Day 1: slogging through chicago

I must be getting older, but I was up before 6 relatively easy this morning and on the road before 7. Pit-stopped at menonomie for a run along the red cedar trail. Not nearly as pleasant this morning as years past. Very high dew points, deer flies, and a slick trail after all their rain. Gutted it out and moved on. Stopped again for lunch with Andy in Madison at an Indian place. Nice to catch up and hear about all the baby stuff in the works.
     One of the problems with leaving the cities in the morning though is that you will hit chicago with plenty of traffic. I decided to challenge myself and arrive at rush hour. No sugar coating here either: it sucked. Lots of stop and go and Siri re routes. Probably added 45 min to my trip. The worst of it all being not wanting to stop and my Hammys just dieing on me.
     Mercilessly made it to he other side and arrived at dunewood campground (nps not state run). After a solid pasta dinner topped with homegrown basil, I walked down to the lake to catch what was left of sunset. It was probably a 25 min walk down there, so not close, but gorgeous colors and nice to see the big lake from a different perspective. Chicago’s skyline loomed off in the distance, and two smoke stacks loomed on either side down the shore always. It’s not exactly Indiana’s isle royale for solitude (freeway traffic the whole night), but it still was a pretty good view. Ready to leave the Midwest’s mega city though and head to new things.