Well, it's 5am but there are no Monday blues here! Today our road trip starts proper and we pick up our car and drive to St Louis, about 350 miles away. I am a little sad to leave Chicago, I really like it here, but excited to start a new adventure.

I was worried that we wouldn't have time to see much of Chicago but I feel like we crammed so much into a day that we have a really good feel for the city. It's hard to believe we haven't even been here 2 days - it feels like a week. I really like it here and was saying to Claire yesterday that I would happily live here. There is character and grit in the buildings, the architecture, the bridges and the 'El', you can tell this is a city with history and a story, but it is also beautiful with the lake, the river and the parks, and cheeky, with buildings like the Chicago Tribune and it's stolen artefacts displayed so brazenly. People are mega friendly, there is art everywhere and the city is so active - people running and cycling, walking their dogs everywhere. There is also a specific smell - hard to describe but I think it will forever remind me of being here. All in all, it's been great and I would definitely come back.

Today we have to leave our hotel early (jet lag helping us out for once as it will make our morning seem more relaxed), and head out on the El one last time to pick up our car in the loop, just a few blocks away from the official start of Route 66. Then we head south west towards St Louis, travelling though Springfield (home of Abraham Lincoln). We are slightly scared about the prospect of driving out of Chicago at rush hour. We have been trying to learn the rules of the road by watching the cars as we have walked around - not sure if that has helped of hindered in all honesty. We also don't really know where we are going! We have a map book and a sat nav (Billy), plus a Route 66 book to help us on out way so hopefully we'll be ok. The old Route 66 has largely been replaced by the interstate now so we have to pick and choose our route to spend as much time on the old road as possible. We'll update later once we know how it has gone!