The five of us went for a jolly run skirting Denver with more amazing scenery and roads. It just doesn't seem to stop. The Golden Gate National Park, named as there was once Gold in them thar hills. Mines, or old mining towns seem to abound in Colorado, as do hills.
Changing gear was now becoming a priority. Not on the bike, which is still holding up, but clothes wise. Although we have avoided the rain thanks to Jim's advice, it has been getting steadily colder. Having had lunch together with our chum, we buckled down and gritted our teeth to the 1,000 miles ahead of us in order to get to Chicago with an ever increasingly dramatic sky. It was now early October but somehow, having moved around the globe at a pretty constant temperature, give or take the odd day, we were finding it difficult to come to terms with the onset of autumn.
No choice. We had to cover the miles quickly. One corn field looks pretty much the same as the next. One mass of cows corralled in a fattening pen smells much the same as another and you can smell them coming. You can also play at catching the turkey feathers that are drifting on the air from the lorry a few hundred yards ahead. That's about it unless you like watching clouds; sometimes it was misty so you couldn't even do that. We were Interstating as that was the quickest way to cover the miles. We did dodge the weather although it got very close indeed. Thank you Arthur's Market Deli Diner for our lunchtime rain break, 'somewhere' in Nebraska. Our overnight stops were equally not high on the tourist stakes and should be classed more as 'functional' than anything else. Not on the expensive side though, which is always a plus and the bites will get better before long.
Three solid days later, a thousand miles through Nebraska and Iowa gets done. We arrived in Chicago completely dry. You can see the towers in the distance just like London from the M20 or M11 and it's pretty exciting as you drive by them. Our on a budget hotel is one of those very slender 100 yr old towers with ornate tops and right in the centre of downtown Chicago. All is perfect, except motor vehicle parking where we struggled to find anything less that $40 per night. Don't take a vehicle to Chicago is the maxim, even a two wheeled one. We are now the only two wheeled transport in view as the temperature has plummeted.
Chicago, proud of its heritage architecture, is a pretty neat place to spend a day or two. We would recommend it to anyone. We are definitely more country/scenery riders rather than town ones. Chicago, however, is a real city whereas Los Angeles wasn't, Las Vegas wasn't and San Francisco was too misty to see. We are getting pretty adept at doing things when we get to places. Despite only a short time we managed to see and eat at the home of the Chicago Deep Pan Pizza; we saw the towers close up and also from far away on a boat trip on the lake. We spent some time in the Art Museum, walked around the Anish Kapoor Bean as well as the not very impressive Gehry even if you like that sort of thing, plus the fountains. We finished with a tour round Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studios as well as some of the houses he designed. We stood by the supposed start of Route 66. But as we started at the end and have go back to the beginning by avoiding everything in between, are we all back to front?
Chicago, proud of its heritage architecture, is a pretty neat place to spend a day or two. We would recommend it to anyone. We are definitely more country/scenery riders rather than town ones. Chicago, however, is a real city whereas Los Angeles wasn't, Las Vegas wasn't and San Francisco was too misty to see. We are getting pretty adept at doing things when we get to places. Despite only a short time we managed to see and eat at the home of the Chicago Deep Pan Pizza; we saw the towers close up and also from far away on a boat trip on the lake. We spent some time in the Art Museum, walked around the Anish Kapoor Bean as well as the not very impressive Gehry even if you like that sort of thing, plus the fountains. We finished with a tour round Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studios as well as some of the houses he designed. We stood by the supposed start of Route 66. But as we started at the end and have go back to the beginning by avoiding everything in between, are we all back to front?
We managed to escape the very expensive parking without paying and with only a slight tremor of nervousness when police sirens could be heard. It is chilly here with temperature dropping down to 3 degrees C as we left with a hint of snow on the breeze, but we are gradually accepting it. Soup, not salads, now on the menu.
Onwards to Wisconsin...
Onwards to Wisconsin...
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