Arrived safely in Bartlett

Here we are at Maggie and Jerry's. We had a very good breakfast at the motel this morning (I had a bagel with cream cheese, a hard-boiled egg, a bowl of raisin bran with yogurt, a smoothie with orange juice, veggie  protein powder and kefir, which I brought with me, and a decaf coffee). Our room was very nice - probably one of the nicest we've ever stayed in. We were on the road by 9:20am, but soon crossed into CDST and gained an hour. I read aloud for a while from  Jill Lepore's These Truths, which is her recent history of the United States, and our book of choice for reading aloud on this trip. It is very interesting and very well-written. It is exploring in depth the basic ideas that the country is founded on and how they have played out. Today we were reading about John Locke and the almost unbelievable contradiction in his thought between his affirmation that all men are born into a state of natural freedom and equality on the one hand, and his writing a justification of slavery into the Caroline Constitution on the other. 

We got through the Chicago traffic zoo fairly easily and arrived at M&J's a bit after 11:30a.m. Ellen managed to get postcards into the P.O. before the Saturday mail pickup - which always makes her glad. The car continues to perform well, no "check engine light," and we're getting 35.4 miles per gallon so far on this trip.  We just had a nice lunch with M&J. Ellen is now looking at old cooking magazines Maggie saved for her that were found at my brother's house in a drawer- they go back to at least the 1970s.  Maggie is making a recipe from one of them for tonight - a "quickie stroganoff." Today is a nice warm, sunny day here in Bartlett, but showers are forecast for tomorrow and "severe thunderstorms" for Monday, when we plan to leave for Alpine. Have to keep our eyes on the weather!  It's no fun to drive when it's raining so hard you can't see the road.

M&J's living room with Maggie reading in background