To Chicago

5/28/12: We have been in La Crosse, Wisconsin on the banks of the Mississippi River for two days, and not by choice!  It is hot and humid, and the Tracker is sick.  Conrad fixes the turn signals and brake lights but the power problem is not so easy, nor is finding the tools he needs on Memorial Day weekend.  He concludes that the muffler must be collapsing inside and that the Tracker can't breathe very well - it's hard to climb hills when you can't breathe.  Clever Conrad, he figures out a way to circumvent the problem and fool the Tracker into thinking it can breathe, so off we go.




Classically-Shaped Barn With Silo



We are driving through parts of the massive Mississippi River Valley.  The hills are a rolling, bright green carpet with dense, verdant walls of deciduous trees.  A land so fertile, humid and buggy that we light-weights find it best viewed from an air-conditioned car.  Crops and cows, and old, classically-shaped barns with silos.  Our two-lane route passes through small Mid-Western towns with big shade trees and lovely,  large old two-story homes with generous front porches, just made for sitting.  There is a Dairy Queen in every town; it is Memorial Day and people are starting to gather along main streets with their lawn chairs to watch the town parade.  In Lancaster, a small band is already playing patriotic tunes in front of City Hall.

Now it is apple orchards and Christmas tree farms.  We're in Wisconsin, the state where there is a pitched recall battle between incumbent Governor Walker (the guy who signed every anti-union law he could get the legislature to pass and sent the Wisconsin Highway Patrol out to round up legislators for the votes), and his opponent, the mayor of Milwaukee.  "We Stand With Walker" signs pepper the lawns of mansions and big farms.  Defiant anti-Walker signs appear on other lawns.



"Igor" and Me at Carr Valley Cheese



We cross the Wisconsin River into Boscobel, "Wisconsin's Wild Turkey Hunting Capital."  We're in dairy country too and stop at Carr Valley Cheese for some Wisconsin cheese - "Horseradish Spreadable Cheddar" and "Salami Cheddar."  The next sign we pass says. "Drink Milk, Drive Safe."

Across the Mississippi into Dubuque, Iowa, "The Pork Capital of the World" with its old downtown of many storied, red brick buildings, and right back over the river into Illinois.  We're on our way to visit my daughter, Elizabeth, in Chicago, and pass through the Illinois towns of Elizabeth (!), and Stockton (population 2,100) with its historic district of late 1800's brick buildings.  The area also has a lot of sandstone and we see many beige sandstone homes, along with classic wood and brick ones.

Approaching Chicago, Conrad is loving his smart phone which directs him right to the "Three Aces" restaurant where we meet Liz for dinner.  I'm surprised to see my daughter with curly hair caused by the Chicago humidity - it was never curly when she was growing up in hot, dry Sacramento.  Our patio dining is disturbed by fat rain drops and such a wind that they take the awning we are under down, and move us inside.  Liz looks fabulous despite her 24/7 job as Director of Research on the Obama Re-Election Campaign, and we have a wonderful visit with lots of talk, good food and fun drinks.  Soon we are on our way again into the night, ending up in an Indiana motel two hours later.  This morning we need to get going; we are heading toward thunder storms and tornado warnings - yikes!