House sit near Chicago and future plans

Smokey and Craig in the forest preserve

So here we are again, rapidly approaching the end of another great house sit. We have thoroughly enjoyed the break from our travels and having the lovely Smokey the dog to keep us company, though we are also excited to continue on our adventures again. Smokey has been really good with us, very chilled out and easy going, and spoiled rotten by us with treats and affection. As well as walking around this quiet and delightful neighborhood, he loves riding in the car with us and there is a great walk nearby around a forest preserve which we've all enjoyed several times. He's been our shadow at all times in the house, loves his food (and ours too), and has slept quietly every night at the foot of our bed.

Cranes in the garden

The house here has been lovely too - all the properties in this area are set on enormous (by Jersey standards) plots mostly laid to lawn, which makes for great wildlife viewing. Watching the red squirrels in the sunshine running between the trees and burying their nuts ready for winter, and Cranes walking in two and threes through the large open lawns has been very therapeutic, and we've even seen chipmunks on the decking. No deer or coyote this time, though one evening when we opened the front door to let Smokey out, there was a pungent odor of what we think was a skunk. Fortunately there was no trace the following morning so we presume it had just passed through the front garden, but phew what a unforgettable stink.

Where are my nuts hiding ?

Having access to a fantastic local library means we've been able to borrow films, documentaries and tv series on DVD to fill some evening time, but more importantly we've researched and planned the next leg of our journey. When the home owners return this weekend we have one more night with them before heading into Chicago city itself for a few days, then we backtrack slightly to visit a few places that we missed on our way here. Our plan is then to continue east, stopping at Niagra Falls on the USA side, and we are looking forward to meeting and catching up with a friend - originally from Jersey - and her family in their home city of Rochester, NY shortly afterwards.

One of our goals is to see the foliage and colours of The Fall, which is just starting in Maine. We've signed up to receive weekly foliage reports by email from the Maine Department of Agriculture, and subject to timing we hope to hit the peak season in at least two of the regions, maybe more. There are no firm plans beyond that at the moment but we are aiming to be in New York City by the end of October.

Not many photos this time but we have finally got the map page on our blog to work properly - it is interactive so you can zoom in and out, and click on markers to see more. Red markers are the places (town or city) that we have stayed in, and green markers are the points of interest we have seen or visited. We will update the markers as we progress and will also add more detail, so please keep checking back and give us some feedback too.