I begin my travel blog in the middle--in the middle of the US, in the middle of the great State of Illinois, the middle of economic disaster, the middle of the semester in what I hipoe is the middle of my career and my life and my travels. I wander Jacksonville sometimes, hoping to see something I haven't and always succeeding. The last time I did this, about two weeks ago, I noticed there are more businesses springing up. I saw signage all over town in storefronts, in the windows of houses, in lawns. "Lawn Mower Repair" has given way to [View Full Entry]

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Day 101- Wednesday My bag is packed and I'm ready for the shuttle to the airport as I have had to check out of my hotel room. Luckily ING Direct banking have a free internet cafe across the road. You just have to buy a drink. It is rather cold and windy in Chicago today and I am attired for a long flight to Sydney...with bare legs and sandals so am not suited to wandering the streets marvelling at the beauties of this great city as I had planned. I have finished my 6 weeks in the USA in the same [View Full Entry]

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So I haven't updated my blog with my trip in some time now, Uni here has been crazy busy and time has been short. I thought I'd update a few photos that I have of where I'm living here at the University of Illinois. I'll update some more of these photos of the school soon and then continue on with the regular program. Andrew [View Full Entry]

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Keokuk, IA to Rockport, IL 84.6 total miles We left Keokuk around 7am. We went thru our first lock about a mile down river. The first lock was #19. Between lock #19 and lock #20, in Canton, MO was about 21 miles and we cruised about 9 mph. We had to wait a little over an hour and a half for them to bring a huge barge up the short 10 foot lift. Between lock #20 and lock #21, in Quincy, IL was a little over 18 miles and we cruised about 20 mph. Between lock #21 and lock #22, in [View Full Entry]

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We have finally arrived in Chicago! We pick up the train tomorrow (Sun.) at 2:15PM. I just hope we get out without problems. The weather here is just awful with flooding rains from the remnants of Lowell from the Pacific, believe it or not. The remnants of Ike get here tomorrow. I was happy to see an email from Holland America regarding a "replacement" port of call. We will be going to Aomori , Japan. We still have 8 days at sea though! That will be interesting. As a friend of mine pointed out; most cruises last les [View Full Entry]

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Here are a few Lincoln Museum snaps [View Full Entry]

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What a wonderful feeling! Not packing the Forester and driving less than 5 miles to start our day. However I know there are more 13 hour days on the horizon. Reflecting back on the trip from North Platte to Springfield, Betty came up with a way to shorten the trip. Try to follow her logic and remember after many hours of driving one tends to be a bit psychotic. We traveled through the widest part of Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa, so if these states were rotated and we only drove through the narrow part, the trip would be much shorter. This [View Full Entry]

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Arcola, Illinois is located in the East Central part of the state, celebrated its heritage as "broom corn capital of the world" with the renowned Broom Corn Festival this weekend. Attending this festival was quite an eye opening experience for me. In the "Broom Tent", I watched the demonstration on how a broom was made in the old fashion way. Also, there was the "Kiddie Tractor Pull" contest. I was actually really curious about this event and wanted to participate. Unfortunately, my age does not qualify me for the contest. Of course, beer and food are must for a festival. The [View Full Entry]

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Well we started our trip across America with great expectations, but 13 hours later pulling into SLC we were wondering "whose idea was this?". Driving across Nevada can have that kind of effect on even the sanest of travelers. There is no amount of lipstick that can help the endless nothingness of Reno to SLC. However the next morning we were once again ready to continue our journey with North Platte, Nebraska as our overnight stop. 13 hours later we pull into our motel. Not only have we driven over 650 miles, but have lost another hour to time zone change. [View Full Entry]

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Labor Day weekend of 2008 we drove down south, to the family farm in Southern Illinois for the Albert family reunion. It was a wonderful trip! Friday night some of us went to the Edgewood Opry where Uncle Jim got up on stage to sing a song. Saturday morning we met at the farm and went walking to the family cemetery, the old yellow house which is no longer yellow, and up to John and Donna Kay's. Although we only wanted to stop by to say hi, before long we were all gathered around Donna's table for iced tea and dinner [View Full Entry]

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