Just entering Wisconsin after a later than intended start to the day. The sun is out and luckily the traffic flow seems light. I have put out our baggie of change and bills as there are many tolls between us and home still. I believe we paid about $40.00 in tolls between Maine and Minnesota on the way here. The kids are watching an American Girl movie which Holly picked up with her money at the store. A brief stop at IHop for some lunch to go and bathroom breaks before jumping back onto the van. All in hopes of getting through Chicago before rush hour which would an absolute nightmare. We cannot remember when we hit a time change zone, thus we are perhaps slightly more paranoid than necessary. Paul Potts is helping me to escape the confines of the vehicle temporarily as there seems to be a lot of overly vocal people in close proximity to me and my head was beginning to spin - thank you to whomever invented headphones :). Belatedly realizing that it is,in fact, a Saturday, thus making us feel like a pair of freshly plucked turkeys given a second chance, we enter Chicago joyfully among the swiftly flowing traffic. I have had to confiscate the crapola gaming system to bring an end to the fighting. Children subdued, we carry on through Chicago eventually running into traffic. What I would like to know is why are all these people on the road... it is Sat...they should be shopping, or having a late lunch, or having a siesta, or off at their cabins.....oooooo to have the road to ourselves. It has become so clearly evident that it doesn't seem to matter what day of the week it is in Chicago, it just seems to be always horribly congested with traffic. Luckily the kidlets are asleep and GaGa is with me so we are tolerating the madness of idiots thus far. James is in the grips of a furious silence which I continue to pretend to not notice. It would make a good blog photo though, but the camera was too expensive to risk it. I figure the shot of the lineups at the toll booth would suffice. We have pulled over into Chesterton, Indiana for the night at the Best Western as we had all had enough for the day. It has a pool and a free hot breakfast, and a great price tag of $80.00 plus tax, so we are all happy (despite the onsite Lotus Spa being closed - my feet continue to not be on speaking terms with me). There was a large Hallmark store across the way where I happened to buy Liesl and Charlees' birthday gifts for next year!! Turning the lights out now and hopefully getting some solid sleep in.