From: photoduniya.com
Day 8 was planned to be a rest day as well as to see the city of Chicago. Fortunately, and quite by luck, we found an affordable hotel right on Michigan, about a block’s walk from the Millennium Park. The day had been cloudy with mild wind and temperatures hovering around the thirties.
Millennium Park in Chicago, IL @ photoduniya.com
We spent our day and the evening at Shedd Aquarium, Grant Park and walking along Michigan in downtown Chicago. In the evening the Sears Park, also known as McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, lights up with the decorations from the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations and fills up with eager skaters of all ages.
McCormick Tribune Ice Rink in Chicago, IL @ photoduniya.com
Our day ended at about 9:00 PM CST. Tomorrow we head off east from Chicago and drive through Ohio as close to Pennsylvania. More on the trip will come up later on the Travel section of photoduniya.com.
From: photoduniya.com
We have covered close to 2700 miles now and reached Chicago, IL where we want to rest for 2 nights before heading eastwards again. In the map below, you will see the deviation from I-80 (in pink) where we traveled northwards on I-88 East to Chicago, IL.
Today’s drive had been mostly through Iowa, starting from Council Bluffs in the western end through Des Moines into Illinois. The drive had been strenuous mostly due to the strong surface winds which blew northward at speeds of about 25 mph on an average. It is very hard to keep high driving speeds in such strong cross winds, but we covered the 650 miles in about 8 hours of drive-time.
Iowa landscape @ photoduniya.com
The landscape through the drive was quite monotonous, with wide snow covered land areas lying on either side of the highway. The drive suddenly changed when I-88 East neared Chicago, IL with very high traffic – mostly the office-time drivers. We touched Chicago, IL at about 8:30 PM Central Time. It is about 15 degrees Fahrenheit with wind chill close to 2 degrees. I spent an hour and a half outside with my camera in the city hoping to find some interesting stories.
Night scene in Chicago, IL @ photoduniya.com
The images were done with hand held Nikon D200 with no flash. I shall update the Travel section of photoduniya.com with the more details on the cross country drive from California to New York.
From: photoduniya.com
We have covered almost 2100 miles by the end of Day 6 on this cross country drive. That leaves us another 1200 miles to cover before we could reach New York.
The drive through Nebraska had been very nice. The bright sunshine with low cross winds and the almost flat drive across Nebraska made it a very comfortable drive. We were able to maintain an average speed of between 85 mph to 90 mph for most of the time. I-80 however had road work for about 10 miles at the eastern end of Nebraska close to Omaha which slowed us down to about 50 mph for a short while.
Sand Desert in Nebraska @ photoduniya.com
This image was taken on hand held Nikon D200 while driving. I shall post more on the trip and images on the Travel section of photoduniya.com.
From: photoduniya.com
We started at about 11:00 AM Mountain time from Jackson Hole at the northeast corner of Wyoming. The temperature was in single digits but it was bright and sunny for the entire day. Our drive was to be through WY-189/191 instead of the US 26 East. The first 50 miles meandered through the Tetons and the Hoback river. Much like the Snake River on WY-22, the Hoback streamed through the eastern part of Jackson Hole. After 50 miles, it was mostly straight drive.
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Although we wished to see “wild” animals on our way back, none came. We did see an elk grazing on the road side, a few mountain goats and a few birds of prey on the way. There were fresh hoof marks on the road side snow though.
The 700 miles drive from Jackson Hole to Cheyenne too us about 9.5 hours with a few coffee and gas stops in between. The day had been sunny and brilliant throughout. The landscape along I-80 East was very flat with occasional table top ranges on either side. We caught a mild aspen glow towards sunset.
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These images were taken on hand held Nikon D200 mostly while driving. I shall post more on the drive on photoduniya.com later.
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