trip review: kansas city & chicago, aug 14-24

[rone]

(this entry posted via my neighbor's wireless connection, which i've temporarily hijacked)

To prepare for the trip, i burned an mp3 cd, so i could play it on my portable disc player, and, via a cassette adapter, have music while we were driving from KC to Chicago. Upon arriving in KC and getting our rental car, i learned that the car has no cassette player, only a CD player that can't play an mp3 disc.  To offset this situation, we purchased the following CDs:

• Bob James - Dancing On The Water
• Jean Michel Jarre - Sessions 2000
• The Tony Levin Band - Double Espresso
• The Polyphonic Spree - Together We're Heavy
• David Sanborn - Time Again
• Sigur Rós - ()

My high school buddy, Lenín, his wife Kristi, and their baby boy Ethan met us at the airport, and we stayed at their place in Lee's Summit during our time in the KC metropolitan area. His parents have been living in the area the last few years, too, and they came over to see us; it was the first time i'd seen them since Lenín's wedding (in which i was a groomsman). They brought over a short movie (on Betamax!) that we'd recorded in 9th grade with a bunch of friends (and a cameo appearance by palecur); they promised they'd digitize it and send me a copy (stay tuned!).

In Kansas City, we enjoyed fabulous BBQ at Arthur Bryant's, visited the Negro Leagues and American Jazz Museums, and hooked up with noted Kibologista Terri Willis, her Big Guy, Paul, and suspected terrorist dog Harlan, as well as her various horses, who love eating apples because it makes them foam at the mouth and drool. Terri and Paul took us to the Golden Ox for dinner, where everyone but me had the smoked prime rib; i had a piece and it was the most tender piece of beef i have ever had. It defies further description.

We had a hard time finding a Starbucks in KC. Honest. I was rather shocked. Evidently, they're as plentiful there as anywhere else, but we just didn't see one except in Lee's Summit.

After a few days, we packed up and headed to Chicago, through Missouri (the missus got a damn speeding ticket on a rural road we took to avoid construction on I-70) towards St. Louis, then northwards through Illinois. As we drove through Missouri, i noticed a large amount of billboards touting titty bars and adult DVD shacks (PORN PORN PORN). Most of the way there, we drove even with a Knights of Columbus van, resplendent in gloriously strident anti-abortion stickers.

We arrived in St. Louis and stopped for lunch. We quickly decided that St. Louis sucks; streets are tangled and signage is poor (although the part of town by the riverfront has quaint, if run-down, cobblestones). On the way out, we passed by the Gateway Arch, and it is a mighty construction.

As soon as we cut into Illinois, we realized that people in Illinois drive like shit; tailgating seems to be the state pasttime, and it usually involves passing people who get tired of it and let you by, cutting in front of them, and slowing down. There's corn as far as the eye can see on both sides of the highway (CORN CORN CORN). On the way, i encountered the URL http://gunssavelife.com/, which could possibly be correctly grammatical, but is still less than æsthetic.

We finally arrived in Chicago, and our hotel, right in downtown, was a bit off. After a somewhat sleepless night, Kim and i switch over to a nicer place in Skokie, where we found, in close succession, an El station, a Starbucks, and a Washington Mutual. Clearly, this is the place to be for us.

I wanted to catch a game at Wrigley Field, but the Cubs were on the road (boo). Instead, we went to the House of Blues and had dinner (yet another fantastic meal) with bivaughn and Stephie, and later we headed out to the `burbs to meet tigresse and her family (for Yet Another Fantastic Meal at Fritzl's). We also went to the Navy Pier, where we caught a very nice fireworks show and i managed to scratch my miniature golf itch, and to the Sears Tower Skydeck, where i tried to do the Ferris Bueller thing, but was thwarted by metal bars; i think i would have enjoyed the Sears Tower a lot more when i was younger, as i found it a bit "meh", and the long wait in line was a pain in the knees (and my bad foot).

We decided to head back to KC via Iowa, for a different look at the Midwest. As we tried to escape Illinois, we missed a turn and ended up going through Moline instead of around it, and encountered a "graveyard" that purportedly has a cross for every life lost to abortion.

We finally entered Iowa, land of the unfortunately named Kum & Go, a KFC all-you-can-eat buffet, rolling hills, the world's largest truck stop, more corn (but not as much as Illinois), and very nice rest stops, one of which had wireless Internet (and, yes, i gave it a spin). We also passed a truck with the URL http://www.brokenyoke.com/; i'm guessing it was their tour bus. We gave Des Moines a miss and headed straight south towards KC, avoided a traffic jam on I-70 due to a goddamned Chiefs preseason game, and headed to Lenín&Kristi's.

On the flight back, we had to run in O'Hare to catch our connecting flight... barely made it. And my poor foot, ow. We were delayed by thunderstorms, which started a couple of days before we left; otherwise, the weather was really mild, just for us wussy Californians.

In KC, we picked up a bottle of wine made with grapes from and bottled in Missouri. I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

These days I carry a small radio transmitter widget to play my music into hire cars since I can't predict what sort of kit will be in a midrange hire car.
(you do want one that tunes to all stations and not just a selection of 4 or so)

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i considered getting one of those, but i've never seen one and i didn't feel like putting in the effort to get one. I'll probably check it out on Labor Day (sale, sale, sale!).

[http://users.livejournal.com/_nicolai_/]

There's a spiffy one sold by Belkin aimed at iPod users. It should work with anything since it has external tuning controls, but it is often seen in Apple dealers, Microcenter, etc.
(I've got an iTrip since I've got an iPod, but it's not usable with anything else)

[palecur.livejournal.com]

If you do buy anything from Belkin, let me know and I will clue you in on the SUPAR SEKRIT 50% off coupon code. They still bugger the hell out of you on shipping, though, and they overcharge, so it's really more like 33 to 25% off normal market price, but it's still a decent deal.

[jbroughton.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest the same thing. I have a MiniDisc player with most of my music on the various MD's. I just hook up the FM transmitter to the MD player and listen to my tunes going to/from work, also have a hookup in whatever patrol car I end up getting for the night (most of the Patrol Cars have radio only, some deputies put their own stereo in there). And when Im at work in the jail, all we have are standard radio's with no CD players in them, so I just blast the tunes to the radio :-) Costs only $20 from Walmart.

[allknight.livejournal.com]

Nice lil trip report, seems like you have had a rather interesting few miles on the road. Interesting how those childhood memories compare to today's thoughts and perspectives too. BTW if you have an internet connection you can find out if there is a starbucks nearby via http://www.starbucks.com/Default.asp?cookie%5Ftest=1
on it is a store locater....

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Too much work! What kind of world domination needs a locator, for crying out loud?

[allknight.livejournal.com]

Perhaps your right but if you were a die hard Starbucks man, if there is a will there is a way... But then again you were probably happy being away from computers while you were on your trip too!

[bebopmonkey.livejournal.com]

I peed on that arch you saw.

and an interesting side note, its a $50 fine if you're caught having sex under the arch (oh the masturbation jokes were thrown around handily).

[nyar.livejournal.com]

You probably don't realize this but I bet you also saw a metric buttload of soybean plants when you were driving through Illinois!

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, we sure did. I wouldn't've known, but the missus is the expert.

[nyar.livejournal.com]

I barely know what a soybean plant looks like and I lived nearly 24 years in IL, and in the last six of them I spent a fair amount of time driving back and forth between Central IL and Chicagoland. I could recognize them in fields as being distinct from corn and wheat, but if you were to stick a soybean plant in front of me and ask me what it was I would say "a plant?".

Hoofing It

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

Is there a connection between corn-corn-corn and porn-porn-porn?
When you battled Illinois drivers, did you use your horn-horn-horn?
And ... What's up with your foot? Is something torn-torn-torn?
Okay, I'll stop. The repetition is a bit worn-worn-worn.
(hee hee hee)

[avocado123.livejournal.com]

Yes, St Louis is teh suck. I don't know how anyone can learn to drive there.

The thunderstorms you encountered sprouted a few tornadoes nearby. That was fun. I about had a stroke, worrying about the tornadoes and wondering if I should go to the shelter; turns out the shelter doors don't close and the place leaks like a mutha. Hooray for trailer parks in Kansas.

I'm glad you had a good trip. Sounds busy.

[ronebofh.livejournal.com]

It was definitely busy. We also tried to hook up with reverendluke and queennoise, but it could not happen.

[schwa242.livejournal.com]

They also have "Kum & Go" in Wyoming. The kids around here just love going there to buy their cigarette lighters with the gas station's logo on the side.

-- Schwa ---