approaching Chicago

Approaching Chicago
July 17, 2008

As we approached Chicago around 8:20 pm the traffic increased and there were a lot more signs to get pictures of as well as traffic, construction and buildings. We stayed on I-94 instead of going the Skyway because my husband wanted to make up time instead of sight see. Our primary concern was to get to the kids as early in the evening as possible and we already knew it would be after 10 pm, closer to 11 pm if not a bit later.

Our road trips tend to fall into three categories: mosey and get there when we do with a lot of sight seeing; flexible but want or need to be there within an hour or two of the ETA; and have to be there by that time no ifs, ands or buts. I much prefer the first type of travel and don't mind the second but the third always causes anxiety. These are trips that include "getting to the airport on time" or "catching the last ferry*" or with the boat "when the bridge is open**" trips.

* The worst of the catching the last ferry trips was back when I was expecting one of our kids. Two of the kids were safely tucked in their car seats. Back then seat belts were just a suggestion but I was a stickler in the car didn't move if everyone wasn't strapped in. We were heading home for a visit and had to catch the Chi-Cheemaun from South Baymouth to Tobermory and we had a reservation for the 10 pm ferry. We hit Baldwin the point to turn down to South Baymouth hitting Espanola then realizing we were cutting our timing very short. Missing that ferry would have meant we would be sleeping in the car that night and the ferry reservation would have been lost something we could not afford at that time. Well to make a long story short, we were flying down an unfamiliar road full of curves, in the dark. We pulled up as they were loading!

** A lot of times when traversing smaller waterways you have to wait for the bridge to go up so your boat can pass through. This can be a problem is the bridge only opens on a schedule like hourly. If you miss the opening then you have to sit and wait until the next opening. Consider the consequences of not only storms but hot and humid conditions that can be stiffling at best. Ideally you want to be in line to go through about 15 minutes before the bridge opens because other boaters also know about this problem.

Garden Gnome
©2006-2008