Megan and Rolly travel Southern Illnois

Rolly told me that he wanted to go to school with me so he took a fun filled adventurous trip to Harrisburg Illinois with me. After we spend the day with some pretty cool 8th graders we traveled back to Carbondale. Here we stopped at Woodlawn Cemetery, the home of the first Memorial day EVER!!! put forth by General John A. Logan himself! After we paid our respects Rolly and I headed up to DeSoto.
DeSoto was hit by a tornado on March 18, 1925 which almost completely destroyed the town. Rolly and I stopped by the local fire station where the town has erected a memorial and took our picture to remember our relatives who survived the great storm. After we took our picture we went home and fell asleep after a long day of driving!

Location: Woodlawn Cemetery Carbondale Illinois and Desoto Tornado Memorial Desoto Illinois
Miles Traveled: 102 miles
Total Miles: 1557.46
Desoto IL Tornado Memorial Latitude 37.817681 Longitude 89.228806
Woodlawn Cemetery Memorial Latitude 37.727737 L0ngitude 89.210671

Mindy and Rolly go to Polar Whip!!!

Rolly and I went to Nesler's Polar Whip in Energy IL. This is a restaurant that was started in 1931. My great grandfather started this restaurant in the beginning of the depression. He was able to find a way to create hamburgers that were cheap to make. The original building was in Herrin and was called Whimpys. They sold hamburgers for five cents. Then when WWII started they temporarily closed because my great grandfather fought in the war. They reopened the restaurant when he finished his duties as a soldier. This was when he changed the name to Nesler' s Polar Whip. It was named after him John Nesler and they sold ice cream so that is where the polar whip came from. Rolly came to work with me that day, and I sold him some fries. We had a nice lunch together he could not believe he had never been there before. We also discussed how in 1973 he could have bought a hamburger for fifteen cents. We had a great time he was a great helper that day.

Latitude for Energy IL- 37.774

Longitude for Energy IL- 89.026

Miles traveled with Rolly- 28.6 miles

Total Miles- 1455.46

Brad and Con's Trip to the Gateway Arch

Con and I left the Wham building on Friday evening and went back to my house in Creal Springs, IL to get our bags (28.66 Miles). Then we started our journey to St. Louis. It was a rough drive. It stormed the whole way and many times we couldn't see where we were driving. When we got to my friend Holly's house we went straight to bed. The drive there was 133.97 miles. The next day we woke up, had breakfast and went to visit the Gateway Arch. The drive from Holly's house to the Arch was only 2.26 miles, but it seemed to take forever...I think I made a wrong turn. We then drove back to Holly's house after taking some pictures and sightseeing. The drive back also was 2.26 miles. Con and I said goodbye to Holly and started our journey home. The trip was much nicer on the way back. Con and I made it back safely. The journey was 133.97 miles long.

Unfortunately, Con had to come with me to work twice. The total mileage going back and forth was 70.32 miles. After we got back to the Wham building on Tuesday Con and I had traveled a total of 400.1 miles!

Latitude: 38-37'28'' N
Longitude: 090-11'14'' W
Miles Traveled with Brad: 400.1
Total miles Traveled: 563.36

Rolly and Katy go to Bloomington and Champaign, IL

Rolly and I left the Wham building on Wednesday and took a short walk to my job in the Sociology department on campus. At 4:30 we were on our way to pick up my son Kaydin from school in Herrin, IL and went to my home in Carterville. On, Thursday Rolly and I took Kaydin to school that morning and headed to SIUC campus to attend classes. When the day was over Rolly and I went to pick Kaydin up from school and went back to my home in Carterville. Rolly and I did this again on Friday. Once Rolly and I picked up Kaydin we went to my home in Carterville to prepare for our trip to Bloomington and Champaign, Il. We took our first adventure to Bloomington, IL. for a little bit of sight seeing. Our first stop in Bloomington was at the David Davis Mansion. Unfortunatly, we were 30 minutes late and the building was already closed. Our next stop, crusing around town, was the Miller Park Zoo because this park had geese for our trio to fed. Later on that evening, Rolly, Kaydin, and I went to my sister’s house in Champaign, Il. I have never been to my sister’s home and wanted to check it out so off we went. Rolly, Kaydin, my mother, and I went cruising around town trying to get lost in the big city when we stubbled upon the Doods Soccer Field. Kaydin was excited because he will soon be playing soccer and wanted to take some pictures with Rolly. After our day of sigt seeing Rolly, Kaydin, and I headed home. It was time to end our wonderful road trip and get back into the routine of school.
Miles Traveled: 597.40
Transportation Mode: My car
Latitude and Longitude Coordinates:
o Bloomington, Il – 400 29’ 3” N/ 880 59’ 37” W
o Champaign, Il – 400 6’ 59” N/ 880 14’ 35” W
o Herrin, Il – 370 48’ 11” N/ 890 1’ 39” W
o Carterville, Il – 370 45’ 36” N/ 890 4’ 38” W
Total Miles Traveled: 1426.86

Laci and Con Visit Centralia, IL

Con and I took a trip to Centralia. Con and I share a fascination with old buildings, so we decided to visit the old odd fellows building. It was late when we got there, but I woke Con up and he hopped out of the car and posed with me for a shot:
As the block indicates, the original building was constructed in 1852 but burned down in 1933 and was rebuilt soon after that. The building that was rebuilt was again used as an odd fellows lodge. The lodge was upstairs before and after the fire, and before the fire, a furniture store was downstairs. Currently a tattoo shop, Daddyos, takes up the downstairs while the owner of Daddyos, has made the 10,000 sq. feet upstairs a home for his family and himself. Luckily, I'm really good friends with this man and have had the opportunity to see what used to be the odd fellows lodge and it is amazing. There, now house, contains one original gymnasium, one original conference hall, and a multitude of rooms, some of which have been remodeled for the family and some of which (the induction rooms) that haven't. I didn't want to bother their family by roaming around and taking pictures but they did allow Con to get a picture with an original order of the odd fellows artifact:
The family sold many of the odd fellows artifacts but kept many as well. I always love to explore the lodge because I always find a new room that I've never been in. Con couldn't get enough of the building and was such a good guest that the family invited him back again. Con and I spent the night at a friends house and all night he was wiggling with puppy dreams which probably consisted of more exploration. We left the following morning and returned back to Wham building, leaving Con and I to have traveled a total of 163.26 miles round trip. Besides Con being a radio hog and a loud snorer, we had a really great time. The total miles Con has traveled is 163.26 miles.

Latitude: 38.525
Longitude: -89.13
Miles Traveled: 163.26
Total Miles Traveled: 163.26

Lanae and Rolly go to Belleville and Christopher, Illinois

Rolly and I left Wham building on Wednesday and headed for my house in DuQuoin, Illinois. We left Wednesday evening for Belleville, Illinois. The reason for our trip was to attend my boyfriends, sisters, boyfriend's good bye party at a restaurant in Belleville called Maxwell's. Here posing in the picture outside the restaurant.

After leaving the restaurant in Belleville, Illinois we headed back home to DuQuoin, Illinois. That next day Rolly and I headed to Christopher, Illinois.We went to Christopher because that is where I do my student observations.

After a day of teaching and observing we headed back to my house in DuQuoin, Illinois for a weekend of relaxation and plenty of homework. On Monday we headed back to Wham for Rolly's next big adventure.

Latitude (Belleville): 38.511639

Longitude (Belleville): -89.986267

Latitude (Christopher): 37.98101

Longitude (Christopher): -89.046936

Miles traveled round trip: 191.06 miles

Miles traveled so far: 829.46 miles

Katie and Rolly go to St. Louis!

Rolly left Wham building with me on Wednesday for a weekend of fun. He went with me to my house in Herrin, IL until Saturday morning when we left for the trip. Rolly, my mom, my boyfriend Tom, and I took a trip over the weekend to St. Louis, MO. The purpose of the trip was to attend a trivia night fundraiser for the youth group at Grace Lutheran Chapel in Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO (my cousins' youth group) and for my cousin Matthew's birthday party. We went all sorts of places. On the way up, Rolly really enjoyed himself because Rolly, like most dogs, loved hanging his head out the car window, letting his ears flop in the wind.

The first place we stopped was the St. Louis Gateway Arch.

Next, we went to the Turtle Park in Forest Park which is a playground made of huge, concrete turtles. Rolly went even though there was a sign saying he couldn't go without being on a leash.





Next, we went to the trivia night. We met my aunts, uncles, and cousins there for a fun night of trivia. We got fourth place out of twenty-two, which is the best my family has ever done, probably because Rolly was with us.




We headed back to my cousins' house in Florissant, MO for the evening. The next day, we celebrated Matthew's birthday with lunch and presents, then my other cousin Michael, Tom, Rolly, and I went out for an adventure. We first went to the St. Louis Science Center. It was a great experience for Rolly because he could learn a lot about science on the trip, though the big dinosaurs did scare him a little.




Next, we went to the St. Louis Museum of Art. We looked at the art throughout the museum for a short while before heading back for the rest of the party. After a long weekend of fun, we left St. Louis and headed back to Herrin. On Monday, Rolly went back to Wham building to prepare for his next exciting adventure.

Latitude: 38.624674
Longitude: -90.184941
Miles traveled round trip: 359 miles
Total miles traveled so far: 638.4 miles