Day 54 - La Crosse, WI to Chicago

Well, today was a long day, but mostly good. I spent most of the morning driving through Wisconsin farm land and visiting cheese factories and stores. You know, I always forget there is a big Amish population in Wisconsin. In fourth grade, our social studies included Pennsylvania history. One of the parts of the textbook that I remember specifically was about the Amish population in Pennsylvania. For whatever reason, at that point, it got implanted in my mind that Amish = Lancaster. Period. So I always forget that there's a big population out in Wisconsin. Well, I drove past many Amish houses and farms today. I like the fact that whenever I drove by and there was someone outside working, we'd wave at each other. 

I now have more cheese than I need for the next 2 weeks. Guess what I'll be eating for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a while? I stopped by Madison, Wisconsin for lunch at a restaurant called The Old Fashioned. I was again amazed at how cheap everything was. $2.50 for a pint of beer - and not just piss water either, actual good stuff that I liked.

I had pretty bad timing with getting into Chicago - right at rush hour, but that's how it worked out. I'm staying in an apartment right downtown - in the inner loop, so I had to negotiate traffic all the way in. I made it, but it was a struggle. What was more of a struggle was finding somewhere to park. Goodness - a ton of lots around here, but they were either cash only (and I didn't have much cash on me at that point), or the automated machine wouldn't allow me to pay for overnight parking - the only option it gave me was parking for the evening - not what I wanted. I must have gone to 5 different lots before I ended up going to one that I knew would work, but was significantly more expensive. Good news is that it's right next to my apartment. I'm doing what I did in San Francisco and parking the car for the duration of my stay and using public transportation the whole time I'm here, which means tomorrow I'll actually end up spending a lot of time traveling, but that's alright.

I'm actually a little nervous about my timing for tomorrow. I have tickets/appointments lined up for 4 different events and I just hope that I don't get off schedule - that might be a disaster. I guess if I'm getting behind schedule, I could always take a cab rather than bus/subway, but I hope it doesn't come to that. Wish me luck! Oh, lots of super cool things I'm doing tomorrow, so you'll want to read tomorrow's post to hear all about it. It's not to be missed!