i saw a man who danced with his wife

So I'm in Chicago right now and I realise I haven't really written about the New York leg of this trip. I'm not sure I'm going to talk about it today, either, which is not particularly helpful for those that want to hear about how the trip is progressing. It will happen; just not now.

Things haven't necessarily gone as planned so far, which is neither good nor bad. It is what it is. Today I cried to a check-in person at the TraveLodge down the street from the hostel to try to secure a place to stay tomorrow night (the hostel is booked fully on a Tuesday night, which makes NO sense to me at all), but wound up being booked elsewhere anyway, so the tears were in vain. Still, after I arrived in Chicago things looked bleak and disorganised, which you know makes me a bit nutty, but there is little to be done. Everything is mostly sorted now, and whatever isn't fully sorted will be sorted by tomorrow.

I am well, honestly well, and doing nothing I shouldn't be doing.

The cost of internet access is ridiculously high at the hostel and I can't afford to be on again while I'm here (probably, likely). Still, I wanted to let you know that I am OK and the trip is progressing. Really, even the stuff that isn't going right (and there is plenty that isn't) makes me realise that I can survive on instinct and street smarts (what little I have) without too much effort. People have been helpful and kind, and that makes even the most trying stuff more bearable.

Tomorrow will be my first day fully alone on this trip and I am looking forward to it. Chicago's downtown is wholly walkable and I am grateful that my feet have made it through Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens intact and without injury. The Chicago Architecture Foundation and I have a date on a boat tomorrow morning and I plan to romance a deep dish pizza at some point in the afternoon, before heading out to Lincoln Park to stay at a somewhat historic hotel for the night and wander around Wrigley and visit my friend's friends' antique shop.