So driving is getting a bit old. I'm glad the next phase of my trip doesn't actually include many long stretches of driving, since two days of 9+ hours in a row is really annoying, especially since the tolls are so ludicrous, and my shoulder's been hurting. It's not getting better as quickly as I had hoped, but it's taking about as long as I expected. I'm glad I thought to bring audiobooks, or I'd be going insane. I've listened to nearly two Terry Pratchett books, and have six more for the rest of my trip, if I end up needing them.

I started the day in New Stanton, PA, and got away pretty early, all things considered. I knew the past two days, and the drive from Yellowstone to Seattle would be the two longest citiless portions of my trip, and I'm frankly glad to be done with one of them. My day consisted of, if I remember correctly, getting on the I-76, getting on the I-80, and then US-30 and the final one I don't remember. 42 maybe? Something like that at any rate. I stopped at a number of completely uninteresting service stations, and saw absolutely nothing of interest, or worth stopping for all day until I reached Chicago.

Entering Chicago was actually really interesting. I came in along the shoreline, which was jam packed with traffic, it being rush hour when I arrived, having completely failed to take into account the hour time difference in my plans. The city reminds me very much of Toronto, actually, except that I'm very positively inclined towards Chicago, as opposed to Toronto. Maybe it's prejudice, and maybe it's seeing a city after seeing 1200 miles of countryside, but my initial impression was very positive.

I'm staying in a hostel less than a stone's throw, literally, from Wrigley field, which, I think, technically places me in Lakeview, IL, and not Chicago proper, but I choose to believe I'm in Chicago nonetheless. The hostel seems very nice, cool and clean, but friendly at the same time. It's not cheap, but it's very well situated, and very close to transit.

Tomorrow, I plan on walking to check out the Shedd Aquarium, possibly the zoo, and making a train trip into downtown Chicago to check out the sights. If any of you have suggestions, let me know. I'm meeting up with my friend Adrian tomorrow sometime, and I'm sure he'll be able to fill in whatever I don't know already.

I apologize for the lack of pictures today, but it was a fairly boring day, and as soon as I decided to duck into a Starbucks to write this post, it started raining, so I'm not going to risk the phone, I don't think.

Hopefully it will be more interesting tomorrow.

Cheers!