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Distance: 350 miles Time: 6 hr 15 min
This was the 3rd day of the trip and I knew it's gonna be hard to get up. It was. Alarm rang at 9 am. I rushed my checkout at 10 am, kept my luggage in the locker and off I was to see Chicago. I only had 2 things on my mind: Millenium Park and Architecture tour. Good thing was my hotel was at a walking distance from these places. When you are travelling with limited time, please do yourselves a favor of booking hotels close to attractions. Believe me, those extra bucks are well spent. You really don't have time to commute back and forth.
Millenium Park is a good attraction with one problem (personal). I had seen pictures of it which kinda spoiled the fun a little bit.
It was worth the time though. The reflection of the buildings with the effect of convoluted images is pretty amazing. I took some picures and went for the architecture tour. Thanks to the long weekend, all the tours for the whole day were booked. I managed a ticket for the sight-seeing tour which is 90 min and includes the Michigan Lake too. I had my 1st experience of a water lock gate used to change levels.
In the end it turned out to be a very good experience. Skyline views and a paradise for an architect. I love Chicago. One may argue it's similar to NYC. It is in some sense but I think it's like Chicago :)
I was hungry and wanted to try a nice Chicago-style pizza. Consulted a few locals who suggested Uno Pizzeria.
The place had a 1.5 hrs wait for eat-in and a 1 hr wait for take-out. I just went to a food court opposite to it as I definitely did not have time for such things.
As per my schedule I left at around 2:15 pm. Took the I90/94 W towards Wisconsin Madison. The Illinois part of the road is a toll road and it's really in a bad shape. So many tolls to pay from time to time. I lost my EZPASS (for those who don't know, it's a device to pay tools easily .. duh) in the process. When on a motorcycle, you sometimes need to hold the pass in your hand as the height can be an issue if you keep it on the bike. The system doesn't pick it up. So in this acrobatic process at 80 mph, it got stuck in my glove and I dropped it somewhere on the freeway :( I will find out soon about any unpaid tolls.
I entered Wisconsin and could find some changes compared to Illinois. More greenery, more picnic spots, modernised sprinklers for irrigation, and most importantly, more cops. I saw a lot of them; perhaps due to the long weekend. I approached Minnesota around sunset. Just after I crossed the Mississippi river, scenery changed. Road condition changed. I fell in love with Minnesota at my first sight. Beautiful for riding. You can see miles ahead with no one on the road and higher speed limits and no cops (just kidding). I took some pictures (on the freeway :D)
Reached my bro-in-law's place around 8:15 pm. Same story. Unpacked the luggage and lubed the chain. Sorry for repeating this stuff. I am tired :) and going to bed soon. It's 11:30 pm and I have the longest ride of my trip tomorrow. So I better get some sleep.
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