Blogs from Chicago, Illinois, United States, North America - page 86

On this leg of the Amazing Race, Christina and Sheryl took off from Durango and drove to Denver. Christina here: Sheryl had so much last-minute work to do, she didn't even go to bed all night. Large coffees were in order. We stopped off at Durango's "Steaming Bean". Sheryl was pleased with their bathroom mural and Eleanor Roosevelt's quote: "Women are like tea. You don't know how strong they are until they get in hot water." We had perfect weather for our drive. Blue skies, snow-capped peaks, bald eagles wheeling circles by the road, cows bunched wherever snow melted and exposed grass--Colorado springtime. Something odd--we saw emergency vehicles everywhere. We were diverted in traffic a couple of times because of accidents in the road. At many small towns on the way, we had to move over ... read more

Leah passed this website along to me, and I think it will be much better than MySpace for keeping family and friends updated! So thank you, Leah. This is just kind of a getting started post. My "tour" will actually begin this coming Saturday in Springfield, IL and carry on from there for the next year (hopefully two!). Currently, I am waiting for equipment (camera, computers, software). Waiting for an e-mail address. Waiting on paperwork and contact info, waiting for an ACCURATE schedule. That, apparently, may never happen. Making lists like crazy: sign up for online bill pay, do laundry, activate internet at home, copy files from work computer. Go to the dentist. I'm also trying to spread myself between my current job at mo/de, and taking care of things for the new job. Because the ... read more

After reaching Chicago and sitting in the terminal for about an hour and a half, we were on our way! The Number 5 California Zephyr pulled out promptly at 2:00PM. In the interest of saving a little money, we are staying in a slightly smaller room for the rest of the trip. It's called a roomette and seats two comfortably. There are two reclining chairs facing each other in front of a nice large window. There's a foldout table between them. At night, those two chairs fold down to form a single bed, then another single bed folds down from the wall just above the window. Spacious, it isn't. Comfortable? Absolutely. This being considered an upgraded room, our meals are still included. However, I found last night that a beer with dinner is not included. We've ... read more

Heard a lot about Chicago since I have first cousins who have lived here for more than ten years. Was not able to contact them but I was able to call up my high school friend Lisa Dacanay. We went from cold San Francisco to colder Chicago, it was very, very, very...cold...brrrrrrr..... I had three layers of clothing, earmuffs, gloves and boots on..still i felt cold. Actually, it was my first time to go to US at this time of the year. We stayed at O'hare area and we needed to take the train every time we went downtown. We checked out the Sears Towers and just walked along the windy cold streets. We went to Shed Aquarium the next day and was surprised that there was a dedicated feature of Philippine marine life. We ... read more

Fine, -5c Where have I been?!? It’s a question that requires a long answer and draws blank stares from customs officials. When I think back to October it feels like I’ve been almost everywhere, and maybe I have - I just clocked up 12,000 miles on the car in North America. Think about that for a second. If you could drive from Los Angeles to Adelaide it’d only be 8000 miles. That’s a whole lot of cash I’ve spent on drive thru I reckon! Leaving the ‘charming’ (something my Mum would say) Madison, Wisconsin I motored my way towards Chicago and got excited when I saw the ‘Welcome To Illinois’ sign. I quickly lost my smile when every 20kms or so toll booths started appearing. Roads cost a lot of money around here.. I had to ... read more