Highways, byways and sideways

This vacation started out the worst possible way. I woke up and the world was spinning. "Well isn't the world always spinning?". Well yeah. But not this kind of spinning. When it is in your head.
I don't know why I woke up that way. But I suspect too little sleep the last days before I left. Too little water the day before, and a bit of stress at work before I left. I got out of bed and went to the bathroom. I felt nauseous. I had something to eat and drink, and felt a bit better. I drank a lot of water. Hoping it would help. It did to a certain degree. I sat at the airport feeling dizzy. In addition, I had developed a slight headache. 10 hours of flying with a headache and nausea? Oh, boy! Oh, joy! Not...
As could be expected, the trip was far from pleasant. I had to sit in a special way not to get nauseous. And my head felt like a aching ball of pain. I just wanted it to be over. After some shakin' and a'rattling across Lake Michigan, we finally landed at O'Hare. Ten minutes ahead of schedule. Not a minute too late according to my head...
Passport control. Self service? Yes indeed. We were sent to some machines where we filled out some questionnaire and got a receipt. Then we brought this to some officers at the passport control to get out passports stamped. "Why are you going to Wisconsin?" the lady officer wanted to know. Is Wisconsin that uninteresting? I thought up a funny comeback, but she didn't look like somebody who was in the mood for a wise-guy, so I replied in a polite manner. Sigh. Would be great if I could just go for it sometimes...
I got through customs and found the shuttle for the rental car company. When I entered, the driver looked at me and asked "You got a reservation, young man?". "Yup". "Ok then. Be seated!". Then we drove off, with Motown blasting from the speakers, I noticed the driver singing of all his might. And what a voice he had! I had to smile. Really livened up my day. After some serious waiting-time at the rental company, I finally was on my way to my first destination. I had already arranged for a tour of the Yerkes observatory at Williams Bay. I had to be there at 4pm. The GPS told me I would arrive 5 minutes before that. I had to admit my foot was a bit heavy on the gas. But only a bit. And I arrived 10 minutes to 4. I had time to take some photos from the outside. Then I waited, and waited. And waited. A family arrived and walked up to the front door. Found it locked. I texted the guy. A few minutes later, he appeared at the door. The family asked if there where guided tours today. He confirmed that. I got his attention, and said I had an agreement with him to get a tour of the observatory.
"You did? Oh. Sorry. When?"
"Today at 4."
"And what time is it now?"
"A quarter past."
"Ah. Errrrr. Come in."
After I came in, he asked if it would be OK if we brought the family with us too. I agreed. Big mistake. The big tour I was hoping for, ended up going completely sideways. With focus on making it as fun as possible for the kids. Which meant I was the sideshow. And only after a lot of show and tell and "fun facts", we finally arrived at the telescope.
WOW! Now THAT'S what I call a telescope! With a lens 102 cm in diameter, 19.4 meter focal length, it makes my puny 8cm, 0.48 meter focal length telescope look like a toy in comparison. It is really difficult to comprehend the size of this beauty. And the beauty. It is a work of art. It is about as large as a lens telescope can be, and consequently, it is still the largest lens telescope (refractor) in the world.

This was the first leg of the "Hale"-story. The worlds biggest telescopes. After this telescope, Hale went on to building three bigger ones. But this time, with mirrors instead of lenses. Mirrors can be supported on their back and can thus be as big as the glass manufacturers can make them. Lenses can only be supported at the edges, and they sag under their own weight. If they get bigger than about 1 meter across, they become impossible to handle.
After this half-failure, I headed north to my first hotel. In Sun Prairie. At this point, I was completely shot. My head was throbbing. And I was seriously tired. I got to my room and dropped on the bed. Fell asleep. But since the jet-lag was rearing its ugly head, I woke up at 2 am... I drowsed for a few more hours before getting up. After breakfast I headed out. I had my next stop at Sioux Falls. Not because I had something I wanted to see there, but because it seemed like a reasonable leg for the day.
I decided to try to drop in on some smaller towns too. And I remembered that a friend had lived in two smaller towns in Wisconsin. They were both en route to Sioux Falls. Well, at least kinda. Baraboo and Reedsburg.

Baraboo

Reedsburg

They were NOT like I had envisioned them. I thought they were going to be a small collection of houses with a local store and a gas-station. And a few farms and nothing more. But I guess I don't know much about typical small places in the US. But it was fun to see them. And I got to drive through some nice landscapes on my way there and back to the highway.
Back on the I-90 west, I cruised almost all the way through Minnesota before the fuel gauge started lighting up. The needle suddenly dropped scarily fast. But finally, I sighed of relief when a sign told me of a gas station up ahead. I pulled in and filled the tank. I walked in to the counter.
"Gas on...errr..three, I think? The Toyota."
The guy behind the counter punched in the numbers and I swiped my card while he shared from his wisdom.
"I find in interesting that the fronts of Toyotas always looks like they are smiling. Why do they do that? And the Volvos. Always look like the square face of a man."
I just smiled and took the receipt. Guess there's not much happening behind the counter. So he needed something to think about to keep his brain working. After all, Einstein developed his theory of relativity while being bored at a patent office...
7 and a half hours after I headed out from Sun Prairie, I arrived at my hotel in Sioux Falls. It was located in the least interesting parts, it seemed. An industrial area. With a couple of gas-stations nearby. But teh hotel was was nice. Big rooms, and friendly staff. I walked to a "Food'n fuel"-shop a 10 minute walk away. And it was, as before, obvious to me that the US is not made for walking. Even if your boots are. So if your boots are going to walk all over something, it will definitely not be the US of A. My short trip to the food store took several dashes across a road with lots of traffic. And sidewalks? What sidewalks? Oh, you mean the things that stop in the middle of nowhere? Oh, well. I got where I wanted. And found some dinner and some snacks.
Laying on the bed. Enjoying free WiFi. And some snacks. And some movie on the TV. I think I will go to bed early today too. Tomorrow, I am heading further west. Have driven across one and a half state today. Tomorrow, I will take it more easy. But it is looking good, so far. Still enjoying it. The driving. The sights from the road. 20 days to go. Looking forward to those.