Day 6 - Illinois

Let's see... Cornfields, cornfields, more cornfields, and noticeably more green in between, but for the most part, today we drove through Iowa and Illinois without stopping to do much touring. The one thing that struck me was the motorcyclists that weren't wearing helmets. I guess Illinois doesn't have a helmet law. We also endured our first traffic jam. Not much else happened today that was notable. I think we are getting a little tired of the road and just want to drive on to the next place. Currently we are staying at a hotel at Tinley Park near Chicago. But even though Chicago is a cool city, and we are on schedule, we had no desire to stop and check it out. Tomorrow we will hit the bottom of Lake Michigan, and drive up the Michigan coast for awhile before cutting across to Grandma and Grandpa's house near Detroit. The kids are really excited to see their grandparents and uncle. They are still doing remarkably well on the drive, alternating between taking naps and watching movies on the DVD player. Kaelyn either has a cold or terrible allergies. We think it's allergies, and has probably contributed to her ability to nap more in the car. Justin gets really wired after sitting for so long, so it was nice to stop early tonight and get some swimming in before dinner. I didn't take any pictures on this leg.

It's funny how we started out thinking we would just "take it easy" and do some touring along the way, but then goals take over. I actually had one moment today where I got this wave of feeling lost in the middle of nowhere, and what pulled me out of it was picking a target town to stay in. As soon as I had a destination, I had a comfortable feeling of being somewhere tangible, even if it was just 75 miles to our arbitrary hotel. But then my tendency to focus on the goal took over, and I'd get antsy if we took too many breaks and "wasted" too much time. I would make up a time that I expected we would arrive and suddenly this arbitrary deadline began pulling at me. I wonder what it would be like not to have any place to go or anyone to meet for several months. Would that make me feel more free to delve into all of the places of interest that I pass by and really immerse myself in them? And, if so, then what am I doing now - a race around the country? For example, we passed a Herbert Hoover museum, the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, the birth city of Ronald Reagan, and we crossed the Mississippi River. And now we're passing Chicago. But I'm not feeling like visiting. Very interesting....