New day, New state, arrived in the rainy capital Of Indiana, Indianapolis. Took a tour out onto the Indy 500 track, a tour Which was rudely interrupted when we were all rushed back inside the Museum After a man with a gun was seen climbing the fence. Very exciting.

The centre of the city's very well laid out with an amazing War Memorial in the shape of the Mausoleum at_Halicarnass, one of the aincent wonders of the world rebuilt in midwest America.

Across the mighty Mississippi to enter the State of Missouri and the city of St Louis. The skyscape is dominated by the magnificent monument to western expansion, a mighty arch which stands towering some 190 meters above the park below

It certainly is an impressive sight. To get to the top you need to pack yourself into a tiny little tramcar with four other strangers and
find yourself hauled up the inside of the column. The Trams are just big enough for five ordinary people. if you're sharing with the family on holiday from Alabama, it's a tight squeeze.

Just over the road is the old courthouse of St Louis Where Dred Scott a slave petitioned for his freedom. The ramifications of that case helped lead to the Civil War, And as you stand in the spot that he stood while pleading for liberty, you can feel history passing by.

Spent the day exploring the sights of Springfield, State Capital of Illinois and power base of Abraham Lincoln.

His former house is now a national park and exists much as it did when Lincoln lived there for around 20 years, while practicing law in the courts in the state house just up the road. The rooms are much as they were when Abe and Mary lived here and you can imagine them entertaining visitors and bringing up their young family.

His presidential Library and museum is also in the city, containing a mix of historical relics, such as his stovepipe hat complete with fingerprints where he doffed it to ladies, and a strange disney type reconstruction of his life, where waxworks show young Abe reading by the fire in his one room shack in Kentucky. There are some very good presentations which tell of the vents of his life.

He certainly made an impression and is best known for his emancipation proclamation, which freed the slaves, something which cost him his life just after his second term of office began. His body was brought back to springfield by train, where it now rests in a stately tomb at the centre of the cemetery.

Took a trip down through the State following the course of the Illinois River. Not such a good idea as I discovered when I arrived at Starved Rock State Park, to experience the wonderful canyons and waterfalls, to find the Visitor Center under water and the gates to the park firmly shut.

In fact the whole River valley is suffering from one of the wettest springs on record, leaving many homes inundated and several roads underwater.

Very interesting to see but not an experience you would want to live through.

Headed onto the stare capital Springfield. Passed through Petersburg, where Abraham Lincoln lived for a while when he was a surveyor for the new settlement. Strange to think that when he was here this was frontier country, right on the edge of the United States.

Two more packed days exploring the sights of Chicago. Took a boat trip along the Chicago River to look at some of the amazing buildings along the waterfront. Most are redevelopments of factories and warehouses which used to throb with life but are now put to a more peaceful role.

They reversed the river by building a canal to link it with the Illinois river and therefore the Mississippi. The plan was needed to
stop the polluted river contaminating the drinking water in Lake Michigan. It worked sending the pollution down to St Louis instead!

Took in some museums including the Field Museum home to some enormous
dinosaurs and finished the day watching the sunset from the top of the John Hancock building, some 100floors above street level.

Arrived in the windy city which certainly lives up to its name. Although the sun was shining when I arrived in the city the icy wind which howled down the streets of the city straight off Lake Michigan was enough to chill the bones.

The city is an architectural masterpiece perched on the edge of that gigantic lake. I was surprised how young the city was, only being founded some 200 years ago. And most of it was rebuilt in the late 19th century, after an incident with an oil lamp and Mrs. O'Leary's Cow saw the city burnt to the ground.

For a birds eye view I took the trip up to the top of the Willis building, formerly known as the SearsTower it's the tallest building in the western hemisphere, And the views are amazing. It towers over the Chicago River, a river which had its flow reversed by early engineers. Just how do you reverse a river?