Drive, Chicago, Drive
The exciting experience is followed by a few unspectacular driving days in Cleveland. We want to wind down a few kilometres again and win land. But the Great Lakes Area is still beautiful. Whenever possible, we drive along the shores of Lake Erie and allow ourselves to cool off in the cold water.
But before the endless expanses of farmland and prairie determine our daily environment, we stop in another megacity: Chicago
Early in the morning we drive a little unmotivated through the dense traffic on the highway around the city, because after the last weeks we are more interested in nature and loneliness. But since we are supposed to drive through the city anyway and it should be so beautiful, we decide to have a look anyway.
To put it bluntly: It was more than worth it!
We spent a whole day in the Windy City and are totally thrilled. In the morning we visit the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which is the highest building in the city with a height of 442m. As in Toronto, you have a breathtaking view of the other skyscrapers and Lake Michigan from the skydeck. Just in time for lunch we are back on safe ground. A good opportunity to try a Chicago style hot dog. The special thing about it: Mustard, tomatoes, onion cubes, jalapeños, celery spices, pickles and neon-green relish (of which they are particularly proud) are added to the sausage. It was delicious, but it didn't knock us off the pedestal either.
We continue to Millenium Park, where we take the obligatory photo with the Cloud Gate or "The Bean", as this sculpture is affectionately called by the Chicagoers. We stroll along the Magnificent Mile to the building of the "Chicago Tribune", where thanks to the geocaching app we once again make a previously unknown and interesting discovery. Fragments of historic or well-known buildings from all over the world are attached to the façade of the building. For example, a piece of iron from the fallen World Trade Center. Before we turn our backs on this charming and architecturally significant city, we walk past the beautiful Waterfront and the Navy Pier. Of course we have a perfect timing again and drive away in the middle of the densest rush hour traffic, so that we have to wait 1.5 hours until we are out of the traffic jam.
After that we follow only one direction and that is west. First we are confronted with the endless expanses of farmland in Iowa and the prairie in South Dakota. At the same time, we are now experiencing the megalomania of the Americans regarding vehicles and trailers for the first time. It's peak travel time and many Americans are also traveling all over the country. Often 15m long luxury coaches with outdoor flatscreens, which are bigger than the cinema screen at home, follow a pickup brand Ford F350. If you think a bit of yourself, load it with 2 Harleys or alternatively hang a speedboat or a quad on the pickup, so that the whole construct measures about 30m. For the faithful animal companions there are extra ramps, so that the four-legged friends can somehow manage the height into the interior. How people themselves get in remains a mystery.
Luckily, we're dealing with minor problems. Important realization from the last days: Full cream is not particularly suitable, if one is on the way on bumpy roads. Unless you want to have ice cream and cream for dessert in the evening.