Friday,
August 28, 2015 Hammond,
Indiana trip odometer 7,095 miles
My goal today was to find one
geocache (to keep my ‘streak’ going and add miles to the Bristol Rabbit Travel
Bug I’m carrying) and get past Chicago. I accomplished both, but it was not
easy.
For one thing, there was rain all
day, varying from a few specks on the windshield to a steady fall, but most of
the time it was just enough for me to keep my windshield wipers on “Intermittent/High”
and make the road a little slick. Traffic was heavy, especially after I passed
Madison, Wisconsin, and it just kept getting worse. These folks still wanted to
go 70 MPH, but I am always a bit more cautious in wet weather, so we were all
frustrated.
I miscalculated the exit for the
first cache I wanted to try for, going a couple exits too far and not being
inclined to retrace my route. The next one was not until after Milwaukee, and
was actually the last one I had marked in Wisconsin, a park-and-grab at an
enormous truck stop. The hint indicated it was on or near the car vacuum, and
some guy was putting air in his tires in the same spot. He asked me pointedly
if I needed to use the air pump, I answered honestly that I didn’t, then I went
inside the truck stop to do my other needed things while waiting for him to go.
I used the restroom (first and always!), wandered around looking at the food
options, and ordered and ate dinner. I used an outside table so I could keep an
eye on that vacuum and air pump.
When I finished, I sauntered
casually over. Three objects: air pump, vacuum, and a light post. A skirt
lifter? But that wasn’t the hint. I circled the equipment, looking it over for
anything that might not belong there. Nothing. Try the lamp post. Bingo! My streak was intact, Bristol Bunny had
another several hundred miles, and I paused only to fill the gas tank before
heading out for goal #2.
I found Chicago’s rush hour traffic strangely
peaceful. There we were, four lanes of bumper-to-bumper vehicles, barely
moving. My strategy was to pick one of the inner lanes and stick with it. Past
experience has showed me that moving from lane to lane because another lane
seems to be moving faster than the others accomplishes nothing but raising
blood pressure and occasionally causing an accident. I just kept my car a
couple of carlengths behind the flatbed truck from Maine ahead of me, and
otherwise I was free to let my mind wander. I had a full stomach, a full gas
tank, enough to drink, and AC/DC was playing soothing music on my car stereo.
Other than a potential bladder problem, it was pleasant. Surely better at 6 MPH
than 60, with the cars spaced as they were. And, believe me, during those
stretches where higher speeds were possible, they didn’t allow much more room
between cars. That is nerve-wracking.
At last the beltway dumped me back
onto I-94, I crossed the State Line into Indiana, and it was time to seek a
room for the night. Soon I will be home. It’s a good thing, too; I’m down to
two clean shirts and three pairs of clean socks.
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