Though I had some intention of seeing this city at least once in my life (yeah, I had never attempted to go there since my arrival in 2002) but never had any intention nor plans to see it in winter… or so I thought. Things shaped up in such a way that I needed some very important paper work done from a certain office in Chicago and thus had to make an almost instant plan to make a trip down….

From Yooper Land To Lincoln Land

Starting from Houghton around 3:30 am (early hours of Sunday; thanks to few friends’ suggestions) and barring a 50 mile stretch beginning US-141S, rest of the drive was snow free, at least on the road. And, the weather - couldn’t have been any better either. Two short naps and some stops for gas (for car) and food punctuated my 10+ hour journey - during which I got to see some sign boards - which would have been like any other if I wasn’t interested in Michigan Tech Basketball. Starting early gave me an opportunity to shoot sunrise, but only 200 miles away from Houghton

Sunrise in Green Bay, WI - shot from US41

One of the towns basketball has made me familiar with…

Another town basketball has made me familiar with…

After paying my dues to Illinois (the toll fee) and while driving in some other interstate highway, I managed to shoot more pictures. It was probably the first time in a loooong time I saw any windmills and there were plenty of them by a rest area:

Shooting the handsome devil in my rear view mirror

Windmills

Driving towards Peoria, IL

When Last 3 Turned Into 127 More…

After 12 hours of multi-stop driving, I had entered the Peoria (about 160 miles southwest of Chicago) - one of my buddies, Rajiv, had offered to put me up in his apartment and feed me for the night. Yahoo! Maps forgot to mention which side I should turn (left or right) just 3 miles before my final destination. Apparently, not too many people in Peoria know about this particular street - at least none of those whom I asked. So, all that meant I drove around and stretched the last 3 miles into 130 miles spending nearly three and half hours! Worst of all, 125 of these were on a single street - The North Knoxville Avenue. Good thing about this was that I got to shoot some pretty pictures:

Driving in and out of Peoria, IL

Sunset in Peoria, IL

Sunset in Peoria, IL

Finally, i reached Rajiv’s apartment, thanks to a lady’s help in a neighboring apartment complex, around 7 pm (Central Time). After a short but nice, mostly photography related, discussion with Parag, Rajiv drove us (needless to mention, in his new sports car) to, Sizzling India, a desi hotel in downtown Peoria. Food was good and that automatically explains that I hogged far exceeding my normal standards

Peoria To Chicago

After a nightful of rock-like sleep, journey towards Chicago started around 8:30 am CT - driving in IL-17 for about 20 miles was the most treacherous and demanded lot of concentration as the entire stretch had 6-8 inches of snow! This and other such things (strong winds, non-working day but still busy traffic, etc.) implied that a 160 mile drive, mostly on interstate, took about 4 hours.

Windy City Skyline - while driving into the city

My favorite billboard in downtown Chicago

Finding a parking lot and some space in it to park my car in downtown wasn’t too difficult but I had some shocking news waiting in the German embassy/consulate. As opposed to the webcasted/webvertised (yes, these are new words and I have to patent them), the consulate works only between 8-11 am and that meant I had to find a place to stay. Knowing about the hassles of driving into a big city on a work day and not wanting to miss out another day of appointments, I decided to stay as close as possible to the consulate. Thanks to another buddy of mine, Krishna, I found the reservation details and thanks to a tip from friend & fellow grad student, Wil Slough, I managed to get a decent discount too

Roaming Around In Chicago

The fact that I had to wait until the next day for my VISA appointment gave me enough opportunity to roam around in Chicago and lot of blabbering opportunities for my camera. With the time I had at my disposal, all I managed to do was to roam up and down the Michigan Avenue - makes sense doesn’t it? Following are some, just some, of the pictures I thought of sharing with you - rest of them are here, if you are interested.

One of the few places where these two can co-exist!

One end of N. Michigan Avenue

From the semi-frozen shores Chicago river - under Michigan Avenue

Chicago river and skyline

Chicago overexposed…

Chicago skyline

Some place in downtown

While I was shooting this above picture, I did hear some common words in a familiar language - yeah, a family from Bangalore. Like I have mentioned before elsewhere in my blog and in person, it’s not an exaggeration to say that I speak more Kannada in US than I did in Bangalore during recent trip! We started conversation about usual topics and ended up going to the Starbucks for some hot drinks (coffee, tea, etc.). As I stepped out of this coffee shop, my eyes fell on the other side of the street and here’s what they saw:

Apple Store - Huron x Michigan, Downtown Chicago

My kinda store - The Apple Store

My kinda store - The Apple Store

If at all I ever visit Chicago again, this (Apple Store) will definitely be on my list of places to see As the city has lot more traffic and people (most of whom were very friendly and helpful), I managed to shoot some night and long exposure shots that I had been wanting to do for quite some time:

Globalization in Chicago?

Not-so-rush hour in downtown

Downtown at night

Downtown at night

The other end of N. Michigan Avenue, Downtown Chicago

Skyline with Lake Michigan (and some snow) in foreground

Skyline at night - trace of light is that of an airplane flying past…

Skyline with Chicago River in front…

Statues of some historically significant people, with skyline in background

I wanted more traffic here…

The Work

Being in the consulate around 8 am made sure that the actual work (that brought me to Chicago) took only 20 minutes. It would have taken only 5 had the computer not needed a reboot. It was running the other operating system and since I personally hate it, it’s only fair that it hated me too But on the other hand, one of the hotel staff happened to be very much interested in linux! I just have to fax the consulate couple documents and it should all be set

Back To Yooper Land

Driving a bit faster than the regulated speed limits ensured that the return journey took only 8 hours - including one hour of stoppage time (for gas, food, traffic and other such obstacles). Familiar sights, I mean empty roads with myself being the only person for long stretches, made me feel at home loooong ways before Houghton:

I risked my life to save this truck from this train! just kidding - the train was moving backwards

Looong empty stretches with greenery (or something like that) around…

I have always appreciated my car and camera but never had imagined I would be so proud of them - car takes me to places where everybody can go and camera makes sure that I get entrance to places where most others don’t!

This short but memorable (on a personal note) trip to the Windy City in a not so Windy Time was definitely good. Now, I am back in one piece and some sleep/rest should keep me ready for rest of the week’s work.