Saturday 24 September 2011

More drama

22nd September to 24 September drove 74 miles (119 kms) from Milwuakee to Chicago. Had lunch at a Greek Restaurant when we arrived and I fancied lamb chops - something you just don't seem to see here. WELL!! Check the price! $41 for 3 chops - needless to say I passed lol

 Not feeling the best - have had pains between my shoulder blades, tightness in my chest, hot clammies, very heavy tiredness and dizzy spells, Feeling a bit worried about it all. Didn't use cruise control in the van because if anything happened I didn't want the car just sailing happily on with me "out of it". Booked in to the Hard Rock Hotel and would you believe we got room 1408. For scary movie fans I need say no more. No - the radio hasn't "spoken" to us yet andwe've have had no floods :).  Great views and Chicago is really something else. Magnificent buildings. We had a bit of a walkabout and I decided to nap as the tiredness was quite overwhelming and the shoulder pain and tight chest weren't abating. Eventually I decided I just needed to go to a hospital. Well they were very thorough and gave me every test imaginable. The ECG was "irregular" - they didn't say exactly how. I spent the night plugged in to monitors and having  blood tests and chest x rays and next morning had dye injected and a treadmill stress test done. All very scary but the staff was great. The short answer is they don't know what is wrong but all my vitals are good and my cardiac fitness is "above normal for a person of my age and gender".  All that jogging paid off :)  I only had less than an hours doze at the hospital as it was noisy and I kept getting poked and prodded. Back at the hotel I showered and jammied up and got into bed but sleep eluded me still. About 8 pm I  went for and hours walk and again about 3 am but still no sleep. Finally about 6am I slept - for about 3 hours! Hopefully tonight I'll crash. I'm typing this in a Starbucks - using their internet -and hoping that my travel insurance will cover all costs or this trip is over for me. I've just been to the hospital to get all my bills etc but being Saturday the billing department is closed till Monday.
Except for the tiredness I am feeling a lot better physically but am emotionally drained.
From the hotel room

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Chores Day

21st September - did the washing, washed & vacuumed the car (tried to drive into the car wash from the wrong end lol). Lee went to Miller's Brewery. I had another giant bubble bath and vegged out. Good day :)

Tuesday 20 September 2011

Bubbles Bubbles Bubbles

20 September - ah!! a quiet day. Drove from Rock Falls to Milwaukee Wisconsin - beautiful day - great roads - no dramas. We decided to spoil ourselves and book into a slightly flasher hotel and we ended up at the Comfort Suites.  We got the last room and wonder whether it was designed for more romantic pursuits than mother and daughter. Huge spa bath - shower with 2 nozzles and a King size bed. We tried it all anyway and overdosed the spa bath with bubble bath and when the jets were turned on they nearly overtook the room lol.
 Bugs #646   Miles 164.2 miles (264 kms)

Monday 19 September 2011

Every good movie has a car chase and today we had ours!!!

19 September - started by exploring Mark Twain's boyhood town in Hannibal Missouri. This is where he got all his inspiration for Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. I  first read these books when I was about 10 and have lost count of how many times I have read them since. Mark Twain is a word master!

 The plan today was to get as close to Milwaukee Wisconsin as we could and we got off to a smooth start. Good weather and great roads - stopped for lunch at Galesburg and then started off again. We didn't get too far when we noticed a Buick in front of us keep coming out from behind a semi to overtake but then it would go back behind again and it was sitting right up close to the semi. As this was a two lane road with no cars in front we couldn't work out just why he kept going back in behind the truck. It soon became obvious that this guy was either drunk or on drugs - he kept weaving from side to side and if any one else came up the side to get by he would weave out and they would have to swerve to miss him. All this time his arm is hanging out the window - never seen anything like it. After 10 minutes or so with the erratic driving getting worse we called 911 because it was pretty obvious that if he didn't kill himself he would kill someone else. The 911 lady stayed on the phone and asked us to let them know if he took an exit so we followed him and just sat back. At one stage he swerved directly across the road into the grassy area between the roads and then right back over to the other side and off the road there. No cops turned up. I think he realised we were following him because he took an exit off the highway - we followed him keeping 911 informed. He ended up turning back on to the freeway - returning the way he came.  He took another exit and we ended up back in Galesburg where he was stopped by a police car - nearly ran the policeman over! Anyway...it was his lucky day that he is still alive and that he didn't kill someone else. We told the police officer the story and left our details and began our journey from Galesburg again. We seem to be collecting a lot of Police Officers on this road trip.  Currently in Rock Falls Illinois - our 17 th state - and will continue on to Milwaukee tomorrow. Miles 317.4 ( 511 kms) Bugs #641
This is the crazy driver

Sunday 18 September 2011

Arches and truck tsunamis.

18 September - Woke in Mt Vernon Missouri to sunshine but it didn't last long. On the road early but the gloom and intermittent rain soon became the order of the day. In Australia winter slides in slowly but it seems to us that summer just up and snapped shut and winter started. Of course it is only autumn here but it feels like an Aussie winter...makes the USA winter seem ominous.

The road into St Louis was incredible and I admit to being a speed hound albeit a scared speed hound. This highway is up to 5 lanes wide. The top speed limit is 70 mph (112 kph) but if I didn't sit on 80 mph (130 kph)  I would have been crushed by the tsunami of semi trailers that flooded the highway - and this was a Sunday. Add pouring rain into the equation and all I can say is that it was an exhilarating ride. These semis line up three abreast and it almost looked like a truck drag race and woe betide the poor motorist that gets in the way. Despite this we arrived safely into St Louis and were immediately impressed by all we saw. It was quite humid by now and foggy but we went to straight to the Gateway Arch. See below. It is an amazing structure and I threw my claustrophobia aside and climbed into the Mork type Egg that travels on rails up to the top - 630 ft (192 mts) - with 4 other people. Was very snuggly.
Gateway Arch - I went right to the top - incredible views
The view from the top of the Arch
Where to go first? lol
After the Arch we went to the Budweiser Brewery - it was too wet to do the tour but we hit the gift shop.....Yes Terry!! I bought you a present!  :)   Then it was back on the road and on to Hannibal Missouri. Tomorrow we will explore Mark Twain's boyhood home and museum and then head for Milwaukee. Miles 369.1 (594 kms) Bugs # 634