 Over the course of the next few days I became intimate with the Interstates (ha! What a misuse of that word!) in Illinois.
These people are nuts. They aren't nuts like New York where "everything paved is fair game", they aren't nuts like in New Jersey where they they thought it was a good idea to make people turn right in order to go left, they aren't nuts like in Boston where they are aiming at you, they are just insane. At least in New York if someone is driving crazy it is because they are trying to get somewhere, in Chicago they will cut you off in the right hand lane to sit in front of you at the stop light. It is obvious when you are on the roads that they were planned by a corrupt city government. Every few miles of gruntingly slow congestion you are stopped and asked for an arbitrary about of money. Like 40 cents. 40 cents? Each toll booth is different and usually there's one on the exit too. One of them had a red light that stayed red even after you paid (I paid it twice), another one had a basket so high I couldn't reach it without unbuckling my belt and standing on the car floor. What is this? SUV only? Never mind that we all know the roads are already paid for, and this one is in horrible condition and hopelessly jammed, we lost count of how may times we nearly died when a 18 wheeler suddenly lost it's lane and found itself nearly parked on top of us. Beyond that they have an EZ pass type system, only it's called the "I pass" and doesn't accept EZ Pass. That makes sense. Not. Here is another thing I don't get: The reason why we have traffic in Manhattan is because it's an island. You have to go over a bridge or through a tunnel to get there. Understandable. But Chicago is on land. There are other roads. Ask someone from Chicago why they take the Interstate- they call it aptly, the "Tollway"- and they'll tell you, "Because it's faster". But it's NOT! It's slow as the 2000 Presidential election and just as annoying. Well screw it, the rain clouds were looming and we pulled off at the first exit. That's another thing about driving west, you can always tell what the weather is going to be across the wide flat plains. Everyone is a junior weatherman. |
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3 Day Two- 1/4 Lap of America Part 1 Another Change in Plans~~ Part 2 Indiana~~ Part 3 Chicago Roads~~ Part 4 The Pit~~ Part 5 Teachum's Garage~~ Part 6 Love and Hate on I-294~~ Part 7 Route 14~~ Part 8 Manona Terrace (FLW)~~ |
 1/4 Lap of America Frank Lloyd Wright Gumball Page May 21-30, 2001  Esmerelda's Home Page
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