This is the fruition of a lifelong dream – coming to America and getting a taste of this vast, diverse land and culture. I am so excited to embark on my journey. I will faithfully keep this log so that I may remember the experience always!

It all starts as I fly into O'Hare International Airport…

Tuesday, June 1, 2004

I am thankful to have taken the great care to reserve an Avis Rental car that will be my transportation for my long trek.

I make my way north and west to Elgin Illinois. The highway is good though crowded. I check into my reserved Inn. It is a Red Roof Inn. Elgin is lovely. The grass around the Inn is neatly kept and I see a neighborhood restaurant conveniently located across the street. It is called "Applebee's" and I choose that establishment for my first American restaurant meal. The chef is superb. I send him my compliments.

I return to my Inn, watch some American television – the news. A local fellow with ample American charm reads the news. He is called "Dan Rather" and he is just full of American witticisms. I fall asleep comfortably with the golden light of nearby McDonald's arches gently peeking through the gap in my curtain.


Wednesday, June 2, 2004:

I wake early, anxious to get a good start on my journey. After a brief stop at the McDonald's for hotcakes and sausage, I get back on the highway entrance and head north and west toward the exotic sounding "Eau Claire" in Wisconsin. I am pleased to find that my rental car is equipped with satellite radio. What a treat to know I can listen to American Oldies at the push of a button – and they never fade in reception!

I find the Wisconsin highways to be, much as the Illinois highway, nicely paved and four lanes. I arrive in Eau Claire with plenty of time to check into another Inn. It seems that they also have a Red Roof Inn and it is conveniently located near the highway. Eau Claire is lovely too with well-groomed gardens around the Inn.

Across the street I see a restaurant……Applebee's!    …..Big neighborhood.

I eat at the Applebee's and find that their chef must have studied at the same school as the restaurant in Elgin. Their menus are strikingly similar.

I turn in early and watch some Television. It turns out that this "Dan Rather" isn't as local as I thought. He's on in Eau Claire as well. Perhaps it is regional news. America is big. I fall asleep comfortably with the golden light of nearby McDonald's arches gently peeking through the gap in my curtain.


Thursday, June 3, 2004:

I wake early to get a start on the day's travel. I plan to make it to St Paul, a city in the huge state of Minnesota. After a brief stop at McDonald's for hot cakes and sausage, I make my way back up the highway entrance and I am off to Minnesota. I am exhilarated at the prospects of viewing more of the highly touted American diversity. It is such a huge country!

I pulled into the outskirts of St Paul and find an Inn. It is a Red Roof Inn. St. Paul is lovely with very nicely maintained grass and curbing surrounding my Inn.

Having been spoiled the previous two nights at having had an Applebee's right across the street from my Inn, I am only mildly disappointed to find that the Applebee's is three doors down on the same side of the street. I'm beginning to wonder if the "neighborhood" in "neighborhood restaurant" is a more general American use of the term?

I return to my room after dinner and make a careful note that, at least in this Inn, my bed is on the right wall when facing the door, rather than on the left as it had been the previous two nights. I take extra comfort in the golden light of nearby McDonald's arches gently peeking through the gap in my curtain. It may be the thing that keeps me oriented to the extreme change in room orientation.

Tonight I find I must have ventured out of the Rather news region because a different American news man, (presumably a Minnesotan) Peter Jennings, reads the news. My foreign ear is not terribly attune to the subtleties of regional dialect, but I would have expected, by now in my travels, that Mr Jennings would have shown a more profound accent difference from Mr Rather.


Friday, June 4, 2004:

I am so excited as it is today that I begin to journey southward! After a brief stop at McDonald's for hot cakes and sausage, I make my way back up the highway entrance and I am off to the great American South. Iowa.

I find the highway in Iowa to be very much the same as the highway in Minnesota. It is smoothly paved and four lanes wide. I am glad as I enter a strange region, that even this far in my journey I can still be comforted by the sound of American oldies coming from the satellite radio.

I pull into Cedar Rapids, Iowa and check into my Inn. It is a Red Roof Inn. Iowa is lovely and, even this far south it seems they are able to maintain the same grasses and flowers that surrounded the Inns of the north.

After Dinner at the Applebee's across the street, I retire to my room for a little American Television. Tonight I am back in the Rather news region. I fall asleep comfortably with the golden light of nearby McDonald's arches gently peeking through the gap in my curtain.

Saturday, June 5, 2004:

I awake early. This southern air agrees with me and I am anxious for the long journey back across Illinois today. After a brief stop at McDonald's for hot cakes and sausage, I make my way back up the highway entrance and I am off to cross the great prairies of Illinois.

Glad to be back to the familiar four lane highways of Illinois where my long journey began, I turn up the satellite radio even louder. I have, in the four days of my travel, learned the playlist of this satellite station and can anticipate the next song to be played. I find that so exciting – like a game I can play to pass the highway miles.

I arrive in Lafayette, Indiana and find my way to my Inn. It is a Red Roof Inn. Indiana is lovely. It has well-groomed lawns around my temporary home at this Inn.

After dinner at the Applebee's Neighborhood Bar And Grill, I turn in for the night. I am still a bit confused about how they divide news regions here in America because, to my surprise, I am back in Jennings news region. I think I understand why Jennings didn't sound Minnesotan. Apparently he's from Indiana.

I fall asleep comfortably with the golden light of nearby McDonald's arches gently peeking through the gap in my curtain.