After a quick lunch, we continued on to the city center. We got there quickly via Millennium Park and Grant Park. If your shoe pinches, that's a shame, so we need some new ones. My shoes weren't, though. But we found what we were looking for pretty quickly and were able to head back to the parks along the waterfront before slowly making our way toward the Willis Tower. We had booked access to the Skydeck two months ago and wanted to watch the sunset from above. What sounded good at first turned into almost torture. Despite booking, we waited forever until we actually reached the 400 meters, and then, unfortunately, the sun had already set. Nevertheless, we were still able to take a few nice photos through the glass floor before joining the next line to take the elevator down. We quickly went to the bathroom before getting back on the S-Bahn to go back to the airport, or rather, to the hotel, which would take about two hours. Luckily, we caught the shuttle bus directly from the airport to the hotel, so we were able to grab a quick dinner just before 10 p.m. before arriving at the hotel, completely exhausted. Brushed our teeth, peed, and went to bed. Oh, and we even took a shower just before.

you could call the most famous “Field Museum of Natural History” like this. It's not unusual for some museums to have dinosaur skeletons on display; what is unusual here is that this was probably the best-preserved and most complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton ever found, and it was named after its discoverer, Sue Hendrickson. It was pretty impressive. After the museum, we wanted to treat ourselves to the world-famous Chicago-style pizza. It was delicious, but next time when I want to eat tomato soup, I won't order pizza.

After that, we continued on toward Chinatown, the second-largest of its kind in the US. But somehow, that just opened my eyes to the fact that I have far too much junk at home, and I even regretted the rubber pirate duck I bought yesterday to match my Alestorm T-shirt. Meanwhile, it started to rain, and we headed back to the hotel. We did a little shopping so we'd have something to eat tomorrow when we could pick up our RV to head off, and then went to bed a little earlier than the last two days.

on the road. Sure enough, at 5:45 a.m. we were on the shuttle bus to Elkhart, the capital of RV and caravan manufacturers. As far as the eye could see, there were vehicles waiting to be picked up or processed in every yard. We booked our vehicle with Road-Bear, and that's where we went. The vehicles were issued according to the booking order, but "Oh no, what's that? We're getting the smallest vehicle they have available." But of course, that wasn't a problem; it's also 7 meters long and has a pull-out cab. And so it was that by 10 a.m., in the lightest snowfall, we were already sitting in our brand-new Ford F150 and ready to go.

First, we went to the next Walmart, did a bit of shopping, and then had breakfast. Meanwhile, we made our plan for the day. We headed south, somewhere, so we wouldn't get within the Chicago metropolitan area—that's not necessary when starting out with a new and unfamiliar vehicle. So we headed southwest. About five hours later, we arrived at our planned spot. First we took care of our luggage. We unpacked and tidied up, made the bed, had a beer, and then it was time to cook dinner. While I took care of the food, Meli spent a bit of time looking at the maps and possible directions. Since, as with almost every one of my trips, there's at least one fixed point I'm heading for, this time too, there's a bit of planning involved. I won't reveal what, of course, otherwise you guys don’t have the surprise.

And after I've captioned a few more pictures, it's time for bed. When you get up so early, you can go to bed a little earlier.

a lot about how the refueling process might work in the USA: that you have to unlock the pump first inside the station at the desk, that the attendant comes and fills it up, or that you just pay a certain amount before and can continue straight away after filling up. Well, a credit card reader put all those thoughts to rest, and I could start filling the gas tank. I thought I'd done something wrong because the "liter count" was increasing so slowly, until I remembered that they count gallons here. But then I was a little shocked. $158 for 48 gallons. Or for those who think in decimal terms: 178.6 liters for a mere 140 CHF, or 147 EUR. So, in effect, just under 25 liters per 100 km. But we're only cruising. Nevertheless, I enjoy the sound of the engine: 6.8 liters of displacement and 8 cylinders in a V configuration, simply a great combination; you just have to push through it every now and then.

We quickly picked up a few things in Des Moines to keep us comfortable and then headed for our destination. Shortly after getting back on the interstate, things got really close when a truck pulled into our lane from the right. We jimmied hard, dropped the anchor, and veered discreetly to the left, just barely preventing the trailer from ripping our mirror off. Phew, a few beads of sweat, but everything worked out. Time for a beer.

with my typing, we had breakfast and off we went. Our destination, Yankton, involved a little detour via Sioux Falls, which meant we drove a few more miles than expected, but hey, we're on vacation and we're enjoying it. We kept stopping at the great restroom cabins to stretch our legs and then refueled in Sioux City. And since I appreciate hearing the sound of the V8, the fuel consumption was a bit higher again. After filling up, we arrived in South Dakota, where the maximum speed limit was 80 mph, or just under 130 km/h. It would be ridiculous if we didn't manage the 30 liters per 100 km. So we blasted down the interstate at full throttle. The onboard fuel gauge said 8 miles per gallon, but I'll figure out exactly what that means tomorrow at the next gas stop. It's frightening, though, to be driving at 130 km/h in a camper and then be overtaken by extra-wide heavy-duty trucks—unbelievable. Europe is completely backward in this regard, too, with their 80 km/h speed limit for trucks in most countries.

bacon, we set off. We did stop at the sculpture park, but as few people were around, blocking the beautiful perspective for photo opportunities, various sightseeing spots were also closed, which unfortunately meant that we couldn't get into the park. We continued on, and there was a sign for the "world's only Corn Palace." As crazy as it sounds, it's on the route, so we pulled off the interstate for a bit and checked out the corn palace. For 120 years, changing motifs made of corn plants and corn cobs of various varieties and colours have been set up outside, if you can even say set up. Nice, totally crazy, but nice. We continued on, and the persistent advertisement for Wall Drug practically dictated the next stop. But first, it's time for lunch. Since we had already crossed the Mississippi in the rain, we benefited from perfect T-shirt weather today, and we made ourselves comfortable on the bank of the small stream of Missouri for lunch. 70 miles later, it was time to go shopping at Wall Drug. I actually took advantage of it and bought myself some lovely leather moccasins, a new belt, and a new wallet. Whether it was actually cheaper where the leather came from, I don't know, but as long as you like the purchase, it doesn't really matter. We had just reached the next time zone; we are now seven hours behind Swiss time, but this at least gave us a bit of a buffer, 

Rushmore, that much was clear. But you couldn't do much hiking there, as most of the paths were actually still in hibernation. So we thought about how and where to go next. There are loads of beautiful winding roads on the map, but we were just wondering if they would all be passable with our vehicle. So we quickly asked a ranger who was on duty at the Mt. Rushmore monument. Good idea, as it quickly turned out. Some of the roads are not suitable even for our small motorhome because we are too high up for tunnels and bridges. But the friendly ranger gave us good advice and told us which way to go. It was a great recommendation: really great routes, incredible views of beautiful landscapes. We also saw some wildlife that we hadn't expected. Ground squirrels, courting turkeys, bison and even a coyote crossed our path, which, although not that far, was very long due to the many stops. We even learned a bit of history at the Crazy Horse "construction site". And so it was that we set up our camp near Douglas, south of the Black Hills National Forest and Wind Cave National Park, until shortly after 7 p.m.

After yesterday, it was only logical that we slept in a little longer. We were greeted by thick fog with a scattering of raindrops, but so far so good; we actually hadn't planned much today. A short leg south. The landscape, as monotonous as it may seem, was both mystical and diverse to us, and we sat dry and comfortable in our camper and leisurely drove south along Interstate 25 toward Denver. In Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming, we stopped briefly for lunch and, of course, to buy everyday items. 70 miles later, just before 4 p.m., we arrived at the campsite, much earlier than in the last few days, where we were finally able to do some laundry and take a long, hot shower. We tidied up the camper, cooked food, and made plans for the next few days. Sometimes we need to take things a little easier.

Busch, then you should plan accordingly. And for a rainy day like today, that's a perfectly reasonable plan. Well then, a leisurely breakfast, unplugged the cable, and off we go. Well, but Google is obviously poorly informed, because Anheuser Busch is also taking a winter break. D’oh. Well, there are other breweries, we spontaneously decided on one, which we want to visit after the other items on the agenda. A church had also been highly praised on Google, which is why we wanted to check it out. It's Sunday, so it should be fine. But, again, incorrect information: closed. At least we weren't the only ones standing in front of a closed door. Okay, let's move on. Meli wants to go shopping; the goal is to find stores that don't exist in Europe. Okay, that wasn't for me, but I sat in the corner with my phone and did a few Sudoku puzzles. It's worth doing sometimes. We briefly considered whether to have lunch or go straight to the brewery. Hunger won out, so let's get something to eat first. I really wanted to try a steakhouse, and that's what we did. We had a very delicious, and probably not exactly cheap, meal, but it was worth every cent. Afterward, we continued on to the brewery. Unsuspecting, we headed for the entrance and practically tumbled back out again. The "Voodoo Ranger" was grinning at us. It can't be true. These IPA beers are known in Switzerland too, but neither Meli nor I had given any thought to where they came from. Now we knew. From Fort Collins, from the New Belgium Brewery. An incredible coincidence. The next coincidence – the next tour was starting in 8 minutes. Great, we'll take it, and we'll basically get a "private tour" just for the two of us. That was so much fun, not just for our guide, but for us too. And there was so much beer to sample that I had to slow myself down, after all, I still had to drive later. Nevertheless, we wanted to try a little more of the selection, so we sat down at the bar. A young couple joined us, and we had great conversations and exchanged contact details. And so it happened that although we had made great plans for today, we ended up having completely different and even more amazing experiences. That's what makes vacation fun and that’s how travelling should be.