Skyway: Connects Dan Ryan to Indiana Toll Road

95th Street: Southern end of Dan Ryan Expressway, marks beginning of Bishop Ford

Bishop Ford Freeway: I-94 from 95th (Dan Ryan) to I-80/Indiana

Eisenhower: I-290, which extends from downtown to western suburbs

North-South: I-355 from Itasca to I-55

Stevenson Expressway: I-55 from Lake Shore Drive to Tri-State

Tri-State Tollway: I-294 connects with I-94 on north and south end of city, forming a semi-circle and connecting with every major interstate

Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway: I-88 west from Tri-State

The Loop: area in heart of downtown that's encircled by "L" tracks. Lake Street on North, Wabash on East, Van Buren on South and Wells Street on West.

Post Office: Sometimes used instead of The Loop. Now vacant building that spans Eisenhower as it turns into Congress Parkway.

Circle/Spaghetti Bowl: Where Dan Ryan, Kennedy and Eisenhower meet

Hillside Strangler: Named after a nearby suburb. Where East-West Tollway, Tri-State and Eisenhower meet

Mannheim: Just east of Hillside Strangler and near western end of Eisenhower

The length of this trip compels guests to “hit a stride” in a way that a mere weekend trip cannot. Settling into new routines, you are more able to leave your everyday life behind and fully appreciate your new surroundings. The upscale nature of Classical Music Journey also helps: on most trips, guests partake in camp chores, but on this outing your biggest job is to consume lots of great food and wine so guides have less to reload on rafts each morning. We did our best that first night, but something about camping makes people extra sleepy in evenings. After fresh guacamole and chips, blackened halibut, and fresh grilled vegetables, we weren’t too full for warm brownies — we were too tired. That was okay, though. Brownies are great for breakfast.

Violins, violas, and cellos are soft-spoken instruments. However, place them before huge backdrop of a red-rock amphitheater, and sound of a string quartet will carry a long way. At our first camp, we heard a morning performance of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in a nearby side canyon. Many of us moved to far side, several hundred feet away, to hear music reverberating all around us. There were no bad seats in this concert hall.

Rowing all day is strenuous work for guides, and at lunch I observed Bill spreading peanut butter on a leftover brownie for extra energy. It reminded me vaguely of some old television commercial. Oh, never mind.

Besides musical instruments and wine, crew had brought another unusual bit of baggage: a massage table. A professional massage therapist was on this trip, and she offered everyone a complimentary five-minute sample of her skills. Guests could receive longer massages for a fee, and I opted for a half-hour working over. Tonight was Italian night, and I later slouched like a wet noodle in my beach chair, enjoying Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons and aroma of baked lasagna.

I still can’t say I’ve ever seen a bear in wild, but I know what they sound like. Late that night I dreamed a freight train was passing by my tent. I awoke in time to hear a large animal crashing carelessly through nearby woods and headed in my direction. I sat up, peered out mesh window, and just made out a round shadow, a hole in night. It grew closer until it was about ten feet from me. The loud snuffling and snorting could only have been from a curious bear, since no properly maintained freight train would make such a racket. More annoyed than apprehensive, I made a loud noise of my own: “Pssssst!” The cowardly shadow bolted — knocking down several large trees in process, to judge by sound. I felt a bit sorry for him as I went back to sleep. It’s a good thing roots and berries don’t have ears.

Read this entire feature FREE with photos at: http://www.jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/raft/dvorak/dvorak.html

By Rob LaGrone, Las Vegas Correspondent, Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com