rochester to chicago. miles 392-997.

of course it makes sense that i decide to start out with one of the longest driving days of the whole journey - 605 miles, and what ended up being about 11 hours. it took a bit longer to get everything packed in the car than expected, but i was on the road out toward buffalo by 8am, savoring my last taste of western new york and central ontario radio. (i'd forgotten about canadian radio stations! whoo! a great surprise to start the morning.)

along the way, i appreciated my favorite sights along the most western stretch of the thruway. the batavia turf farms! the massive native american statue welcoming (or sending us away?) from the seneca reservation. the "correctional facility ahead: do not pick up hitchhikers" signs. (hahahaha. that still cracks me up every time.)

you know you're getting close to that itsy bitsy stretch of pennsylvania when the frequency of fireworks signs starts to reach ridiculous levels - apparently, though, fireworks are not as lucrative as they used to be. now these establishments have expanded their product lines: the little truck stop villages along the highway boast signs for these stores: fireworks and karate supplies! fireworks and cheese! fireworks and... jelly bellies? that's right. "fireworks! jelly bellies! free samples!" i was so consumed trying to figure out if the samples referred to jelly bellies or fireworks, i not only missed the exit, but i missed my chance to get a picture. ah well. at least it gave me something to think about till i got to cleveland.

when there was rain. torrential downpouring rain. so much rain you couldn't see the car in front of you. or the road. or the giant massive puddles of water because it was raining faster than the water could drain. welcome to ohio!

not much to say about ohio and indiana. there were some nuns-in-training and amish families at the rest stops. that was pretty cool.

around 5:30, i got into gary indiana and realized that i had not yet looked at a map. i'd been driving for about 10 hours at this point, and had been relying entirely on my understanding that 90W would get me to chicago. clearly that's all i need to know, right? well, i have my gps and zach's address. the gps (maggie-ellen) will lead me there!

thankfully, she did. thankfully, i did not get lost in hyde park. thankfully, the traffic was reasonable.

by the time i got to zach's place, i was faced with my next challenge: parallel parking in hyde park at rush hour with a bike on the back. hahahaha. yeah, if you ever want to test your parallel parking skills - try that one. have fun!

but at least i'd made it to chicago.