familiar feeling

We rode for 630km today .... a bit more really because we did a few detours trying to find a place for a deep-pan pizza lunch (very difficult since most places are closed on Sundays, which we didn't know - or expect!) and at around the 200 km mark on my odometer, we found
ourselves on the Chicago Sky route (this narrow highway 'bridge' with no shoulder) and so we had to turn off quickly to try and find any gas station or risk me running into a dry tank. We ended up detouring around some local airport in an industrial area - a very 'interesting' insight into Chicago's suburbs. But at least we found a petrol station in the end. 

Going through Chicago itself was fantastic. The skyline is beautiful, and although we got stuck in brutal traffic for over an hour (going at about 10km/hr) this will probably be the only
major city we actually ride through. But we were glad to be out of the traffic jam...my left hand was starting to ache from controlling the clutch at low speed. Good practice indeed! At one point we just turned off our engines and pushed our bikes along slowly.

We've gone through Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and now we're in Madison, Wisconsin. There aren't any 'border crossings' as such and sometimes not even a sign to tell you you're in another state. It all merges and flows into one another. All names to me before this trip, but I'm
slowly piecing together the gigantic puzzle of this country. I find it interesting to see all the various license plates and notice where they're coming from. The furthest so far iIve seen is Colorado and New York. No BC plates yet!

At around 6pm (we crossed a time zone after having passed Chicago, so we gained another hour!) we stopped for dinner just before Rockford. Michigan. We shared the popular and
delicious Chicago beef sandwich and I have to admit i caved and ordered a huge plate of msg-filled Chinese food from 'Panda Express' :)

We were still pretty energetic so we decided to ride for another couple of hours.... we hit a massive traffic jam about 30 kms into it and were stuck for quite a while. More clutch-control exercises for me!! There was a major car crash on the other side but traffic did eventually
move.... the poor people trying to get back into Chicago after a weekend must've been waiting for hours! I noticed that the standstill on that side went on for more than 10kms!

Today our aim is to get to Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The next day we should be in Rapid
City (the badlands!) where we'll pass by Mount Rushmore...

Hopefully we'll have enough time to take it slowly and meander through Yellowstone National Park, definitely something I've been looking forward to since we started.

We're staying America's Best Value Inn and value it is. For $44 USD we get a king-size bed, free wifi, cable tv, an outdoor pool, and the breakfast - phenomenal! There are waffle makers that you can help yourself to, scrambled eggs, potatoes, sausages, cereal, bagels, pastries and American style grits! They sure do value their food here, especially in quantity!