The Game

 

This morning Travalon and I went to the church near us (not the very closest one), and we saw the couple there that we went to Horicon Marsh with, so we talked to them a bit. Then we hit the road, and we played The Game. That is what I am calling it when we alternate turns picking a song to listen to on Spotify. I got really random and played "O Fortuna" and a French pop song from the early 90's sung by a four-year-old about how hard it is to be a baby, while Travalon mostly stuck to classic rock but did have some surprises, like the disco classic "The Hustle." This is a really fun way to pass the time, and it took my mind off all the concerns about tomorrow, like weather and traffic.

We meant to have a late lunch in La Salle at the Uptown Grill, the bougie restaurant with the amazing parmesan-encrusted whitefish, but around regular lunch time we were passing Rockford and decided to get something to eat at the Beef-A-Roo. Of course that meant we weren't hungry when we got to La Salle, but the Uptown Grill also serves brownie cups, which we are always too full for after the fish. Today we split a brownie cup, and it was very similar to Richard Bonomo's famous brownies but just ever so slightly even better. So chocolatey! We asked the hostess if there was a park by the river, and she told us about a trail along the canal, so we took an almost hourlong walk there and saw lots of herons. Travalon took photos with his good camera, which I will post at some point. Here is a photo of the bridge just south of La Salle.

We go over this bridge every time we go to Florida, and I always think it's so cool. Speaking of Florida, I was invited to my goddaughter's wedding there, but it's in July. On a Thursday. At one in the afternoon. I assume she just wants me to send a monetary gift rather than actually going there, so that is probably what I will do. 

Okay, I have Travalon's photos off his good camera. Here are some of the ones I like best. First, a couple of views of a little tree growing on a stone wall.

There was a goose chillaxing on another one.

This is a great blue heron.

This is a muskrat.

These photos show the canal going on a sort of bridge over the river.

A railroad bridge. We thought we heard a train coming, but we never actually saw it.

Some graffiti helpfully labeled "bong."

Here is a great blue heron in flight.

During the boating season, you can take a ride on this boat.

Then we went to the other antiques mall in El Paso (Illinois), and I found a dealer selling rosaries. I got three, and a St Anne's chaplet and an Infant of Prague chaplet, as well as a tiny fork pin (perfect for dinner parties, I guess). The guy ringing me up was looking at the St. Anne's chaplet weirdly, so I said, "It's not a rosary, it's a St. Anne's chaplet," and he said, "I know - I've been Catholic my whole life." Still, a lot of Catholics don't know these other chaplets, so why would I assume he would? Travalon found a drawing of Jimmy Durante, and the guy right behind him in line had a very similar one of Bob Hope, done by the same artist. What are the odds? Here is the picture of Jimmy Durante. Photos of my loot coming soon...

We are staying in Decatur, Illinois, and just north of town we saw a rainbow.

We are staying at the convention center in town, which has a decent pool, but it was crawling with kids tonight. It was VERY loud in there because everything echoes, and kids aren't quiet when playing in a pool. I didn't mind so much at first, because no kids were in the deep end (9 feet), so I could mind my own business swimming around, but then teenagers came into the area. They mostly stayed out of my way, so that was fine... and then little kids came over. I mean, they should have been in bed already, never mind swimming into the deep end of the pool, and they had a bad habit of swimming right into my path and stopping in front of me without noticing that I was trying to swim that way. Why couldn't they have stayed on the much larger shallow side?? Travalon had to go get a a towel from the front desk (I brought my own from home), so he came in a bit later. Finally I got tired of all the kids intruding into the deep end, so I gave up and came back to the room to shower, and to blog. Time to sign off now - we have to get going early tomorrow to get into place in time for the eclipse.

Famous Hat