Fri 9/14. We have just finished spending 3 days with our friends in Northbrook, Il. I guess I should start with last Saturday though. A leisure start from Avoca, Ia and we cover 395 miles arriving at the home of Chris & Susie about 2:30pm. These are friends Deb has known for more than 45 years. She worked with Susie teaching deaf and hard of hearing children. During the 3 days with them we travel into Bloomington and visit a museum Mostly dedicated to a local favorite son, Abraham Lincoln. That was a very informative visit. They also had exhibits about how the advancement of technology impacted Bloomington over the years.
Tue morning 9/11 we start the shorter trek to go visit Ron & Jan in Northbrook. Another of Deb's very close friend and former college classmates at Northwestern. Arriving early afternoon having covered just 156 miles we just relaxed the first day visiting since it had been a few years since we had seen them. Wed we spent some time walking the fantastic Botanical Gardens. They have a large variety of specialty gardens, English, Japanese, African, American among others. One could easily spend an entire day wandering these grounds. Thursday started with an deepdish Apple Pancake followed by a small road trip for a specialty hotdog place. Gene and Judes Hotdogs. The menu is simple, 1 dog with fries, 1 dog without, 2 dogs with fries or a tamale. They serve the dogs with your choice or combination of Mustard, onions, relish. They put the fries on top of the dog and wrap it to give it to you. The place was packed. Great Vienna hotdogs. We concluded with BBQ ribs and extended conversation.
We left just past 9 headed east for Sandusky, Oh and tomorrows visit at Cedar Point. Arrived in Camp Sandusky just past 5 pm again having changed to another time zone. Tomorrow, Roller Coaster mania.

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