Tag Archives: Chicagoland

The Road to Diamond, Day 160: Windy City Calmness

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 7, 2025, Mishawaka- As I walked around the outside of the Baha’i House of Worship, in Wilmette, about 40 miles north of the Chicago Loop, it struck me that the air was a bit cool and the wind brisk. About halfway through my walk, the wind died down and I felt a lot more comfortable. Maybe it was just a matter of acclimation. The atmosphere inside the Temple was warm, and made more so by quiet prayer, said for all who are important in my life, and those who have gone on.

The day started in earnest with a drive up I-39, to the small city of Rochelle, and a satisfying lunch of soup and sandwich, at Sunrise Family Restaurant. The kids were all in school, of course, so the families were mostly people my age or older. The wait staff knew many of the patrons, giving the place a comforting ambiance. I was also treated very well.

After a winding drive through the farmlands and older suburbs of west Chicagoland, I managed to get to the House of Worship around 3 pm. 90 minutes were more than enough time to accomplish the circumambulation, prayers-and purchasing a fresh copy of Baha’i Prayers. I let my friends here in Mishawaka know when leaving the parking lot of the Temple, and started the drive through Chicagoland, fully anticipating a long, slow slog.

Likely due to the fact that it is midweek, that drive took a mere fifty minutes, from Wilmette to the Skyway, which is just shy of the Indiana state line. Another hour, and I was here at my friends’ new house. The Windy City showed an unusual calm, along the south and east bound freeway. For whatever reason, though, the north and west bound roads were bumper to bumper. I’ve been in that situation, countless times, so experiencing the opposite was a blessing.

It is always nice to touch base with V and M.

The Road to Diamond, Day 159: Another Freeway Day

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Personal Values, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

May 6, 2025, El Paso, IL- Everyone, it seems, knows Doc. The grill cook at Penny’s Diner, in Wellington, KS, is congenial, relaxed and goes about his craft in a methodical manner-as if he’s been slinging hash browns, scrambling eggs and frying bacon since he was five. Maybe he has. My order, a short stack with bacon, took little doing, and set me just fine for five hours or so.

I left Wellington, a little after 9, and while I normally take I-44 to St. Louis and then up I-55 to Chicago, with my cousin in Avila, MO hard at work and thus better left alone, I chose the Kansas Turnpike to I-70, at Kansas City and then crossed Missouri in its mid-section. One meal stop at Emporia, KS (Braum’s is one of my guilt-free pleasures) and a couple of gas-ups along the way sufficed.

Tonight’s stage-setting for a visit to the Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette involved NOT going over to Chicago and getting into the scrum on the city’s mess of freeways. Instead, I am on the far southwest corner of Chicagoland, near where it meets the Peoria metropolitan area.. El Paso was actually founded in the mid-19th Century, by a couple of railroad men. One of them, George Gibson, gave the place a Spanish touch because of the rail switching station here. El Paso’s claim to ill-fame came in 2022, when 100 cars managed to pile up on I-39.

I will be taking that freeway tomorrow, up to State Route 72, then to Hwy 68 and down I-94, a bit of exploration of west Chicagoland, but why not? For now, I am relaxed and just glad to not still be on the road, at 9:30 pm. Econolodge is a fine place for the evening.

The 2018 Road, Day 8: A Day of Being Blocked

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Posted by on in impediments, Inner Struggles, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Social, Spiritual, Striving, Travel

June 3, 2018, Lowell, IN-

I set out, in earnest, for the Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette at 9 a.m., fully intending to meet a mentor- friend who lives north of there, in a timely manner.  The problem was, I left at 9 a.m. from Carthage, on the west side of Illinois.  I stayed within the good graces of the law, clear to a point about 20 miles south of Rockford, getting there about 1 p.m.

Inching eastward, using a variety of state highways, I got to Wilmette way too late to visit with said mentor-friend.   So, takeaway # 1:  Never stay more than 2 hours from Chicagoland, if the goal is to meet someone in Chicagoland, the next day-even from Saturday to Sunday.  In fairness, the same holds true for New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco and even Philadelphia, where I will stay in the center of the city, in two weeks’ time.

Other things got done, spiritually. It is my eleventh visit here, and this is the first-and last-time that I have tried to make a same day visit to the Temple, from outside the 50-mile radius.  I also had a lovely full meal at Ridgeview Grill, a wonderful place on the west side of Wilmette, served by engaging and attentive Lisa D.  I think that will be my dining place of choice, in future visits to the House of Worship.

Needless to say, there are no photos from this Day of Being Blocked. I made it to a campsite here, in Lowell, IN, around 9 p.m.  Amen!

Tales of the 2016 Road: A Heartland Independence Day

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Posted by on in Community, Personal Values, Social, Travel

July 4, 2016, Francesville, IN- I headed out of Rolla, MO, in the early morning drizzle.  The hapless man who had been asking for sustenance, last night, was sitting outside his room, looking puzzled that I should be heading out so soon.  I had one main destination for the day:  The new Welcome Center of the Baha’i House of Worship, in Wilmette, IL- just north of Chicago.  It would take most of the day to get there, so I was on the road by 8 A.M.

The Missouri countryside is always a pleasure, though while I rolled along I-44, towards St. Louis, it was striking how little traffic there was, headed eastward.  It was also fairly easy to head northward, bypassing the downtown area.  Determined to have my main meal in midday, I stopped around 11, at a Hibachi Grill, in Florissant, near the area that was so much in turmoil, in 2014.  Florissant itself, though, is well-manicured and has a prosperous outer countenance.  I hope the same for the surrounding communities, like Ferguson, while being well aware that a lot of hard work lies ahead, yet.  There were only a few of us in Hibachi Grill, at that hour, while the food was plentiful and varied- with almost as many “American” dishes as Chinese.

Crossing the Mississippi, I knew it would be unlikely that I would see many, if any, of my Midwestern friends, today or tomorrow.  One friend, whom I called, was ill.  Others, I knew, had their holiday plans, so I did not contact them.

Chicagoland always has its traffic challenges, and today’s inbound traffic did not disappoint.  As I expected, it took an hour to get from Bolingbrook, on the southern edge of the region, to Skokie, where I turned off the Kennedy Freeway.  It was easy getting to a gas station, filling up the Nissan, and emptying myself, though there was a line for the latter- not surprising, considering that many of us had been on the freeway for, in some cases, three hours.

The Baha’i House of Worship always rises majestically through the trees, once one gets to the community of Wilmette, and close to Lake Michigan.  I’m always comforted by the sight, and by being in the House.  A particular bonus today, though, was the new Visitor Center.  Here are some views of this fine addition to the complex.

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Entrance to Visitor Center, Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette

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Symbols of faith, Visitor Center, Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, IL

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Mini-fountains, Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, IL

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Main Display Hall, Visitor Center, Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, IL

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Garden outside Visitor Center, Baha’i House of Worship, Wilmette, IL

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More Good News for modern man

I knew it would be way over budget, for me to stay in the Chicago area tonight, and the traffic in the morning would be horrific, besides, so after a serene and uplifting hour in the House of Worship, I headed eastward.  Traffic going out of the city was minimal, but I saw an astounding scene unfolding, across the median, on I-94:  Traffic coming from Indiana was at a standstill, for fifteen miles- clear to the Valparaiso turnoff.  It was too late to even think of calling a young friend in Portage, IN, so I headed south on county and state roads, into the rolling farmland and self-sufficient small towns that lie between Chicago and Indianapolis.

Fireworks programs, in many parts of the country, are organized  by cities and towns.  Here in the heartland, as we saw yesterday in Missouri, families set off their own, with the adults carefully monitoring their younger charges.  In Francesville, where I stopped and got a sandwich and some pretzels, for supper, the display was just starting.  I sat and watched, as a few fathers were giving their families and neighbours a visual treat, in a field on the south end of town.

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Fireworks over Francesville, IN

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Fireworks over Francesville, IN

In all the years that I have experienced Independence Day celebrations, none have been more hearfelt, or more enjoyable, than this time of nibbling chicken salad, whilst watching competing displays from adjoining farm fields, in this solid little town, in central Indiana.

I would go on to Logansport, and spend the night in Manor Motel.  I did get the feeling, though, that I would always be welcome in Francesville, and other little towns along the way.  The heartland is a very warm place.