Road Trip 2025, Day 1: Rail Fanning and Effingham Christmas Lights

 

Travalon and I set off this morning after one tiny setback, that my plant watering contraption's battery had died, but we left on time because our awesome neighbor gave us one so we didn't have to go to the store. Our first stop (other than the Beefaro in Rockford for shakes) was the Rochelle Railroad Park, and this time the gift shop was finally open, so we went in to check it out... and two trains went by so we had to keep running outside while selecting T-shirts and actually purchasing them. The woman working there didn't seem to mind at all - she understands rail fans. Then we walked around the park, waiting for more trains, and a very short train came by ten minutes later, then not two minutes later another train came by. The second train (out of the four) was very colorful, and Travalon made some videos that I will post at some point. (Maybe after we get home?)

We saw this interesting vehicle on the road.

(I took this with Travalon's phone, since he was driving and my phone was in my purse, but his was sitting out so we could play The Game.) We also stopped at our favorite bistro in La Salle for a late lunch, and Travalon took a photo of the parmesan-encrusted whitefish.

His was with garlic mashed potatoes; mine was with steamed vegetables, and it was quite a variety, with asparagus, red cabbage, zucchini, broccoli, and maybe that was it. We also had a wonderful bread basket that came with lunch - we each got a slice of focaccia, a slice of French bread, and a cracker with lots of seeds on it. It was two in the afternoon and the place was packed, so that tells you something about the quality of their food. I always mean to try the pretzel-encrusted rainbow trout, but our usual is so good that I always just get that.

We drove and drove, stopping for bathroom breaks where I got my steps for the hour, until I finally said, "I need to walk some more." We stopped in Effingham, Illinois, thinking there might be someplace good to walk downtown to see Christmas lights, and we hit the jackpot. Check out these displays!

Then we walked down the street and saw beautiful Christmas displays in shop windows, and a cute advertisement for a cafe, as well as this interesting display on the sidewalk. Art or something practical?

It's a major award!

Alas, we did not eat at the Duck Cafe because due to our late lunch we weren't hungry yet. We drove further down the road and stopped at a place called Freddy's Steakburgers and Frozen Custard in Mount Vernon, Illinois. The regular steak burgers were over a thousand calories, but I noticed the kiddie meal was a reasonable number of calories, so I ordered that and assured them that I did want the toy. I got a small burger and a container of applesauce... but no toy? I had to ask for it, and this is what I got:

It's a dog that's a hot dog! This will join my toys at work, if I don't end up giving it to a kid before then. Then we hit the road again, playing the game (Travalon chooses a song, then I choose a song), and now we are in Paducah, Kentucky at a Drury Hotel. It has the most amazing bathroom that's almost as big as the hotel room itself. We did remember Drury Hotels fondly from our trip out West last year.

Famous Hat