A Break in Chicago.

so now we're coming to the end of this part of things. we spent thursday driving down to Chicago, stopping at the Milwaukee Art Museum - a pretty crazy architectural structure - to see a show by London photomontage artists Gilbert and George. we had lunch in the museum, and then went to Oak Brook (outside of Chicago) to spend some time with Eva's grandmother.

the traffic here could kill a person, by the way. it took forever to get from Milwaukee to Oak Brook, and then forever to get from Oak Brook to our hotel.

we had dinner thursday with Eva's cousin Renee and her girlfriend Anne, and then spent Friday with my friend Rachel, her son Sam and her husband Tim. it was a really lovely day - we walked along Lake Michigan, had three really lovely meals, and played ball with Sam in Rachel's back yard. it was definitely a mini-vacation.

now, though, we're back in our road mode. and we are tired. and we are beginning to feel the stress of what's coming - getting to Baltimore and having no stuff, Eva's job starting, my job situation somewhat unclear, etc. we considered for a moment driving directly through to Baltimore today, but decided that getting there in the middle of the night, exhausted and bleary, served no real purpose at all. so we're heading for Pittsburgh, as the plan dictated.

first, though, some strong coffee. we're going out hunting for some. why is it that the hotels always try to pass of brown water as coffee?