Day 41 - 7/18/16 Chicago, IL - Day Off

This will hopefully be the last day off for a while.  I'm ready to hit the road again especially because I just said goodbye to my friends heading back East.  There's nothing left to do in Chicago except say, "see you next time!"  I do love this city, I had a feeling I would.  I feel like I'm hitting the reset button, like leaving Chicago is starting all over again – in a good way!  I'm about a 1/3rd across the country which means many more challenges and good times are waiting for me.  Not to mention the cities I've yet to visit and fall in love with.  I wish I had more to say, I'm still drained from the weekend and possibly crashing from a weeklong sugar rush from all the donuts.  I wouldn't change a thing about anything that has happened while I've been in the windy city, it's been a terrific experience.  I hope in the future, not necessarily on this trip, I get to spend some quality time with other cities and places so I can feel their presence within me as much ad I feel present within them.  Afterall, isn't that what we're all trying to do even on a small scale?  Feel comfortable and intimate with a place?  Know all the backroads and shortcuts and all the best kept secrets?  I don't know but it seems like that's what I want to know.

Days 38, 39, 40 - 7/15/16-7/17/16 Chicago, IL

These days have been a blur, just as I expected.  I left Park Ridge on my bike Friday morning, brought it to Neil and Rett's place outside of the city to park it at their house for the weekend and waited for my friends from home to pick me up.  I was waiting on a street corner scribbling in my sketchbook when I heard, "hey cutie!" in a familiar voice.  I hopped in the car with Rosie, Ryan and Justine and I felt like I had seen them yesterday, not last month.  It's strange how you can just pick up where you left off with some people, like nothing really changes.  

It's a strange and wonderful feeling.  Pitchfork Music Fest was our destination.  Our other friend, Sam was playing with his band, The Hotelier on Sunday which is why this whole wonderful weekend took place.  Even though this was a vacation for us all (except Sam, I suppose) we were very busy.  So much delicious food to eat, sites to see, and good music to hear.  

I didn't know most of the acts besides Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys performing Pet Sounds (an unfogettable experience) but I knew my friends would guide me in the right direction to hear the best of the best (which they did!).  Pitchfork was my first 3 day music festival which is as much of an endurance test as it is a big outdoor party.  Within the boundaries of the 3 stages, thousands of people were listening, dancing, walking, sitting, laying down, getting high, getting drunk, talking, sweating, and trying to stay hydrated.  

It's tough out there and I always found myself relieved when the sun went down even though it meant another day with friends is now gone.  Could I pick a favorite act that I saw this weekend?  No, that's like picking a favorite piece out of the Art Institute of Chicago – the whole experience was overwhelming, even exhausting but, so magical and unforgettable in a hazy sort of way.  A few days without a bike between my legs and I practically forgot that I'm in the process of riding across the country.  Happy times and familiar faces are the best kinds of distractions.  Aside from the friends that drove from Boston to be here, I also got to see Daga, another friend from home out visiting his sister in Chicago and even my buddy, Bob who's parents I stayed with in Park Ridge.  

Nothing like seeing so many good people in your life so far away from home to reaffirm you're always in the right place at the right time.  My time here is winding down and I will soon be back to my usual routine of sweating all day, eating an excessive amount of peanut butter, waking up and going to sleep alone until I befriend some more kind strangers that become part of this journey.  I'm loving every minute of it.  I'm excites to see what I find along the road in the next couple months.

Day 37 - 7/14/16 Park Ridge - Day Off

Even though this was a day off, I ended up back in downtown Chicago.  But I took the train so I didn't do any riding, just a lot of walking.  I've had my heart set on visiting the Art Institute of Chicago since before I even got here.  

After some helpful advice on taking the train into the city, I was off on an adventure within my adventure.  All good adventures should start with coffee and donuts so that's what I did.  

Riding the buzz from the caffeine and sugar, I got to the front of the museum and could almost hear the music playing from Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Before I go on and recount my experience piece by piece, I saw hundreds of beautiful works of art of the course of 7 hours.  I am still digesting as I write this.  

The trouble with museums is you pay a lot of money to see a massive collection of art and you try to absorb it all in one sitting which becomes some overwhelming gauntlet of artwork.  I've seen many of these pieces from TV and computer screens and books but, never in person.  

Can you imagine visiting a world class museum without ever seeing any of the artwork before?  A person's head might explode off their shoulders.  It would be kind of cool to jump right into this olympic size pool of art without knowing what the water feels like.  

The museum would be a totally new experience but, you might exhaust your ability to view art before getting to everything.  Going in, knowing which pieces I specifically wanted to see was kind of intimidating.  

I wanted to see it all but I wanted to have energy left to view the pieces I was aching to see.  You could spend an entire year hear, in any museum for that matter.  Go in and spend a couple hours in front of each piece.  

Stare at it, get close, step back, squint, draw it over and over again.  But it's not easy or cheap to do this.  You must move quick, but not too quick because there's no running in the museums.  

But a few minutes in front of those really special pieces, maybe tale a quick photo (if they let you) to remind yourself later what you saw and hopefully how you felt when you were standing in front of something so beautiful.  

I think this is one of the things we struggle with in life: spending enough time to actually sit and contemplate what's in front of us but not dwelling too much.  And also being aware that looking at a photo or video is not a way to relive an experience.  

So be sure to take a moment to feel your feelings when they're happening, photos are not a replacement for the real thing so, slow down and just enjoy.

Day 36 - 7/13/16 Chicago to Park Ridge, IL

I only learned about Bob a year ago.  My friend, Mike met him while they were both teaching English in Taiwan.  I never would've met Bob in person if my knees didn't fail me on my attempt to walk across the country.  Being home for another 2 months worked out perfectly to meet this friend of a friend.  When I finally met him face to face, he had a box of donuts in his hand.  If you ever want to make a good first impression, bring a box of donuts.  Bob is the reason I'm in Park Ridge, Illinois.  

I guess you can say he lives here but, he's out on a road trip to potenially find a new city or town to make his home – part of the reason I met him in Boston on the first place.  So I'm just here with his parents, Jim and Ellen and their dogs, Mia and Mickey.  They're just very kind people, have a great collection of music, books, and artwork, and are also open-minded considering they're letting me spend a couple days here only having met their son once.  I can see why Bob is such a great dude, his parents have been guiding him in the right direction all along.  Over pizza and beers I talked about my life and my trip thus far and they filled me in on all the great family backpacking adventures they've had over the years.  We discussed some similarities between Boston and Chicago; we're both about a 20 minute drive from our homes to our cities which is kind of funny.  Illinois is feeling like some sort of parallel universe in relation to my home.  Especially since I've spent so much time here compared to anywhere else on my trip.  

Do places just start to feel like home once our mental maps develope a bit further after we've spent a few days in one spot?  I assume it's because I really like this place as well.  Maybe it's just all the donuts... All I know is I can say I love Chicago now.

Day 35 - Chicago to Chicago, IL

No, it's not a typo and neither was yesterday's post.  I don't want to call these 'off days' because I'm technically riding and ending up in a different place for the night but, it just happens to be in the same city.  I did mention I'd be slowing things down but, it's almost time to pick things back up again!  I don't know what I'm more excited about, seeing my friends or continuing my trip. 

 

I guess these things have to happen in a certain order so, friends it is!  But man, am I ready to have a nice long day of riding.  I'm even more stoked after looking at some photos from Neil's first bike tour.  I'm staying with him and his girlfriend, Rett tonight.  Neil has plenty of experience with cycling and doing multi-week tours but, Rett just learned to ride a bike within the last 3 years and went on an 800 mile ride from Chicago to Skaneateles, NY!  

If that's not motivation to go out, try something new and push yourself, I don't know what is.  Numbering the days like I've been doing has been a very handy tool for keeping this long, strange trip somewhat organized.  It's nice to be able to go back and see what happened when and where and how many days and miles away things are from here and now.  When I try to think about what has happened without this trusty journal, the timeline seems like a tangled cord that I can't straighten out for the life of me.  Traveling day after day, seeing different things all the time, meeting new people does something to your perception of time.  

Neil even touched on that aspect of touring.  For him, after about 3 weeks on the road, a different mindset starts to set in.  I have the same feeling – you just become untethered, free from any set schedule other than taking care of your own needs as they come.  Not everyone has the opportunity to adopt this kind of lifestyle so I need to embrace the lack of structure and see what it can teach me.  Day after day, I feel more and more grateful and blessed for the situation I'm in.

 

There is no end in sight, no job or home waiting for me on the other side.  Every day is its own adventure when you're on the road (even if it's just for 10 miles) but someday, I don't care when, I will take the bags off my bike and have a place to leave them while I go out abd ride in a neighborhood I can call my own.

Day 34 - 7/11/16 Chicago to Chicago, IL

Is there anything better than waking up in the middle of a beautiful city where a short walk around the corner brings you to fresh coffee and donuts?  I'm only 26 so there might be but, for now this is the best thing I can think of.  The place is called Do-Rite Donuts and the name says it all.  I ate a strawberry rhubarb and a pistachio donut.  Flavors like these aren't readily available at home so it was a particularly joyful experience.  As I sat outside, alternating delicious bite with delicious sip, watching people hurry off to work, I made some friends.  

Maybe half a dozen sparrows perched on chairs and tables hoping for a crumb to fall.  I'm just glad they were polite enough to wait for the crumbs to be on the ground before swooping in rather than eating right out of my hand.  

I checked into my first hostel in the early afternoon after a short bike ride along the lakefront trail.  Lincoln Park, where the Getaway Chicago Hostel stands, reminds me of Somerville – neighborhoods with tightly fitted, older homes stemming off main roads with Mexican food and bars and little grocery shops.  

I had a few places on my list to visit in the area but, I got completely sidetracked after meeting Jeremy, a younger dude from Canada that's been driving around the U.S. for a few months now.  Then the two of us ended up on the patio with a half dozen or so other travelers staying at the hostel.  By the end of the night our group had doubled in size.  

The whole environment just reminded me of college – the community space and kitchen, the shared bedrooms with bunk beds and most people not knowing one another.  And the cigarettes, everybody was rolling their own cigarettes (except me, it seemed).  I met people from Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand, Canada, Mexico, The Netherlands, North Carolina, and even a dude that was born and raised in Chicago.  What a fun night.  It was great hearing and sharing stories of how we all ended up in Chicago and where our next stop will be.

Day 33 - 7/10/16 Palos Hills to Chicago, IL

My friend Max really set me up for a good time in the Windy City.  Not only did he compile a list of pizza and donut places for me to visit, he also used his hotel rewards points to get me a swanky room right in the heart of downtown.  

I felt like Ferris Bueller rolling up to the city seeing the buildings getting bigger and bigger until they surrounded me.  

I followed the bike path right along Lake Michigan where I even saw a kid wearing a "Save Ferris" t-shirt.  Cities are all very similar.  The architecture varies a bit but they use all the same materials.  

You can find the same sorts of attractions: museums, zoos, sports stadiums, shops, restaurants, public parks.  Visiting a city for the first time, all these never-before-seen features seem familiar in a way –

 

like deja vu or the slightest memory of a dream but, it's real life.  My mental map of Chicago has been slowly developing as I've been traveling from restaurant to park to bar to jazz club.  

There are times when I feel like I've been here and then I remember, this is Chicago, I've never walked these streets before.  And what's even more surreal is I rode here on my bike.