On the Road - Paducah, KY

We were driving down Interstate 57 from Champaign (Illinois) on our way to Paducah (Kentucky), when Ruthi got a text from one of her sorority sisters who was driving down from Chicago to her 2nd home in Tennessee for the week-end. Betty Holcomb wondered exactly where we were on the road (Interstate 57), while she was up the road on Interstate 57 (Effingham, Illinois). The miracle of modern communications – we almost had the chance to be in the same place at the same time today. Alas, they were headed to Interstate 55 (SW) to Henning, TN and we were headed to Interstate 24 (SE) to Paducah, KY.

So close yet, so far away!

Ain’t texting great!!!!

RV Park - Woodstock, IL

We were in a nice little RV park. There was one hitch - exiting through the grass field. The entrance and sites are gravel. To exit, you pull through your site onto a grass field around the back of other sites to the gravel road out. Unfortunately, it RAINED and RAINED the 3 days before we left. That made the field very soggy. We and the owner determined that to drive across the field was not the best route out. Luckily, we had an empty site directly across and behind our rig that we could back into and then drive forward onto the gravel roadway. The owners’ staff assisted us with our exit so that any damage to the grass was minimal.

Observations - Woodstock, IL

Twisted Stem Flower Shop

Sign at local church – "Don’t let worries get you down; remember Moses started out as a basket case."

Camping in Woodstock (Illinois) we got a lot of “Aquarius”/1960’s rock festival references and jokes. Just want to remember those who didn’t send jokes about our destinations that while this town is older than the township in New York where the festival was, it (Illinois version) was the movie locale for “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray.

The setting sun was "blood Orange" tonight. It looked a bit like a Sci-Fi movie scene when the sun sets on MARS. Beautiful to watch it light up the clouds.

Family Visits - Northern Illinois

Ruthi’s older brother/wife (Bill/Blanche) gave us Common Bonds [a game with cards like Trivia that give 3 word/things (Jesus, 1st man in space, and RinTinTin) for which you have to identify the Common Bond between them (answer is below). They are as much fun as the Trivia cards just in a different way! Anything so we don’t have to talk with each other (just kidding).

Our time in Ruthi’s brother’s {in early August] and her sister’s (Betty) [the past 2 weeks] areas was really fun and tiring – how tired can a person get from laughing and laughing and laughing about their common or not so common history. When we left Alaska one of the clean-up tasks was to ship a couple of Ruthi’s “scrap” (more like “trash”) books down to the family Pack Rat (her brother, Bill, though Betty is a close second   ). Ruthi made the mistake of mentioning how their parents pictures might be scan into a pc and cataloged for viewing. She has to admit that it wasn’t her original idea, as two of her cousins (Beth and Lynnie) had done as much in preparation for the 75th Codo family reunion (remember the whole reason for our trip into the INFERNO known by others as the MidWest in summer).

Anyway, Bill took that as an opening to return Ruthi’s “scrap” back to her!!! He also brought along the case (11x24x18 cardboard box) filled with our parents pictures. So, now Ruthi is scanning in pictures from her high school and college days. One of the books reflects quotes, saying and advertisements that caught her eye when she was in high school and college - so, more scanning to do. What a nice winter project for her.

Common Bond answer: All are shepherds!

Last Words - Two Rivers, WI

About our stay in Northern Wisconsin – There were a lot of houses fro sale in Two Rivers/Manitowoc area. Interesting that most, if not all, had great curb appeal. We think that some are homes for Milwaukites and Chicagoans coming North to cool in the summers. The houses were 1950-60’s construction with basically 2 plans – dormer windows on the attics or flat roofs on 1 story square houses. There were a lot of examples of intricate brick work on the houses and churches.

To end on a funny bumper sticker – “Don’t believe everything you think”

Trivia Pursuit - Two Rivers, WI

We troll thrift store for used books. In the process, we have come across Trivia games with their boxes of cards with 6 questions in categories dependent on the Trivia focus. We bought the “Boomer” and “Genius” editions each with 2 boxes (with a lot of cards-really we are only halfway through one box). We threw away the boards, marker, etc and kept the cards only. We take the cards into restaurants, medical offices, Ford dealers, etc. etc. etc. (any place that looks like we will be sitting for a while). We ask each other the questions. It’s great fun and sometimes surprises us by what we do and don’t know. On a number of occasions, we have brought the card back to check the internet for more details.

Like today, the National News category question was “How many people did Lee Harvey Oswald shoot on November 22, 1963?” We knew for sure there were 2 (Kennedy and Connelly) but were there more? We didn’t think the wives were shot but how about the driver or any secret service personnel. We didn’t know and so off to the internet to discover that he shot 3 people – President Kennedy, Texas Governor Connelly and a bystander (James Tague). Though the Wikipedia entry on Tague makes it sound more like he was hit by debris not a bullet. Now you know the answer, too!!!

Just sharing one of the ways that we keep our brains sharp (or not)!!!

Lambeau Field - Green Bay WI

Went into Green Bay for the day and to get Packers presents for grand-daughter (hair scrunchy, GB Packer M&M, GB Packer Lip gloss), her boyfriend (cheese head) and their son (onesie). Lambeau Field’s parking lot was jammed!!! We had planned the trip being sure not to go in on a game day. What we didn’t know was the Packers’ Appreciate Lunch for their fans had been postponed due to the NFL contract negotiations. The plaza in front of the stadium was peppered with players and kids getting autographs. In our football ignorance, we didn’t identify that activity until it was pointed out by a clerk in the Pro Shop.

Ruthi was in the shop looking at doll replicas of Clay Matthews and Aaron Rogers when a 2 year old came by also interested in the dolls. Ruthi tried to have a conversation with the little boy but he seemed a bit awe-struck. His mother explained that he had just gotten Clay Matthews autograph and was a bit Ga Ga still.

There are about 100,000 residents in Green Bay with everyone being Packer fans. There might be a lone Bear fan or two in the crowd but we aren’t sure if they are at all vocal about it. We tried to eat at Bret Farve’s Steak House but it didn’t open for lunch. Overall we were not very impressed with Green Bay. The Bay and River front is almost totally commercial with little restaurant access to the views.