Day 0: The Windy City

The day got off too a good start this morning when I found that some kind sole had left a breakfast voucher in my room! So having made use of that, I set off for the airport to find out if there would be a seat for me on the flight to Chicago.

I was in luck, and got a good seat towards the front of the plane. Result!

The young lady sitting across the aisle from me had obviously taken part in Sunday's London marathon, and on talking to her I discovered that she was not just any athlete, she was none other than Amanda McGrory, who had won the lady's wheelchair event. Twenty six and a bit miles in 1:48 - that's quick. She seemed very nice and it was interesting talking to her; hopefully the first of many interesting people I'll meet over the next few weeks.

Other than that it was a quiet and uneventful flight, exactly how you want it. I managed to watch a couple of movies that I hadn't seen (The King's Speech and Social Network both good in their own different ways), and managed to fit in a snooze in between.

On arriving in O'Hare airport I had to wonder if the US Authorities would rather that foreigners didn't visit at all. Immigration was so slow and painful. Nearly 2 hours after landing however, I was pleased to see my bag on the carousel, and treated myself to a taxi ride to the hotel, rather than take my chances on public transport.

I've had a few hours looking around the vicinity of my hotel, which is on Michigan Av - the Magnificent Mile, full of high end shops and restaurants. Gillian would love it! From what little I've seen, it seems like a nice city, and one that warrants a further visit some time in the future. It is very cold though, with snow and sleet showers forecast for tomorrow. Less than ideal; I hope it warms up quickly as I head south!

So tomorrow EagleRiders will pick me up from the hotel and take me to their office, where I pick up the bike, and the journey begins in earnest. It's 8pm here, but for me that really means 2am! Time for a quick bite to eat, and then off for an early night. Until tomorrow then, but in the meantime here are a few pictures to prove that I really am here.....

 Old (for the US) buildings seem to mix easily with the newer skyscrapers.

 Yes, it's me, and it really is as cold as I look!

More tall buildings make for an impressive skyline. Chicago boasts 3 of the 5 tallest building in the US, including the Wallis Tower (formerly known as the Sears Tower), which is the tallest of them all.

Weekly Countdown: 1 week to go!

With just 7 days till I leave for Chicago, the excitement is mounting. It's going to be a busy week this week with some 'domestic' things to do before I go, and of course, celebrating my birthday on Thurday. Then it's our wedding anniversary on Saturday - 18 years, which is porcelain I'm informed. SWMBO want's the bathroom refitted this year, so that seems appropriate.

Dave B came through with the goods this week, and has loaned me a set of H-D bags specifically designed to fit in the Harley's fitted panniers and top-box, so I know how much space I have to play with. Not much is the answer, so I am cutting down on what I will take with me. Still, it's better to know now rather than having to ditch stuff when I pick up the bike.

I ordered a small amount of US dollars - ironically the best exchange rate was from SAGA, with free next day delivery. I dare say the first of a number of transactions with them over the years to come!

I've also booked some internal flights to help me get home at the end of the trip, as the availability on the flights back from San Francisco has not improved any - these give me the option of flying back from LA, Seattle or even New York. I must remember to collect the tickets on Wednesday. It's not nice to think that a month from today I'll be back at work though.

Preparations are so well advanced in fact that last night I was even able to go through my music collection to decide what I should load up onto my iPod and take with me. How organised is that? I also realised that I'll be away on St George's day, so have got a St George's flag to fix to the bike. That should provide a talking point when I stop for gas.

Looking at my route again for the upteenth time I noticed something that I hadn't thought about before. I will be travelling through 4 time zones over the course of the trip (Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific). As I'm travelling east to west that means that I will get an extra 3 hours! What a bonus. So bike hire is actually 18 days and 3 hours. I hope they don't try to hit me with a surcharge!

Now it's just a case of waiting for Sunday. This trip has been so long in gestation, that it's hard to believe that it's now just a week away. It's also slightly scary.

Back to Plan A ...

OK, so following feed back from some of my Facebook friends (and some of them are actually real friends too!) I have decided to bite the bullet and revert back to my original plan. I feel like a weight has lifted!

So, on April 18th 2011 (yes, less than 3 months left to go), I will board a plane bound for Chicago IL, to start my journey across America to Los Angeles, and then up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Fransisco, about 3000 miles in all.

I'll be following Route 66 (roughly) to LA, with a few side trips to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Also, purely by luck, I will be passing close to Laughlin NV at the time that the Laughlin River Run is on, so I will be calling in to check that out. This is the infamous event that, in April 2002, saw 2 motorcycle gangs clash, culminating in a shoot out in Harrah's casino, with fatal consequences. Hopefully it won't be that dramatic whilst I'm there!

I've been in contact with EagleRider and managed to negotiate a bit of a discount with them, so this is now the best way to do the trip, on a Harley Davidson Electraglide! I'm going to see if I can get any more discount, and then book the bike in the next couple of days.

Anyway, normal service has now been resumed!

Days to departure: 96
Paydays to departure: 3
Funding: $$$Not enough$$$