Chicago Traffic

In Alaska we like to say you have to leave the state every once in a while to remind yourself why you suffer through living there. A trip through Chicago during rush hour is the perfect example. It was awful, what a nightmare!

I was too busy driving to get a decent photo. I promise to do better on that front in the future. This crappy photo was taken not long before we hit the heart of the city and doesn't even begin to do justice to the snarling, bumper to bumper morass we encountered.

One moment we were moving along at a steady clip – life was good – and then all of a sudden traffic came to a standstill. It was so hot, working the clutch was a real chore, and I was convinced the engine was going to overheat.

In the end we made it out unscathed. The silver lining is that I have a lot more confidence in the van's reliability now. The temperature gauge held steady throughout the whole fiasco – probably only about an hour even though it felt like the better part of the day – and before long we had the windy city behind us.

Farewell sweet home Chicago, I'll take the trials of Anchorage and the Seward Highway any day.