Sandbox (dirtbox?) toys
Anita (top middle) and her mother Virginia (bottom right) saw me walking by and invited me over to have a beer at their Mother's Day/birthday cookout.
At least it felt that way. Janice and John are the first-cousin-once-removed-in-law and first-cousin-once-removed, respectively, of my friend Ned from New York. I basically got to be their surrogate child for the night, filling in for their son Doug, who is the same age as me. John fixed me a cocktail as soon as I arrived and prepared a delicious dinner, and Janice did my laundry, made me a big breakfast, and sent me off with about fourteen pounds of food for the road (I almost needed a sidecar to carry it all).
They're not always so big on pedestrian accommodations here.
The barrels are designed to absorb the impact of a car that's heading into the concrete wall. These barrels were empty, which is unusual. Read more!
I wonder if that means I'm getting close to some kind of jurisdictional boundary?
To Raul Rebeles, a construction worker who fell to his death from the Chicago Skyway. It's built on a column supporting the Skyway.
The visible part reads "Illinois-Indiana Stateline Monument". Which is weird, because this was a good distance from the state line.
I can't find specifically what this means in Chicago, but I assume it's something like this.
Also, is that Lance Armstrong's signature or a graffiti tag?
My plan yesterday was to make my way up to the University of Chicago and try to find somewhere to stay with some students there. As I was approaching the campus, I got an email from my friend Lyle, a forwarded email from his friend-of-a-friend John, saying that John's friend Joe would host me for the evening in Hyde Park. Thanks to everyone in that chain of acquaintances for helping to secure me lodging for the night!
And a wonderful night it was. I got to hear Anna (left) play the cello while Lily and Rachel (right) made a peach-pear cobbler and Joe cooked up some sardines. We had some great conversations over dinner and beer/wine, and Joe asked me some really good questions about my walk that made me think a little deeper about what I'm experiencing.
P.S. Joe is a published author!
John, Joe's friend and Lyle's friend-of-a-friend, took me out to breakfast this morning and interviewed me for his blog. He's also done a few cross-country bike trips, and even wrote a book about one: Bars Across America: Drinking and Biking from Coast to Coast.
I love informational signs about mundane-but-overlooked parts of daily life.
From Wikipedia:
In a controversial move on March 31, 2003, Mayor Daley ordered private crews to destroy the runway in the middle of the night, bulldozing large X-shaped gouges into the runway surface. The required notice was not given to the Federal Aviation Administration or the owners of airplanes tied down at the field, and as a result sixteen planes were left stranded at an airport with no operating runway, and an incoming flight was diverted.
just go to a marina and look at the boat names. Case in point: Why Knot.
On the lower level of Lake Shore Drive, one of Chicago's many multilevel streets, as it crosses the Chicago River.
Ashley met up with me yesterday evening near my brother's place, where I'll be staying for a few days, and bought me a beer to celebrate my arrival in Chicago.
Two more lazy days at Jonathan's place before I hit the road again Sunday morning. Today's one order of business: finding rain pants that don't leak.
And probably between 2200 and 2300 left to go. I'm making much better time than I expected, walking more miles per day and taking only a few rest days. I now expect to be done in less than seven months total.
This picture also serves as a record of another haircut, this one by Jonathan and David.
Day 51
Every two minutes
May 16th, 2010
Water poured out of this pipe, coming out of the wall of the Allstate building in Wheeling, into the parking lot.
