After 4 days in Muskego, WI, dealing with 2 sick bodies and 1 sick bus, we are finally on the road to Chicago.  Some kind of summer flu swept through my family, with 6 out of 9 of us getting sick, but luckily it wasn’t a long illness, and most of us are back to our spunky selves.

The bus trouble seems to be fixed- for now at least- though these things are harder to diagnose than the flu.   At first we thought we just needed new batteries- they were draining really fast and the bus wasn’t getting enough juice to start- but after testing they turned out to be fine.  With a lot of advice, we ended up replacing the diesel fuel filter (which was a wild goose chase trying to find), and it seems to have helped the start some.  For now, though, we’re carrying a battery charger and parking near electrical sources.

We’re excited for Sidney to see her first BIG city.  Well, Milwaukee is pretty big, but we didn’t take her downtown really, more just in the outer city.  In Chicago, we’ll be staying in Hyde Park with Jessie, a U.Chicago student and a lifelong friend of mine.   We’re looking forward to large crowds of tourists on Segways, flocking to the bus like so many bruce bogtrotters to a large chocolate cake.  Mmm.

Unfortunately, due to these unforeseen problems, we may be yet again cutting a destination or two off the trip.  I hope to be in Charlottesville a week from today to prepare for classes- wish us luck!