Day 1 - Bloomington, IL

Well, we made it.  Our day started at 7 am (hard for retirees who aren’t used to getting up until 9 am!) in order to be ready for the movers at 8.  And they were right on time!  Almost nine hours later, we left the house in Troy on our way to Bloomington, IL, our first stopping point. 

As I write this, I am still coming down from the adrenalin rush – the Smirnoff Ice Screwdriver is helping!  I remember that we crossed into Indiana around 5.30 p.m., and that Josie complained as we went through Indianapolis, but most of the five hours to Bloomington is blurry.  There are a couple of notable exceptions.

Mile 200 on 74 West in Illinois – there is a sign for a Scuba School, with a number to call.  I am pretty sure there is not a body of water deep enough for scuba diving within 200 miles!

We had an unparalleled opportunity to experience MULTIPLE instances of the great American past-time – road construction.  My personal favorite was the piece of construction that closed a right-hand lane for only 500 yards, and yet resulted in a 5-mile tailback and a 30-minute delay.  There has to be a better way!

So, I promised a few fun facts about each watering hole – so here are some notable notes about Bloomington.

The Kickapoo Indians were the first to settle the on the land with the first non native settlers arriving in the 1820's. The first settlers were farmers attracted to the land for its fertile soil and almost perfect farming conditions.

Bloomington got its name in 1830, before that in was known as Blooming Grove, and prior to that Keg Grove.

The namesake for The Wizard of Oz is buried here in Bloomington.  Dorothy Gage was the niece of author L. Frank Baum, known for his successful book and later movie, The Wizard of Oz. If you've ever wondered where the namesake of Dorothy came from, it was his niece and she is currently buried right here in Bloomington's Evergreen Memorial Cemetery.

I will close with a picture of pin art created by #1 Daughter – she designed it to show the intersection of Cleveland, Ohio and Kalispell, Montana with a heart, and then she created the design with nails and embroidery thread on a background of reclaimed wood.  It speaks volumes …