Trip Log - Day 2 – (Weds) Cabela's and Bike Acclimation

After hearing that a brand new Cabela's opened up right down the road, we plan todays activities around a visit to the new store in the morning and then downtown in the afternoon to the Science and Technology Museum. At least that was the plan…

If you haven’t been to a Cabela’s before, you really need to find one. Plan on spending some time there because this store is amazing and the Cabela’s at Hoffman Estates probably tops the charts as outdoor stores go.

Every product that is listed in their catalogs is on display in two story building that I couldn’t even begin to guess the square footage of. The products are one thing, but the wild game displays, indoor laser shooting range, huge aquarium, indoor waterfall and a restaurant serving wild game dishes for lunch was just incredible and made this the most unique shopping experience ever. After about 4 hours of browsing, a few Bison burgers and several hundred dollars in things to ship back home, we realized were running late if we wanted to make it down town.

We head downtime late in the afternoon by heading east and winding through Northwestern University (http://www.northwestern.edu ) following Lake Shore Drive into the city. The views of Chicago are awesome, the weather is very comfortable and the bike is running well (although my shifting and braking skills leave something to be desired).

We ran too late to make the science center and just as we were planning an alternate stop the fuel light comes on – on the bike. Caught us a little off guard since we put less than a hundred miles on the bike and the tank was full when we left the shop. I guess my shifting and braking skills were a lot worse than I thought. I guess not getting out of third gear in most cases and the stop and go traffic from the previous day didn’t help either.

Have you ever tried to find a gas station in a city while relying on your GPS to tell you which way to go? Don’t bother. Because of the unit looses line of site due to the tall buildings, it was like trying to follow a drunken sailor to his next bar. Anyhow, after finally fueling up we decided to head back to to the hotel. Nothing like Chicago rush hour to overheat your new air cooled boxer…

I think it’s time to get the hell out of Dodge and start putting some miles under our belts. Look forward to the open road tomorrow but you know what they say – be careful for what you ask for. We were in for some interesting riding.

As we turn in for the night on Weds, watching the weather channel uncovers some pretty significant storms coming across the plains and heading east. Not just rain, but extremely high winds and heavy rain and “tornadic activity” as the weathermen seem to love to say. Whatever you call it it's just exactly what you don’t want to hear when you’re on a bike trip. We decide to get up early and to make a decision to wait the storms out and get ahead of them after the mornings report.

My wife reinforces her position on the positive shopping experience we had and reminds me of what a good thing it was that we spent all that money at Cabela’s for rain suits… hmmm.. I don’t know if I like this logic...