September 26-Friday, Chicago, IL

Got in around 2:00, a total of 2200 miles to get here. Staying at a Best Western downtown that feels like a European hotel, smallish, oldish, stately, reworked, etc. As with most cities, we love looking at the architecture, lots of art deco here. We WALKED (ah-bliss) to the Sears building and went up to the top floor, taking advantage of this beautiful weather---80 degrees, not a cloud in the sky.
We have really enjoyed the Garmin GPS we bought. We refer to it as 'her'. She's yelling at us! She wants us to make a U-turn as soon as possible! But she does direct us to our hotels with little trouble. Sometimes she has the hotel on the other side of the road, but we have been able to make allowances for her anomalies and get to our destination.

And Benny's comments:
Finally, we approach Chicago on inbound I-290 and we can see the Sears Tower from 20 miles away. We check into the Best Western River Front Inn, which is 5 blocks from the Chicago River front. The hotel is old, clunky, and tired. But, the on-site parking is free (a big deal in the big city) and we have a view—of a McDonald’s restaurant across the street. Our room is set back from the street about 50 feet but we can still hear the traffic.

We are immediately off to the Sears Tower and the “Skydeck”. It is fabulous. The air is a bit hazy, so we cannot see Michigan across the lake. But Chicago has no secrets from the Skydeck. You can see everything. We walk back from the Tower and have dinner at The Rainforest Café near our hotel. It is Friday evening and every family with screaming kids has brought them to the Rainforest Café for dinner. It is an upscale Chuck E Cheese. Sitting near us in the melee of hyperactive children shouting at the top of their lungs is a table with a single mother and her daughter and son. The son, about 6 years old, keeps putting his hands over his ears when he is not taking a bite of his dinner. At the table just behind us, some parents in their late twenties are trying to cajole their spoiled-brat daughter (about 4 years old) from under the table, where she retreated when told she could not have something she wanted from the menu.

September 25, Thursday-Iowa City, Iowa

Another 350+ miles, staying in our 3rd Hampton Inn, very nice. This Hampton Inn still has FEMA signs up regarding the flooding that occurred in May.

We dined with Hope and Gerry in their active retirement abode, very impressive. They have travelled a lot, mostly in Asian countries and collect art from their travels. Their home was lovely, hardwood floors throughout, a large living area, a large master bedroom, 2 other bedrooms, one used for Gerry's hobbies (reading, photography, research) and Hope's hobbies (opera, Photoshop-ing her travel photos, making jewelry). They are planning a trip this winter to Thailand/Laos/Vietnam. Obviously with all the talk about the economic craziness going on, that was much in the conversation.

Tomorrow-Chicago.

September 24-Wednesday-Grand Island, Nebraska

LONG, LONG, drive yesterday, over 600 miles, so last night we added up our "miles left", divided by 2 and changed the Wednesday reservation to Grand Island, NB, shortening today's drive by 200 miles. Today felt so much better, still over 400 miles, but we slept in a little, got some errands done when we got here, etc, etc. We are still re-packing the car...a learning endeavor. We HAVE had home-made sandwiches at rest stops, rather than restaurants, lovely. We are both still in awe of the beauty of this country, not to mention the size! Tomorrow, Thursday, we head for Iowa City. We are looking forward to a visit with Gerry and Hope Solomons. They are retired professors and travel photographers whom we met on our trip to Japan last year.

September 23--Tuesday, Laramie, Wyoming

Another long day, 619 miles. Beautiful, beautiful country, so much of it though! Speeding along, you have to keep at 75 to 80 miles per hour out here in cowboy country, I kept thinking...Wyoming, my niece Chrissie and her husband just moved out here someplace. Ah-here comes a cute town nestled in the desert, Rawlins. RAWLINS! HELLO CHRISSIE AND KHET! We went through there at 80 miles an hour and no stoppin! whew!

So-tonight we looked at 'the plan' and the 500 mile day planned for Wednesday and...cancelled our reservations 500 miles away, rebooked a hotel only 350 miles away and fell into bed.

O-we saw pronghorn antelope herds and maybe mustangs. I saw no fences and they were trotting along in a herd-like manner, just like in the movies, about 15 of them.

September 22--Monday--Elko, Nevada

Got away around 8:30 a.m., drove to Elko, NV. We've driven this part before, a long day, over 500 miles.