Getting to New Orleans

Brendan’s cold traveled in a minimized fashion to my nose and throat, and it was good to sleep two nights at Heather’s and Peter’s home in Lake Forest. We attended a wonderful choral and orchestral concert with Heather conducting the orchestra and felt very comfortable staying there. But we needed to press on and get to New Orleans. We planned to visit Brendan’s aunt on the way in Tennessee, but knew we wouldn’t get that far in one day. So we were okay with getting as far as Indianapolis on Monday.

We set out not as early as we should have, perhaps, though it may have made no difference. We needed to walk first to the nearest highway, which was about 3 miles away, and this was a good test of how our packs feel over distance. My shoulders were aching after just a few minutes, but it was doable and will probably become easier the more we do it and the stronger we get.

We got to 41 and got a ride almost immediately from a man on his way to Chicago. He didn’t think we would have much luck getting a ride in Chicago, and he took us a little ways beyond his own destination because he felt it would be a safer spot for us. It was south Chicago, but far beyond downtown and beyond, I think, the neighborhood my parents asked of--“You’re not in south Chicago, are you?”--when I spoke to them yesterday. We were at 111th and Corliss, for anyone who wants to map it.

And at 111th and Corliss no one would give us a ride. We first stood at the entrance to the freeway and then moved to that intersection, which was at a light and caught many people leaving a gas station, and people would occasionally talk to us, but no one would pick us up. Mind you, this was only over the course of about 45 minutes, which in hitchhiking terms in not a very long time. Yet it felt like forever because of the cold.

I’m not totally sure why we didn’t check the weather beforehand. When we first arrived to stay with Katie in Waukegan on Friday, she mentioned it might snow the next day or evening. I think I translated this as “Ah, it might be unusually cold tomorrow, and then it will get a bit warmer again. That’s good.” But it did not get warmer. We were both dressed in nearly all our layers yesterday. Brendan was wearing his sweats and his jeans and every upper piece of clothing but one shirt. I was wearing a tank top, a long johns shirt, a t-shirt, a sweater, a fleece and an outer shell, and wool pants. At first it didn’t seem too too bad. But the cold quickly seeped in, first hitting our hands, which only had thin gloves on, so we took turns holding our “Nashville, TN” sign. Then it seemed to sneak under my jacket and cool my stomach, and I guess that’s how it eventually found its way to my feet, and that was the final straw because there was no getting warm after that.

So we gave up rather quickly, and I really did feel like a failure for a while. This was to be our first attempt to hithchike on this trip, and hitchhiking is to be our primary means of travel. But the cold beat us. And that’s okay. It’s why we’re traveling south anyway, to keep away from the cold, so we just found a faster way to do that. We called my parents and my dad used his internetting skills to tell us the way to get to the Greyhound station in Chicago. We thought we would have to take a bus to the L and the L to downtown, but things worked out more serendipitously. We took the bus to the L station, and lo and behold there stood a Greyhound station. It was a teeny one, but it fit our needs, and we were able to book passage all the way to New Orleans. As I write this we are on the bus and most recently went through Memphis, TN. It’s warmer already and there are many more leaves on the trees here than there were in WI and IL.

And that is all for now. Perhaps Brendan will relate the story of the woman we met while waiting for our bus, or else I’ll come back to that.

Chicago

Maybe there’s something about me, but I think there’s something about me taking a bus to see Jocelyn. No, I know what you’re all thinking, and no, I wasn’t sexually molested. Stina and I were simply accosted in Chicago by a very friendly lady who wanted to tell us things we didn’t need to know and to show us to places we didn’t need to go. Stina eventually gave her a dollar and bought her some cheese fries.
I don’t judge, but I do think it’s notable that there was more pot being smoked in Chicago than I’ve ever seen before, and that includes both Amsterdam and Hempfest. Our driver had it, a man stopped into the bus depot briefly to get out of the wind so he could light his roach, and I’m pretty sure the people I might otherwise have thought were a bit off their rockers were instead just high. They had that hard-to-follow train of thought that just almost seems on the verge of making sense, and then you ask a question and everything seems to fall apart. Also the self-interest of someone who knows they can’t quite grasp what you’re saying, so they might as well talk on the off chance that they’ll understand what they’re saying. Does that make sense? I’m not high.

On the move ... (finally)

After my illness of the past few days detained us, we finally made it to Illinois on Thursday afternoon. We had our day in Chicago yesterday. We saw the view from the Hancock building and went to a show at Second City with Jon and Katie and Heather and Peter. We had a delicious Chicago pizza last night. We took the train to get from Waukegan to Chicago (can't buy a 10-ride pass ON the Metra)... everything is 45 minutes from Waukegan.
We stayed Thursday night with Katie-Come-Lately and are staying tonight with Heather and Peter.
Chicago seems like it'd be a good busking town... but it's a bit too nippy for standing outside for hours, and we're feeling a bit rushed because of the days late we are, so I think we'll forgo the pleasure.
We're gonna try our luck hitchhiking early tomorrow to get down to the Nashville area and my aunt CC starting on Hwy 41 and working our way down via 65.

Packing for the big adventure

Saturday we had our WI family and friends show. We performed twice a somewhat modified routine. We put back in the tango, but led into it with a short scene from Much Ado about Nothing rather than the fight. We want to keep the fight, but it seems too scary (or simply too loud) for the small children who often want to watch us. I'm sure there's a venue for it, but we haven't quite found it yet... perhaps a later evening busk in a brightly lit city would be better for it.
We got to visit with friends and relatives this weekend. Some have children they didn't have when last I saw them. That was neat. Friends are growing up, changing, but with the same personalities they've always had, thank goodness. Family is wonderfully supportive. I'm glad I have a dedicated extended family: uncles and aunts and cousins and 2nd cousins and 1st cousins once and twice removed and 2nd cousins once removed and a great aunt... I come from an adventurous family. No nay-sayers here.

It's ladybug and housefly season now in WI. All the insects are looking for warmth. Dozens of ladybugs guard the window each morning, sometimes feasting on the dessicated corpses of flies who couldn't hack it.


On a lighter note, here's Brendan's packed bag list:
Clothes:
5 pairs undergarment
3 t-shirts
8 pairs socks, inc. 1 cozy pair
1 Fleece
1 Sweater
1 Sweatshirt
1 Tie
1 Pair jeans
1 Belt
1 pair sweatpants
2 hats (one for warmth, one for rakishness)
1 scarf
1 pair light gloves
1 raincoat
1 moneybelt
Toiletries:
cheapo razors
toothbrush
towel
Busking Supplies:
4 Pins
Pair of Stilts
ipod and speakers
Food Supplies:
1 large, 1 medium water bottles
Amusement:
1 book
2 EDH Magic: the Gathering decks
Journal
pen and pencil
Other necessities:
sleeping bag
tent
ibook
Passport
Wallet w/ small amount of cash, cards



Tomorrow we head out with our bags on our backs to Chicago and Beyond!

edit: list of packed items incomplete and just plain wrong.