52 Weeks....to the Real Me

So today we drove quite a ways around Illinois today. We went to Charleston, Mattoon, Shelbyville, Paris, and Oakland.

Charleston - This is where we are staying. So far I think it's my favorite. As in- the most like what I'm used to. I met the assistant superintendent. He was very nice. (even recognized that I was a math person -- due to my Pi shirt!)

Mattoon- The town right next to Charleston. It was ok. It seemed rather run down. The assistant superintendent there was also friendly. The schools looked great! The high school was a huge complex with every sport field imaginable!

Shelbyville- It seemed to take forever to get to. (about 15 miles of farmland) I wouldn't like being that far from everything. There is a large lake (formed from the Army Corp of Engr. Dam) that would offer good recreation. We "accidentally" visited a cemetery -- more flowers than you can imagine. Almost every single grave had some type of flower arrangement. Dad pointed out-- "these people must really care about their families." We wandered around (ok we were kinda lost) but we made it back to town. Some rundown mom and pop stores were in town.

Gays- Ok this is like a tiny blip on the map between Mattoon and Shelbyville, but the sign caught my attention -- TWO STORY OUTHOUSE. So we stopped. In reading the signs I learned that originally the general store was built here and it had apartments above it. To prevent the tenants from having to walk all the way downstairs (and share a bathroom with the public) to the outhouse, they built a second floor with a bridge to the apartment porch. All that is left is the outhouse itself.


Paris - Paris was a front runner on paper. We (I) passed the street we needed and ended up in Indiana (oops!) The schools looked nice, from what we could see. We ventured to Sunset Park, that area seemed a bit rundown, kinda trashy. But I saw some of the COOLEST flowers. I want some. But I have no idea what they are. We saw them in a bunch of yards and even in Oakland too. I might want to visit Paris again, to see the main downtown.

Oakland - When we left Paris we went through Oakland so I could see Melissa's future house. Very nice. =) I think Grandma was even outside! -- we didn't stop. We stopped for gas. $2.39 =) much better than the $2.67 I paid yesterday!

Charleston Part 2- We explored more of Charleston this evening. We saw the schools -- look really nice and in one large complex. There are some nice parks, including the Rotary Water Park. I'd like to go swimming there. It even had a huge waterslide. We also found a "rich development," a cool apartment complex near EIU (Eastern Illinois University), and I had Little Caesars for dinner -- first time I've had that in about 10 years!!

We are now watching some tv and heading to bed early so that we can go to the Champaign-Urbana area tomorrow.