Aaaaaahhhh...Elgin, At Last

After a night in, I believe, Omaha, NE, I found myself energized enough to drive the rest of the way to where I was headed, which was the Days Inn in Elgin.
After having already gone through the life-sized rollercoaster called The Rockies, Nebraska and Iowa seemed like nothing to drive through...except that the speed limit on the highway in those two states is 70 mph, and trucks are not required to slow down and stay in the right-hand lane...so essentially, EVERYONE gets to go 70 mph, in EVERY lane. For me, this was a bit of a challenge, as my transmission was already starting to show signs of wearing. I did the best that I could, but sometimes it didn't seem to shift up into a higher speed for me, and I found myself going relatively slow, considering how people seem to want to go faster than the posted speed limit.
I remember making a few stops along the way, one being in Iowa, where I had one of my tires checked. I must have thought it looked low or something.
And, three years ago today, was when I drove past the highway sign for a town called What Cheer, Iowa. Boy, I had to do a double-take when I saw that one!
Finally, come evening, I entered Illinois. Aaaaaahhhhh...the Midwest...that I hadn't seen since 1997.
By the time I got into Illinois, it was already starting to get dark.
I entered greater Chicago shortly after midnight. This was where, and when, I accidentally went off-roading, for 2 of the scariest seconds of my life since I left the Rockies. Long story short, my headlights just weren't bright enough to carry me through the rural backroads of greater Chicago after midnight...so I ended up going off the road, quite by accident, and went right back on the road as fast as I could.
Finally, around 1am on July 27th, 2006, I arrived at the Days Inn in Elgin, IL...and took the rest of the day off, so I would be rested up enough to enjoy what I went out there for in the first place.
Naturally, I'll finish this tale! I'm on a roll here.
But...we're gonna take a late stroll around the neighborhood in a minute here, so I gotta run.
Good night, sweetheart, good night!!! Love ya!! Thanks for stopping by!!
Ta-ta, for now!
(poofski)