Visiting Appleton and Chicago!

[Trigress]

Good heavens. I'm running out of time!

Thanks a million for your advice, I certainly will take a pair of trekking shoes, and some cycling gear, and I think now that I will hire a car in Chicago and drive the scenic route to Appleton. You've changed my plans! I'm a bit worried about driving a car in the USA, but sometimes one simply has to take a step out of one's comfort zone...

I will check out the brats, the custard stand and the pizzas, and then I'll have to see what I can squeeze in the remaining days!

Thorn, when the departure is approaching, I'll get back to you on hiking trails, ok?

[Thorn]

No problem....I'll dig out my notes. Looking at Google's suggestion for riding between Chicago and Appleton some of the nicer trails are not very far off the route.

As for driving in the US, my German coworkers claimed it was trivial. In my area of the world, we dread driving to Chicago; the Germans couldn't understand that.

Compared to Europe, our roads are wide and straight--our cities are "new" and were mostly laid out on grid plans. The Germans other note was that on the freeway, they liked our road signs--they told you what road and the direction, not just the name of the city that is nearby.

That said, there is significant road construction coming out of Chicago. You can expect congestion until you are well into Wisconsin. Chicago is notorious for it.

[Aquila]

Some folks have mentioned food, so I have to put in a thumbs up for deep fried cheese curds in Wisconsin. Mmmmm, melty cheese! They go really well with Brats, too!

In my experience in Wisconsin, I find really good food at places way out in the middle of nowhere, and it's usually pretty cheap.

[mtbdarby]

What dates will you be in Appleton? I second the Lake Winnebago bike trip - its 90 miles around it. It's been a dry cold summer so far here so layers are recommended. Our nights are still cold.

As for the artery clogging food - heck ya! It's fair season here so lots of good Wisconsin food to be had with music festivals abounding. PM me if you'd like my phone number in case you have questions of any sort - I'm under 2 hours from the Appleton area and am currently unemployed (I knew there had to be perks to this!).

Have a safe flight and enjoy the journey!