We successfully completed our stay at a hotel just outside Erie, Pa., in which we had to sneak Cappy in and out of the room because they did not allow pets. We carried Cappy in a big bag. But the night was nerve-wracking because she would bark everytime someone walked down the hallway, and we were certain we would be kicked out. and also fined $100.
We stopped in a posh suburb of Cleveland to visit one of Miranda's school friends. Their estate was lovely and large, and Cappy got to run around for an hour while we enjoyed homemade scones and visited.
Then we made a hard push through driving rain past Toledo and into northern Indiana, the 7th state we had entered (Maine, New Hamp, Mass, NY, Penn and Ohio). I wanted to stop at Notre Dame for a pix of touchdown Jesus, but Miranda was not interested. Perhaps as punishment, a brake warning light went on as we passed through the industrial hell of Gary, Ind., and the car's power flickered. But it continued to operate and we limped into downtown Chicago, lost and a little spooked. I was able by dint of my earlier residence in the city, and the fact that i was a student of Lewis and Clark, to locate Greektown, and we pulled into the dog friendly Crowne Plaza hotel, where the room cost $150, plus $50 for the dog and $36 to park the car. But something, this did not feel as much as the dozens of highway tolls we paid all day long.
We had a dinner date with lindsay tanner and paul driscoll, old friends from my days as a reporter in Chicago. Lindsay is Miranda's godmother. I took Cappy for a stroll through Greektown before dinner.
Tomorrow, we have about a 12-hour campaign to Fargo. I'm thinking of offering Miranda money if we can get on the road by 9 am.
West to Greatness!
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