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Thursday, April 28, 2011
Corinne and Con's Adventure to Chicago
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Friday, April 22, 2011
Andrea and Spot's Saint Louis Adventure
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Mindy A and Rolly teach in Benton
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Ashley and Max (Rolly) go to New Orleans!
And the story begins…
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Over SIU’s spring break, Rolly decided to go on a trip to Texas. However, he forgot all about his friend, Max. Max was lonely because Con left too, so he decided to go to Louisiana for spring break, and he left on Friday to make the long 8 ½ hour trip. He passed a truck full of college students with a sign, probably on their spring break too, headed to Florida (ask me what the sign says, and I’d be glad to tell you in person). This made him smile because he wondered what all of his friends back at SIU were doing for their spring breaks. A few hours later, he made it to Louisiana... not much longer!
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When he finally got to Monroe, Louisiana, he stayed with a friend named Donald who was nice enough to show him all around this historical state. He visited Grambling State University (home of the Tigers and a historical college), Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, LA (where Donald introduced him to a few friends), and then to New Orleans! A trip to Louisiana would not be complete without a trip to New Orleans. On the way, the 2 stopped in Abita Springs. Max heard there was a tasty during made in this city, so he asked Donald if they could stop (luckily Donald said yes).
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He thought the town was very nice and he enjoyed his stop, but he couldn’t wait to see New Orleans…. so, on they went. Once the pair was back on the road, they came to a bridge that was 20 miles long! It crossed one of the largest lakes in the Unites States, Lake Pontchartrain.
It was the longest bridge Max had ever seen. 20 minutes later, they were in New Orleans. Max had never seen so many colors and so much history in the same city. Everyone wore these colorful beads around their neck (no matter what time of the year), and there was beautiful architecture and wonderful food. It was then that Max decided he didn't want to leave anytime soon.
And then, he tried the beignets (pronounced ben-yays). Beignets are pieces of fried dough that are topped with powdered sugar and served with tea. They were the best treat he had ever had. He thought they looked like a doughnut, but Max had tried doughnuts before and they didn't taste this wonderful.
After the Beignets, Max and Donald ventured to the famous Bourbon Street. Every house was a different color and there were decorations and people until the eye could see.
He loved being there, but unfortunately his time in New Orleans had to come to an end soon. He did, however, have to make 1 more stop on his way out; the Holocaust Memorial. It was designed by a man named Yaacov Agam and is made so that if you stand at different points around the sculpture, it shows a different design representing different stages of the Holocaust. It was an amazing site to see, but sadly the 2 had to head back to Monroe. Max only had 1 night left in Louisiana before heading to Springfield for the Illinois Reading Conference. After a full night’s sleep, Max said a gloomy farewell to Donald and began yet another journey. The drive from Louisiana to Springfield, IL was a lot longer than from Carbondale, IL to Louisiana. This time it took almost 11 hours! When he arrived at the hotel, he walked into the room to find a nice comfy bed ready and waiting for him. He wanted to sleep, but he hoped on the bus and headed to the conference instead. When he got to the conference center and went to one of the sessions, he thought he saw someone he knew, but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t get much sleep the previous night so his eyes were foggy, but it still looked an awfully lot like her. Was it? It couldn’t be… it was! MRS. STEARNS!!
He had a wonderful time at the conference. He met a lot of people, got a ton of information, and even bought a couple books!
It had been an exciting adventure for Max, but he missed Rolly (a lot) and Con (only a little), and it was about time to go back to Carbondale. He packed his things and made the 3 ½ hour drive back.
Latitude = 29.9647
Longitude = -90.0706
Total Miles for Rolly = 5,085.88 miles for Max (Rolly)
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Con and Carrie explore a cave
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Monday, April 11, 2011
Jessica and Con go to Flordia
Spring break came and went, but Jessica and Con went to the sunny state of Florida. First stop was going from Carbondale to St. Louis airport, and arrive at Tampa International Airport. From here Con and I stayed in Indian Rocks Beach. Each day was a new adventure, but Con came along to Heritage Village in Largo Florida. Heritage Village has the mission to, "collect and intrepret the history of Pinellas County within the countext of Florida history". The picture to the left Con is sitting on top of an old Ford register. The picture was taken from inside the H.C. Smith Groceries-Meats Quality-Service which was built in 1915 with its original location being in St. Petersburg.
Distance traveled from Carbondale to Largo Florida: 1142.4 Miles
Total Distance Con has traveled: 9216.74 Miles
Tracy and Con
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Krista & Con
Con and Krista, didn't travel too far from Carbondale, but that didn't keep them from discovering an interesting place in Perry County (just north of Carbondale). They first went to Krista's house, which is located outside of the Village of Tamaroa, to get her camera. Then they took a very short trip and four right-turns later they arrived at the historical farm of B.G Roots, also outside of Tamaroa.
Benajah Guernsey (B.G) Roots was a pioneer educator and also an abolitionist who arrived in Perry County around 1839. He built his homestead and farm about 1 mile south of Tamaroa. He was known to aid many run-away slaves travel farther north to become free. Hidden passageways have been found in his still-standing home, where run-aways could take refuge.
Not only was B.G Roots an avid abolitionist, he was an important figure in the Illinois educational system. He pioneered the use of the graded school system and many other aspects of education. He was often known as "Father Roots" in Illinois early education set-up. Two of Roots' scholars that became well known were Supreme Court Judge Allen and General John A. Logan.
Con was disappointed that he didn't get to tour the buildings, but Krista has been in the schoolhouse and Roots' two-story house(not pictured) many times and told him all about it. He is pictured with the one-room schoolhouse that was built on B.G Roots property and also an original log cabin.
Con's travels with Krista round trip: 72.4 miles
Con's total miles: 7934.29 miles
Latitude:38.112603
Longitude:-89.231665
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Con and Kalie Travel to Rochester, Minnesota
Con and Kalie left out of Carbondale, Illinois on March 31st. We traveled together to my hometown of Eldorado, Illinois. The visit to Eldorado was short, as we were on our way to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The journey included Con, my husband, two sister-in-laws, my mother-in-law and myself. Con was excited about the trip and decided he wanted to ride shotgun all the way there. We argued about who got to ride in this seat and meet in the middle by Con sitting on the dashboard of the car. He took short breaks from time to time to get some fresh air by hanging his head out of the car window. We traveled up through Illinois, going through many interesting cities like Rockford, Illinois. We crossed over into Wisconsin where Con viewed the fields and fields of wind farms, which he was very curious about. We reached our destination of Rochester, Minnesota at 4:00 in the morning on Friday. During the journey Con had been a shoulder to lean and cry on as he learned the reason for the long and spontaneous journey to the Mayo Clinic. My father-in-law had been diagnosed with cancer two months ago. My family sent him to the Mayo Clinic on March 25th where he went through a series of test to result in the cancer removing surgery that was preformed on April 1st. Con was very excited to meet my father-in-law Fred when he found out that he was also a fellow dog lover through the stories we shared along the way.
After a few hours of catching up with Fred at the hotel in Minnesota, the family was soon off to the Mayo Clinic to get Fred prepped for surgery. Con patiently waited for the every two hour updates on my father-in-law while he was in surgery. Con was a good dog and slept most of the time. In between napping and eating, Con and the family went an adventure touring the hospital and clinic. Con met a new friend, Dr. Jack the Mayo Clinic dog. He visited with Dr. Jack and read his story book in the gift shop. Dr. Jack told Con that this was not a scary place, but a place for people to get better. They soon became very good dog friends. After 6 ½ hours of surgery and 3 hours of recovery time, Con and the Cooley family was reunited with Fred. We had to sneak Con into the recovery room (as we know dogs are not allowed in hospitals - especially recovery rooms).
The next day the family and Con traveled back to the hospital to visit with Fred again. Con, my husband, family friend Terry and myself said our goodbyes and made our long journey back to my hometown of Eldorado. Con was sad as we had to say goodbye to Fred, my mother-in-law and two sister-in-laws as they stayed at Mayo Clinic with Fred. Con took his place back on the dashboard of the car and the new journey began. On the way home Con decided that we should go a different route to have a new adventure. We traveled through various cities in Iowa and Missouri including; Hannibal, Missouri (the home of Mark Twain), St. Louis, Missouri and many more. We made it home safe and sound with many new stories to share including how wonderful the Mayo Clinic had been for helping my father-in-law and Con’s new friend Fred.
Total Trip Miles Traveled with Kalie= 1342.89 miles
Total Miles Traveled by Con = 7861.89 miles
Latitude = 44.0216667
Longitude = - 92.4697222
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Rolly and Jared travel to Murphysboro
Rolly and Jared decided to take a trip to a local town. We started at the Wham building, and then traveled to the John A. Logan Museum in Murphysboro, IL. Rolly and I walked around the outside of the museum. The Museum was once John A. Logan's house. After the quick stop there, we decided to visit the statue of John A. Logan in front of the Murphysboro Middle School. The statue was constructed to commemorate General John A. Logan ans his wife. Finally, we went up the street and went to work at Whiffle Boy's Pizza. This is now Rolly's new favorite pizza place. Rolly had a great time making pizza. Rolly had a great time in Murphysboro.
Round Trip Miles: 27.3
Longitude:-89.3350888
Latitude:37.7644952
Total Miles:3154.88