Day 5: ...

Absolutely shattered from the massive trek yesterday and my legs and feet can barely keep me upright let alone transport me anywhere so I've decided to take at least today and maybe tomorrow off and just have some recovery time in the hotel and around Itasca itself if I can muster the energy to go out. Next week I want to check out the Chicago History Museum and the Magnificent Mile - I may need to invest in a pair of shorts (it's so warm out here!). I think there's a Chicago Fire match on the 26th so I'll look into getting to that. Had another really nice Skype chat with my family sans Dad who had gone out fishing. Going to go and fall asleep or watch a DVD or something - too tired and warm to do anything productive other than write this (and yesterday's) update.

Jambo out.

Day 2: Day Harder

Well, I was still feeling a bit jet-lagged so I had another incredibly lazy day starting with a shower and following with me sitting infront of the laptop listening to music and trying to sort out directions and locations on Google Maps with some sense of success. At midday (my time, 6pm UK time) I'd arranged to have a Skype chat with my parents, sister and brother-in-law. It was great seeing and hearing from them - never thought I'd have a use for a webcam but it's really going to help stop me feeling homesick over the course of the next 87 days. Anyway, we chatted for about 30 minutes as I gave them a tour of the hotel room and talked about the weather and how everyone was doing. After that I spent a further 30 minutes confirming where things were on Google Maps and looking at train times before deciding I was too tired to actually head into Chicago itself today so instead I thought I'd go for a walk and check out the local surroundings.

First thing I noticed after leaving the hotel was that there are no pavements, just road, so if you want to walk somewhere you have to walk right alongside the cars! I kept as close to the side as possible, hopping onto grass where available to keep me as far away from the cars as possible. Another thing I noticed is that no-one here walks anywhere. Over an hour of walking I saw maybe one person who wasn't in a car and even then they were walking from a shop into their car! Second thing I notice is that there are zero pedestrian crossings. So, I start my walk away from the way I came into Itasca just to see what's on the other side. I found the nearest 7-11 which will sort out all of my 24 hour Cola needs and I decided to carry on further up to see what was there and because it was a nice day I fancied the walk.

Itasca doesn't really have much in the way of... Well, anything really. The bars and shops are all right next to the Metra station so once I make my way there I should be sorted though it is an estimated 35 minute walk from the Hotel. Anyway, I carry on walking up until I find the train tracks that cut right through the centre of Itasca and I know from looking on Google Maps that to get the Metra station I just need to follow the tracks left. So I head back and take a left down this nice looking road mainly because it had a load of trees and it was boiling hot so the shade looked enticing. A red squirrel ran right out infront of me and right behind it was a duck hopping after it. I wish I'd remembered to take my camera as that was a Kodak moment if I ever saw one. I turned round once I realised the road didn't lead anywhere exciting and saw a group of ducks hanging out under a tree, slowly hopping in a circle around it. Was pretty weird but awesome all the same.

So I head back to the hotel - stopping at 7/11 on the way for supplies - then get back into the room and shove stuff in the fridge. I don't think I'll be heading out anywhere tonight other than maybe to Wendy's to get something to eat tonight. Instead I think I'll get myself stuck into the manual for my digital camera so I can take lots of pictures tomorrow then later on I'll settle down with a film before getting to bed early. Got a busy day in Chicago tomorrow!

Jambo out.