DAY 13 MONDAY, SEPT. 13 LA CROSSE WI - CHICAGO IL

We did not sleep well last night, so woke up quiet, sluggish, and slightly annoyed. The weather didn't help. For the first time on the trip, it was cool, grey and drizzly. We left La Crosse and headed east across Wisconsin. We were amazed at how much the land east of the Mississippi resembled Southern Ontario. We no longer felt like we were in a "foreign" area. No doubt the early explorers felt the same way as they pushed ever westwards. It wouldn't be until they got west of the Mississippi that they would be stopped in their tracks by the dramatic geographic change.

As we moved through Wisconsin into Illinois, we encountered much Labour Day traffic: people returning home for school tomorrow, officially ending the summer holiday season. Construction did not help. For the first time I felt the frustration of not being able to drive freely, of having my progress checked or stopped by external forces. It took forever to get into Chicago, but, thanks to GPS, we got to our hotel with a minimum of stress and no errors.



Safe in Chi town



We are in a pretty cool area of the city, just south of Wrigley Field and north of downtown. Our hotel is on Diversey and is at the base of a triangle formed by Diversey and Halstead, with Clarke as the hypotenuse. The area is officially called "Lakeview East", and is gentrified, with great Chicago architecture ( many row houses and brownstones in a kind of beaux arts style ), cool apartments and a lively bar and restaurant scene. It is a vibrant neighbourhood and we think we're going to like it here. 

Enjoying the life in Chicago