back there”
“Can I get a receipt for tax purposes?”
“Do you take half cents?”
“My money is sticky—is that okay?”
“That was the ride of my life!”
Future blog entires, after I experience them (today’s itinerary): Corn Palace, Wall Drug, Grasslands camping.
Stay tuned for more, and thanks for reading…
Sophie and Dave
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jtb
non-member comment
sticky money
You look more relaxed now that you're on the road. The other trick to warm winter camping is an air mattress to keep bodies off the frozen ground.