July 21, 2009

Chicago Skyway At Five O'Clock

According to the watch on my wrinkled arm it was technically 5:19. And now you know that I own a Rolex. It was given to me as a gift almost twenty-five years ago. You can see that I set the time but never the date. Who cares what day it is?

Last week we flew to Atlanta and drove back to Wisconsin and thought it would be fun to drive through Chicago at the worst possible time of day. Not really, it just worked out that way. We had a good attitude and enjoyed the sights as we sat, and sat, and sat waiting for traffic to move.

I decided to take some pictures through the car window, but it wasn't easy because there seemed to be cars on both sides of us almost all of the time. We saw this sobering remembrance of September 11 and then stayed silent for a while with our own thoughts of that day.

Here's the Sears Tower and if you look closely you can see what I believe to be the new glass viewing platforms on the 103rd floor. Each of the four platforms extend out from the Tower about four feet. I so want to experience this. I think there's something similar at the Grand Canyon.

Wisconsin, left 3 lanes. Easier said than done when you're in the far right lane.

Not crazy about driving through any tunnel and especially not one with four lanes of cars all driving over the speed limit.

We enjoyed the two hours that it took us to go twenty miles, but were very happy to see this sign and be on our way home. Not that we don't love St. Louis!

15 comments:

  1. Try New York sometime .. I dislike tunnels 900% ... took us over 2 hours to get thru the tunnel, Donna.

    TY for your sweet comments today. Mother was really a wonderful woman who withstood much, & we were very close. I still miss her.

    TTFN~ Marydon

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  2. this is my third time trying to post a comment on here!
    Your post reminds me of our trip to Chicago when I was pregnant with our first baby.
    We rode the train from Grand Rapids and the toilets were overflowing.
    We went up to sears tower, very windy!
    And there are no words for 9/11.
    Rosey

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  3. 20 miles in 2 hours! Yikes, I'd hate to have that commute!

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  4. Thank you for the tour and I didn't even have to contend with the traffic. One thing to be said for lots of traffic you have the opportunity to look around without endangering your life.

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  5. Thanks for the trip to Chicago via traffic. I haven't been there since the last Democratic convention was held there in 1996, I believe. I went through there a few times in the early 90's when Jim was finishing up his last degree at Northern Illinois U and celebrated my 40th birthday there.
    Chicago is my 4th favorite city in the US, following after DC, NYC, Seattle (Seattle moves to the top for visiting since Amy's there, but DC is first for over all "just love it!")
    Glad you're home safely and out of traffic.

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  6. We have a tunnel here in Mobile that goes under water (under Mobile Bay), The Bankhead Tunnel. I hate that tunnel, it scares me. It has never had any problems, but I am always worried it is going to spring a leak!

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  7. It's much more fun to read about a traffic jam than to be in one!

    I cannot imagine driving through the Chunnel.

    Where I grew up has its share of traffic snarls now. I'm glad we moved an hour away where there is a lot fewer people and commuters.

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  8. Just looking at pictures taken from those glass observatories made me break out in a sweat! I saw a little girl just laying on the floor of one as though she were flying over the city. I don't think I could do it. It's iffy for me to even look out the window of the tower, but I do it as long as I can look off in the distance and not straight down.

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  9. St Louis! That's where I grew up...I like visiting there, but love visiting Chicago. We took the architectural river tour and the docent talked about the swaying you experience in the Sears Tower...that was enough to keep me from getting in that elevator! Did you drive through nashville? Next time let me know. gail

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  10. Anonymous22 July, 2009

    I grew up in the SW corner of Michigan, and we spent plenty of time in Chicago, stuck in traffic. Yikes! Great town though. I have to admit that I am wearing myself out a bit caring for hubby. He's such a great help to me, and I sure miss his helping hands. I don't know how two people can make so many dishes and laundry!

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  11. Thank-you for visiting my blog. I agree with sweet bay about it being more fun to read about being in a traffic jam. I've only ever once been in a city with more than two lanes in one direction.....no, two times if I count the time we went to Disneyland. Contending daily with that kind of traffic would drive me insane!!
    And you wouldn't catch me dead on that Sears Tower....I'm terrified of heights, don't mind tunnels but bridges make my heart skip beats!

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  12. Ugh. Chicago at rush hour. How brave of you.

    In Detroit, we have a tunnel goes under the Detroit River and it takes you Windsor, Canada. It's a little creepy but I've still done it a few times, but to be honest, I prefer the bridge to Canada over the tunnel to Canada.

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  13. Oh Geez, Donna, I can't think of anything more dreadful than being caught in rush hour traffic here, but you took it like a trooper.

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  14. Scary stuff! Our Scottish motorways have 2 lanes either side. We know we've crossed into England because they have 3 lanes either side.

    Like your Rolex! Hope I'm not being too personal, but is that a scar on your wrist to the right of the watch? I ask because I have a scar from an operation in that exact place.

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  15. Me and my big mouth!! Please feel free to delete my comment! But I hope you take it as a compliment that I felt I 'knew' you well enough to ask without offence!

    One's arms do become more 'interesting' with time, don't they? Just this summer, as I approach the big five-oh, I've been surprised to notice all sorts of crags and crevasses on my arms, which of course I still think of as belonging to my 17 year old self. The scar on my wrist is a source of amusement to me - I had a big ganglion removed in my 20's, and it left quite a wide scar. The scar is on the top of my wrist, but I catch people looking curiously at it since it's on my wrist...

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