October 08, 2003

Road Trip - Day 4: University of Illinois

I woke up this morning after 9:00 o'clock. The kids had already been up for a while, but Joel and I were beat. It was after 1:00 a.m. before we got to bed last night. So even at 9 a.m. I wasn't ready to get up! But got up I did, threw on some clothes and took the kids downstairs for breakfast. Joel went for his usual walk.

By the time we got a little schoolwork done and Joel got his e-newsletter out, it was already getting late. So we schlepped everything down to the van again and barely made our check-out time of noon.

Joel was in charge of our schedule today since we were in Champaign--his Alma Mater. Our first stop however, was at a health food store to buy more stuff for me--and now for Jenna. (She woke up with a sore throat this morning and it sounds just like the way my URI started... Wouldn'tcha know...)

After stocking up on a variety of immune system boosters we headed for the U of I campus. We took Socrates with us as Joel started the walking tour of the campus, starting with the Quad. It was really warm today, around 80 degrees, so it got hot walking, but nothing would deter Joel. He was walking down memory lane and he was very excited about sharing that with the kids.

The kids got a U of I souvenir out of the deal though. Since it was so hot, and since we have already run out of short sleeved shirts, they needed something cooler to wear than what they were wearing.

After that Joel drove us over to his fraternity house. It was just as disgusting as I had remembered it being fourteen years or so ago when he took me on this tour the first time. I asked Zach if he wanted to live in a house like that one day. His answer was a very emphatic, "No!" Now if it is disgusting to an 11 yr. old boy, it must be pretty disgusting!

The interesting thing about that stop was, as we were leaving, some college kids walked up to the house, and as Joel told them what chapter of TEP he had pledged, one of the guys asked him if he knew "Boog." As it turns out, Boog (Jay) was Joel's best friend in college and he's back at U of I this year finishing his degree. They even had Jay's phone number, so Joel called and arranged to meet him after lunch. What a small world!

So we grabbed a quick bite to eat then went over to meet Jay. It was the first time they had seen each other in about 14 years. The kids and I played with Socrates while the guys caught up, then we were on the road again.

We crossed the entire state of Indiana this afternoon, passing right by the Indianapolis 500 Speedway, arriving in Dayton, OH around 8 p.m. tonight. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner, then checked in to our fourth motel in four nights....

Tomorrow we are scheduled to visit some Wright Brothers historical sights in Dayton. Hopefully we'll have a little more of a leisurely day tomorrow....