Clearly the building was designed as a music school

Reynolds, Gainsborough and Turner are household names but Kanaoka? Why does his name appear on the frieze - the institute does not appear to have any of his works. Kose Kanaoka is a distinctly obscure ninth century Japanese artist.

Carbon filament lightbulbs in the entrance hall of the Institute

The original trading room of the Chicago Stock Exchange has been re­constructed here.

America Windows, 1977, Marc Chagall

The Drinkers, 1890, Vincent van Gogh.

Picture of Dorian Gray, 1943-1944, Ivan Albright. Used in the 1945 movie version of the story. Shot primarily in black-and-white, the film features two inserts in 3-strip Technicolor one of this painting and the other of the portrait in its original state.

Nighthawks, 1942, Edward Hopper. Within months of its completion, it was sold to the Art Institute for a mere $3,000.

American Gothic. Right beside it hangs …

Originally this railroad ran beside Lake Michigan. Then Grant Park was created on land reclaimed from the lake and the Art Institute was extended over the railroad into part of the park.

Not my image but I have one of the same subject. It looks quite insignificant on Google streetview - interesting that two wiki nerds should both spot it

In civilised units that is 34°C at 21:22 hours. In fact the weather was hot even by US standards. Ten days later USA Today was reporting that the night time low temperature in Death Valley, California was 107°F (89°C).

The California Zephyr is number eleven in Wikipedia's world list of longest train services and the longest in the USA. It runs once a day from Chicago to Emeryville, just across the bay from San Francisco. See the timetable using quaint 12-hour clock times and the route guide.

Leaving Chicago

near Princeton, Illinois

near Galesburg, IL

Crystal Lake - note the house on stilts - we are presumably within the Mississippi levees.

Looking upstream to the bridge that takes Interstate 34 across the Mississippi.

Now in Burlington, Iowa looking back to the bridge by which we have just crossed the river.

Every few minutes the train would give out its "lonesome hobo squall" as it approached a grade crossing (Brit: level crossing). This is North Adams Street, Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
I originally thought it was North Cherry Street about 600 yards to the east and provided this link to Google's current satellite view saying it is worth looking at because it shows a freight train with over 90 cars. The current state of that satellite view does show a train but it is much shorter.

This was announced as a cigarette break stop and a chance for non-smokers to stretch their legs.

The corridor is eight feet off the ground. The Americans don't seem to know about yards - road signs say "… 500 feet ahead".

Not sure what this revolution detector is for - possibly to detect skidding or stuck brakes.

The church of St Mary of The Visitation on the corner of North Court Street and East 4th Street, Ottumwa, Iowa. Photo on Panoramio.