Chicago

Please don't feel obligated to look at my 'vacation' photos. First of all, you're not in them-- and photographs that do not feature the viewer have been socially-proven to be mass lamer than ones that do. Secondly they're not that good. And lastly, it wasn't even really a vacation.

I recently logged more than 4700 miles on a round-trip drive to Chicago to drop my son at college. At times, the road was so long and boring it seemed that by the time I reached the end of it, he'd be graduated. In reality it was only 12 days...

My hope was to return from this adventure having at least learned something about myself-- perhaps even having undertaken some kind of reasonably profound midlife transformation. I don't know what I was thinking! All I got was hoarse and dizzy, with a semi-dislocated hip I like to call 'accelerator hip' (the cruise control isn't working in the van...)

I don't know what I learned. Covering as much ground as I did, I'm not even sure what I saw. I strove to stay as fully inside each moment as possible-- to SEE things rather than merely look at them. But in the end, most of my discretionary time was spent working, as the internet connection was generally much more reliable than I'd hoped it would be. In that respect it was kind of like being at home, only I had to clean bugs off my windsheild more often...

A couple of general impressions:

* People are people. I've been known to make comedy jokes about those who don't live where I live or don't look like I look or don't dig what I dig. But there are genuinely kind people out there who don't give a damn about what I like or do. They're just doing their jobs and taking care of their own shits

* I've seen as many Trump signs in Ferndale as I did in South Dakota, Wisconsin and Idaho combined. In general, I did not notice much evidence that Donald Trump even exists, let alone is running for president. I assume he still does and is, but the uppermost western quadrant of the US doesn't seem inclined to erect billboards on their land--and they have a ton of it

* We live in a crowded and expensive place on Earth. Other than coming into Chicago on a weekday at rush hour, I never had to slow my vehicle down once-- anywhere. The traffic in Seattle is worse than Chicago and the traffic in Bellingham is heavier than any other surface street I drove and that includes not only Rapid City, Butte and Sioux Falls, but also Madison, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. There's a lot of people and cars on the west coast, and the people who drive them are willing to pay a TON for what they eat & drink, and for the souvenirs they buy

Still, I wouldn't trade. It was nice being in Bellingham today. And even though I'd only been gone 12 days, I felt as though I could see it through objective eyes.

But boy are my arms tired...

12 dusty days on the trail roundtrip Bellingham-to-Chicago. Please don't look at these photos-- I'm only posting them so they'll be in one place for me to enjoy later...