Tailgaters and lane weavers. The drivers got more aggressive as we got closer to Chicago. They started to appear in Gary IN, well before Chicago. They are practically driving like Californians. I wonder why people here are more aggressive than New Yorkers -- I rarely saw them in or around NYC. (The real question, I suppose, is why New Yorkers are so tamed these days).
We checked out of Days Inn in Whitehall around 11 AM and drove straight to Chicago after a fueling stop in Country Club Hill, a misnamed working class neighborhood with a large Black population. A grocery stop in Walmart near the charging station, and we were at Extended Stay in Des Plaines at around 4 PM. We'll commute to Chicago for a few days from here.
My pace picked up quite a bit for a few days since the outing in Mackinac Island. The resistance in the form of constant fatigue has disappeared and it wasn't easy to restrain myself. It was enough for me to think maybe I recovered from CFS. It was just like last June when the sudden improvement appeared. Then the fatigue returned in full force yesterday. I couldn't keep my eyes open while driving despite a full day's rest and 8 hours of sleep. And my legs got heavy and achy again this morning. The faster pace must have taken the toll. I'll have to slow down again. Not all the way back to 90 steps/min, but 94 steps may be safe enough.
Friday, August 25, 2017
Monday, August 21, 2017
Mackinow City, MI
The day is getting shorter. The sun now rises after 7 PM and the car is soaked with the morning dew. We'll have to hurry; we need to get the Yellow Stone before it gets cold.
We checked out of Gratiot View motel in Saginow yesterday and drove to Roberts Landing campground in Cheboygan yesterday, following the lakefront Hwy 23. All along the route was the beaches and marsh lands. They were mostly deserted too, especially ones around Rogers City that were totally vacant.
Today I aborted the plan to camp in Munising. Not because we wanted to speed up the trip, but I'm dead tired from camping last night and charging wasn't too convenient on the Munising route. From Munising to the next supercharger is 250 miles, and there isn't a good place to charge in between.
And I'm damn glad we changed the plan. we took a rest at Waterfront Motel till 2 PM and went to Mackinac Island on Shepler ferry -- the solar eclipse was at the peak of the solar eclipse by the time we got on board. It's almost like the ferry to Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, complete with the suspension bridge to the left and all. Huron Lake is not a bay, however. It is an ocean.
It is about the size of Angel Island too. We wanted to go the Arch Rock, but it was 2 miles away. We rented a tandem bike and ended up riding it all the way around the island. Yes, I'm instinctively feeling that confident these days. I haven't had any post-exertional sickness since June and have been regularly taking 50,000 steps per week. And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to crash from this bike ride. (Wife did most pedaling, to be honest, though I took over whenever she was losing the balance.)
This road-side motel had both the beach and spa. We soaked in the hot tub, swam a couple of lap and I feel like a million bucks now. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
We checked out of Gratiot View motel in Saginow yesterday and drove to Roberts Landing campground in Cheboygan yesterday, following the lakefront Hwy 23. All along the route was the beaches and marsh lands. They were mostly deserted too, especially ones around Rogers City that were totally vacant.
And I'm damn glad we changed the plan. we took a rest at Waterfront Motel till 2 PM and went to Mackinac Island on Shepler ferry -- the solar eclipse was at the peak of the solar eclipse by the time we got on board. It's almost like the ferry to Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay, complete with the suspension bridge to the left and all. Huron Lake is not a bay, however. It is an ocean.
It is about the size of Angel Island too. We wanted to go the Arch Rock, but it was 2 miles away. We rented a tandem bike and ended up riding it all the way around the island. Yes, I'm instinctively feeling that confident these days. I haven't had any post-exertional sickness since June and have been regularly taking 50,000 steps per week. And I'm pretty sure I'm not going to crash from this bike ride. (Wife did most pedaling, to be honest, though I took over whenever she was losing the balance.)
This road-side motel had both the beach and spa. We soaked in the hot tub, swam a couple of lap and I feel like a million bucks now. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Saturday, August 19, 2017
Saginaw, MI
The plan to rest in Auburn Hill didn't work out. The price of Extended Stay shot up to $110 overnight and we moved to Saginaw. That's OK as long as we are moving along our route: the Saginaw Bay is the jump off point for the Sunrise trail to Cheboygan. We'll rest here today. It's actually good to hang out in a small town see how locals live.
The problem though, is packing and unpacking takes quite a bit of energy and that undoes the plan for the rest. I'll have to remind myself, once again, to book 2 nights when planning for the rest. I'm still doing OK, however. And my walking pace is still up, faster than I would like, so I have to consciously slow down. The next 2 days will be a challenge though. If I'm still doing OK afterward, I'll be tempted to declare a recovery. It will be a recovery enough if I can do everything except strenuous exercise.
The problem though, is packing and unpacking takes quite a bit of energy and that undoes the plan for the rest. I'll have to remind myself, once again, to book 2 nights when planning for the rest. I'm still doing OK, however. And my walking pace is still up, faster than I would like, so I have to consciously slow down. The next 2 days will be a challenge though. If I'm still doing OK afterward, I'll be tempted to declare a recovery. It will be a recovery enough if I can do everything except strenuous exercise.
Friday, August 18, 2017
Detroit, MI
No question other than where we live and where we have been. The scary looking guy at the border was more interested in my car than checking out our paper works. He was fairly knowledgeable too. He knew that 30 minute charging for 150 miles is enough because you have to rest anyway after 2 hours of driving. And like that, we were back in the US soil again.
This is the town where Vincent Chin was murdered with baseball bat by two laid off Chrysler workers in the 80s. They ended up with suspended sentenced by a racist judge who later said "These weren't the kind of men you send to jail". Maybe teaching everybody in China this will stop them from practicing white supremacy over there.
We ended up in another flea motel in the form of Days Inn. a couple of hours of nap, and wife ended up with multiple bedbug bites all over her body. We switched the room and we ended up with a dump in an open corridor. I had my doubt, but I booked it anyway because of the pool. Now I redouble my resolve to avoid flea motels.
Niagara Falls, Toronto and then drive to Detroit. It's been 4 days of nonstop activities. And yet I'm still up and running. My pace has been picking up too. That's enough for me to start imagining the recovery once again. I should experiment with a new pace while I'm still travelling despite the risk of getting sick, to see if the pace, as well as the amount of activities, are better tolerated while travelling. I need a day of rest for now though make sure that I don't get sick. Maybe I'll jack up the pace after that. We are going to camp out for 2-3 days, so that could be a good opportunity.
This is the town where Vincent Chin was murdered with baseball bat by two laid off Chrysler workers in the 80s. They ended up with suspended sentenced by a racist judge who later said "These weren't the kind of men you send to jail". Maybe teaching everybody in China this will stop them from practicing white supremacy over there.
We ended up in another flea motel in the form of Days Inn. a couple of hours of nap, and wife ended up with multiple bedbug bites all over her body. We switched the room and we ended up with a dump in an open corridor. I had my doubt, but I booked it anyway because of the pool. Now I redouble my resolve to avoid flea motels.
Niagara Falls, Toronto and then drive to Detroit. It's been 4 days of nonstop activities. And yet I'm still up and running. My pace has been picking up too. That's enough for me to start imagining the recovery once again. I should experiment with a new pace while I'm still travelling despite the risk of getting sick, to see if the pace, as well as the amount of activities, are better tolerated while travelling. I need a day of rest for now though make sure that I don't get sick. Maybe I'll jack up the pace after that. We are going to camp out for 2-3 days, so that could be a good opportunity.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
Toronoto, ON
Mississauga and Oakville, actually. It's cheaper here and the "gas" is free, so we decided to lodge here. We stayed one night in home stay in Mississauga and then came to a Residence and Conference center in Oakville yesterday. They gave us two bedroom suit in what appears to be part of Sheridan college.
Toronto is more Vancouver than Montreal. No industrial complexes, no historical towns. It is full of blue condo buildings spread over a vast area, just like Vancouver. It seems the only difference is the lake Ontario instead of the Vancouver bay. Winter will be much harsher though, I suppose. And house prices are proportionally cheaper, though it is still substantially more expensive than Montreal.
We went to CN tower yesterday, but the line was impossibly long. So we went to St Lawrence Market after taking some pictures and hanging around the tower. Today we tried CN tower again. I meant to go before 9AM to avoid the line, but we overslept and we got there at 10 instead. No matter, there was no line and we went right up.
Toronto Island was the next destination. It's must like the ferry ride to Staten Island. You jump off from Jack Layton terminal in the thick of the downtown, just as you would from Whiteall terminal in Manhattan downtown. Then you click away at the downtown skyline as you sail away.
Toronto is more Vancouver than Montreal. No industrial complexes, no historical towns. It is full of blue condo buildings spread over a vast area, just like Vancouver. It seems the only difference is the lake Ontario instead of the Vancouver bay. Winter will be much harsher though, I suppose. And house prices are proportionally cheaper, though it is still substantially more expensive than Montreal.
We went to CN tower yesterday, but the line was impossibly long. So we went to St Lawrence Market after taking some pictures and hanging around the tower. Today we tried CN tower again. I meant to go before 9AM to avoid the line, but we overslept and we got there at 10 instead. No matter, there was no line and we went right up.
Toronto Island was the next destination. It's must like the ferry ride to Staten Island. You jump off from Jack Layton terminal in the thick of the downtown, just as you would from Whiteall terminal in Manhattan downtown. Then you click away at the downtown skyline as you sail away.
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Rochester, NY
Sacket's Harbor, Southwick Beach, Fair Haven past Oswego, Sodus Point Lighthouse. The drive along Rt 3 and then 104 was today's route,a continuation on the Great Lakes Seaway Trail. I thought we left Sodus Bay behind when we left Fair Haven, only to find another Sodus Bay at Sodus Point. It turns out there are multiple Sodus bays with different names. This one was the real Sodus Bay and Fair Haven was on Little Sodus. There is Blind Sodus as well.
A terrible looking storm brewed when we stopped for lunch at McDonald between Fair Haven and Sodus Point. By the time we got out, I could smell that indelible scent of rain. It barely wetted the pavement where we were, but it must dumped a shower further down. Fog was rising from the asphalt and warm humidity permeated the air. I was back in NC again. Only with achy and sickly body in an electric rather than 16 year old in 68 Rambler.
We arrived Rochester Extended Stay before 4 PM. The original plan was to make it to Toronto after stopping at Niagara, but that was too ambitious. Hotels were cheaper in Rochester too, so we decided to rest here. It was too early to bed down for the night though. We took some rest and drove to High Fall and then Eastman Museum of Photography and Film. Museum closed at 5, so we were out of luck. We charged up the car and came back at 7PM.
Yesterday was a struggle for some reason, despite the rest day before. Then I recovered today. It's as if the effect of the rest was delayed 48 hours rather than 24. Likewise the effect of activities of 8/8-8/9 taking effect yesterday after 48 hours. Not sure if the lingering effect of cold has anything to do with it. There are so many unknown variables that effects the conditions, I only can get 25-50% correlation between the activities and fatigue the next day. The signal to noise ratio is not high enough to make a good prediction.
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| Sackett's Harbor |
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| Fair Haven |
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| Sodus Point |
We arrived Rochester Extended Stay before 4 PM. The original plan was to make it to Toronto after stopping at Niagara, but that was too ambitious. Hotels were cheaper in Rochester too, so we decided to rest here. It was too early to bed down for the night though. We took some rest and drove to High Fall and then Eastman Museum of Photography and Film. Museum closed at 5, so we were out of luck. We charged up the car and came back at 7PM.
Yesterday was a struggle for some reason, despite the rest day before. Then I recovered today. It's as if the effect of the rest was delayed 48 hours rather than 24. Likewise the effect of activities of 8/8-8/9 taking effect yesterday after 48 hours. Not sure if the lingering effect of cold has anything to do with it. There are so many unknown variables that effects the conditions, I only can get 25-50% correlation between the activities and fatigue the next day. The signal to noise ratio is not high enough to make a good prediction.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Watertown, NY
We made a full circle back to NY. Half circle, actually. It's been almost 2 weeks and we still haven't escaped the North East. But we'll be past Buffalo tomorrow, so we'll be in the Midwest in no time.
We checked out of Motel du Paysan this morning. After about 10 minutes of charging the car in Montreal station, we were off to Cornwall for full charging and lunch at Tim Horton's. Tim Horton's is fast becoming wife's favorite. Cornwall was the jump off point for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail drive and the Tesla station was conveniently located on the route.
This drive took us along the St Lawrence river. I was planning to make it to Cape Vincent before detouring to Watertown for charging and lodging. But the car ran out of juice after Wellesley Island. I still could've made it with a few miles to spare, but I didn't want to risk getting stranded and it was past 6 PM. So we went to charging station and had dinner at Flaming Wok at the mall while charging the car. We got the Motel 6 in Calcium after 8 PM.
We checked out of Motel du Paysan this morning. After about 10 minutes of charging the car in Montreal station, we were off to Cornwall for full charging and lunch at Tim Horton's. Tim Horton's is fast becoming wife's favorite. Cornwall was the jump off point for the Great Lakes Seaway Trail drive and the Tesla station was conveniently located on the route.
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| Wellesley Island |
This drive took us along the St Lawrence river. I was planning to make it to Cape Vincent before detouring to Watertown for charging and lodging. But the car ran out of juice after Wellesley Island. I still could've made it with a few miles to spare, but I didn't want to risk getting stranded and it was past 6 PM. So we went to charging station and had dinner at Flaming Wok at the mall while charging the car. We got the Motel 6 in Calcium after 8 PM.
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