Out of Chicago, Into Nebraska (Iowa? What Iowa?)

On my way out of Greater Chicagoland (I used to hate it when they called it that... in fact, that might be why we moved) I swung past Thomson's birth hospital.
Yes, our skier/surfer son's secret embarrassment is his Illinois birthplace. Sort of like that "New York" scourge disclosed on my own passport.













Then I made my first return visit in 23 years to the deli across from the hospital for an onion bialy with lox spread.

Mmmmm, good! Brought back memories. Thomson's birthing story centers around his epic three-day resistance to leaving the womb, so I had ample opportunity to become a loyal customer at NY B&B. I am sorry to report, however, that they did not remember me. I imported some of that fine lox spread to Boulder for this morning's breakfast.

I then passed no fewer than six consecutive car washes, and the power of advertising frequency lured me in.

What an experience. I bought the el cheapo special wash ($8), yet no fewer than six Mexican men helped to wash my car. First they removed me from my car so one of them can get in to ride through the tunnel -- not just for fun, but so that he can wash the inside of the glass. They worked hard and made my car pretty...

Care to guess which scent I chose?

Trick question. I stuck with "Eau de Jay."

... but anyway, all that labor, plus running the equipment, all for eight bucks? Hmmm. I wonder if the employees were legal. HA! Here's our immigration problem, all in a tiny little soap bubble in Greater Chicagoland! I had the only car there that cost under $30,000, yet we all expect $8, labor-intensive car washes! Geez, maybe we'll have to pay a little more for a car wash (or for a head of lettuce, etc.) in exchange for our country not going broke.

Then I was galloping across the beautiful plains, onto Nebraska's high plains,

and into the Great Platte Valley. Here's where early pioneers, then miles of wagon trains, then the Pony Express, then the transcontinental railroad, and finally the Eisenhower Interstate System cut a straight line of human communication across our continent. The sign reminded me that the railway was built less than 90 years before I was born! Man, someone's getting old around here!

I made it to Kearney, Nebraska, 668 miles from Wilmette, Illinois. God Bless the rural midwest and its $45 hotel rooms with free breakfast and free wireless internet. A one-bug hotel (on the shower curtain), not a bad deal.