Day 2: Chicago to The Dells

A very fruitful and exhausting day. The dogs got another romp at the beach in Chicago. Then later in the day, they got a good chunk of time to play at a river. Thank goodness the AC in the van is working great as it was again around 90 today. I try to use the AC sparingly since I hear you get better gas mileage by not using it. Gas prices have gone up since the Spring trip. The cheapest I’ve seen was as a Flying J in PA at $3.43; the most expensive in downtown Chicago $4.53. I’m sure I’ll see worse as California had the highest in the Spring.

I had far more on my list for Illinois than I realized so that ate up most of the day. I should be able to finish the Wisconsin stuff in the morning though and I’m pretty much right on schedule or slightly ahead. Took tons of photos today & am starting to get back in the groove though I’m still exhausted from no sleep the night before last. So let’s get to the photos —

This building in Chicago is so ugly, it’s cute:

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If wood shingles are your thing, how about this geodesic dome covered with the stuff in Freeport, IL. It’s used as an accounting office strangely enough:

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I kept seeing these things in Chicago and wondering what the heck they were. They are perched way up on top of poles and have ugly masses of wires attached. I figured they must be some pull the lever & call the police sort of thing (flashing blue lights at top) — but I never saw any lever type boxes or anything to go with them. I’d love to know what the deal is:

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A cool-looking candy store in McHenry, IL. I don’t know if that’s what it always was. The tip of the building’s pointy tower has some dripping chocolate sauce:

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A beautiful old silo, west of Marengo, IL (might be Garden Prairie, IL):

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Way out in Illinois farmland (I saw a LOT of corn today) — this odd sign. Blurry but I’ll include it anyway. I’m not even sure what it means. And the salesman seems to be posed in a Jesus-y sort of way.