chasing rabbits stateside

Ola folks, hope all is good.
The next stage of my trip is drawing near and I thought I'd update you.

Fun and games have continued here, but I will now be leaving chicago on friday evening. I had planned to depart today, but I've met someone, an incredibly special woman who I want to spend some more time with. I know its only one more evening we'll have but I value each chance I get to see her.

So, I will depart on friday at 8.30pm, after having dealt with the slightly terrifying ordeal of a Greyhound bus station, I'm sure I'll be fine but I'm a Greyhound virgin and more than a little nervous, particularly of the first come first served system so I have to turn up early and hope I can get a seat!! At 11.30 am on saturday I get into Johnson City Tennessee where I'll be picked up by staff from Uncle Johnny's Hostel and taken to a town called Erwin. It sounds like a fabulous place on the edges of the Smoky Mountains and just yards from the Apalachian Trail. So some hiking is in order. I get my own private cabin, the staff all seem incredibly friendly and have been very helpful and accommodating. I will stay there until Monday night when I get a bus to Washington DC.

Today, I'll head to the Art Institute and see if I can check out an Edward Hopper Print I'm a fan of.

My time in Chicago has been amazing, due mainly to the people I have met, but I am ready to leave and travel. I don't feel like my trip has really started yet and won't until I climb on board the bus. my itchy feet are driving me crazy and the thougt of a weekend at the Smoky Mountains is incredibly exciting. To be honest leaving Chicago will be harder than leaving the UK, simply on the basis that in 3 months I know I'll definately be back in the UK, nothing is quite so guaranteed about Chicago, unless someone gives me a reason to come back pretty soon.

posted by KP @ 4:09 PM