Blogs from Illinois, United States, North America - page 141

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North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago June 22nd 2006

Admittedly, we did make it hard on ourselves. In the four years since I had been in the States, I had forgotten the fact that customer service in this country is like one of those legends passed through the ages, a distant memory I wasn’t sure had actually once existed, or if I had simply dreamed it up. Like gramophones and black and white tv’s, customer service in the country of me, myself and I, was an outdated myth, and almost completely non-existent. Nevertheless, we fronted up at the bagel counter the next sunny Chicago morning, and proceeded to make a mess of what, in retrospect, was a very simple order of toasted bagels with our various preference of condiments. In our defence, how were we supposed to know that the condiments were kept tucked away ... read more
The Big Bean
Millenium Park
The Big Bean

North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago June 21st 2006

Even though intellectually I know it’s fairly long way from Australia to pretty much anywhere else in the world, I’m still never quite prepared enough for the cramped legs and aching back that eventuates from being stuck in cattle class for over 24 hours in transit. This particular journey from Melbourne to Chicago was not helped by the fact we were sitting for an additional six hours in LA’s joke of an airport, hoping to get transferred to an earlier flight - because apparently booking a year in advance isn’t enough to guarantee you flights of your choice when you’re using frequent flyer points, but leaves you waiting for a connecting plane in LA airport for six hours instead. Figures. I’ve also never understood how an airport which must host one of the world’s highest number ... read more
Chicago skyline
Arrival in Chicago

North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago June 18th 2006

WOW! What a day. We only got to see some of the meseum, will definately have to go back for more! It is so big, and so much time is needed to be able to see all that you want to see. I loved it, was so educational, and the feeling you get standing in front of some of the worlds greates artworks is just undiscribable. ... read more
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago

North America » United States » Illinois June 14th 2006

Day 42 Effingham, IL to Brazil, IN Total Miles: 87.5 (2867.3 miles to date) Today proved to be a pretty easy day to cover the miles on the bike thanks to some great teamwork that had both me and Jess riding out front while the other sat in the comforts of a nice draft. We made 50 quick miles this morning and ended up in Marshall, IL near the Indiana border where we met some really friendly people and were again interviewed by the local paper. That makes 2 newspaper appearances for us so far, but hey who's counting? We had the opportunity to ride by a few covered bridges today (no we weren't in Madison County) and they really did look impressive. For most of the day we have traveled on US 40 which is ... read more

North America » United States » Illinois June 14th 2006

With less than 30 hours until my plane takes off, I thought I'd do a trial run of updating this blog... Hopefully I'll be able to update every few days throughout the summer and then continue into the fall when I'm in Madrid and elsewhere. Feel free to comment, forward the url to anyone else you might think is interested in reading, etc. etc. In this entry I put up a couple pics as well as a map of my travel route, so hopefully you can all see everything. I don't even know where to begin with all the stuff I still have to do, so I best get to that! Next time you hear from me I'll be in Krakow! ~jeff... read more
The backpack...

North America » United States » Illinois June 13th 2006

Waltonville, IL to Effingham, IL Total Miles: 95.0 Last night I got in touch with the bike shop in Mount Vernon (about 13 miles away) and the owner agreed to meet us at the shop early so we wouldn’t have to wait around till 10 when they opened. He also gave us ‘better’ directions than the ones we had, assuring us that these roads were fantastic; we’d miss the morning traffic and be there in a jiffy. 24 miles later we finally arrive at the shop. This may not sound like much extra, but keep in mind that this is about an hour detour for us and an 84.6% increase in the mileage we had anticipated. A slower start to the day than we had expected. Bernie, the owner of the shop made up for the ... read more

North America » United States » Illinois June 12th 2006

Ste. Genevieve, MO to Waltonville, IL (with a detour to Chester, Il) Total Miles: 85.8 We started today with the much awaited milestone of crossing the Mississippi. We took this tiny ferry - a farmer across the river used the ferry for years to take his equipment across, then he realized he could make some money transporting cars and people, and so we got our ride. We rode the twenty some miles south to join back up with the Transamerica Route in Chester, IL, all the while discussing the pros and cons of leaving the TransAm route and detouring to New Jersey. After hours of deliberation and route planning, we decided to head back north to meet up with the Race Across America bike route (see www.raceacrossamerica.org and navigate to their routes/time trials page if you’re ... read more

North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago June 11th 2006

First time at Ravinia, got free tickets, had to go! Went and saw The Bodeans. Now at first i was like HUH? Who are they. Then I found out that they are the band who sings the theme song to Friends. Was great fun!... read more

North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago June 9th 2006

Hello friends! I know it's a little early to start this travelblog, as I do not leave until September 20 for Spain, but I wanted to get everyone's e-mail addresses together while this site was fresh on my mind. I plan to update this blog as often as possible while in Spain and other countries of course, hopefully complete with pictures of the places I went! Feel free to leave comments on here and message me anytime. If you'd like to be taken off this list, let me know. I look forward to writing in here! :D Lots of love, Theresa... read more

North America » United States » Illinois » Chicago June 6th 2006

Dear Friends and Family, I'm on the road again. First let me preface: if you are receiving this in error or simply do not want my traveling spam, please tell me. I'm more than happy to remove you from my list. That being said... Hello my loyal friends and family! I'm on the road again. Some of you recieving this letter may not have heard from me since I arrived home from the far east a year and a half ago. Perhaps those among you are surprised I would ever think to leave the soil of my dear homeland again. Some of you know of my trip but were not expecting to hear from me in this form. And I believe that still some of you weren't sure if I was planning on send out letters ... read more




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