Day Four: America's Dairyland

Well, I finally made it after another long day behind the wheel. Had a good night's sleep and putzed around the hotel room for a bit before grabbing some breakfast and hitting the road. Breakfast didn't start out all that well. It was a serve yourself setup and I decided to start off with a waffle. Unfortunately, the batter was a bit soupy and the waffle would not cook. I guess they figured out the batter was too thin. In the meantime I decided to settle on scrambled eggs, three strips of bacon (the first bacon I have had in I don't know how long), home fries, OJ, and coffee. I was hoping that my misfortune with the waffle was not setting the tone for the day and, fortunately, it didn't.

Hitting the road around 7:00 AM, I headed out for a long day's drive. Since I was in the neighborhood, I decided to stop at Superman's hometown: Metropolis (Illinois, that is). Knowing they had a large statue of Superman on the town square, I just had to visit the homage to my boyhood hero. Got a few pics but, unfortunately the Superman museum (a storefront) was not open, even tho' it was past the posted opening time of 9 AM.

Hitting the road once again, I had a beautiful day for traveling. It was mostly sunny most of the way, but very windy coming out of the west and traffic was not bad until late in the afternoon. What with this being Labor Day weekend, I was hoping to beat most, if not all, the traffic. Alas, such was not to be. It wasn't bad at all until about 20 miles, or so, north of Bloomington, IL. Traffic really started to build up quite a bit and, the nearer I got to Rockford, IL the worse it got. At the same time, it became quite overcast and stayed that way for the duration of the trip.

The only traffic jam I experienced was about 5 miles south of Madison. Being on I-39/90, as I neared where I-94 coming from Milwaukee joined I-39/90, traffic slowed to a crawl. Fortunately, I got off the interstate before the I-94 intersection, so I was able to get moving once again. Calling David, we decided to meet at the Madison Friends Meetinghouse since he and Johanna were to attend a women's volleyball game at the nearby UW Field House.

Meeting my future daughter-in-law was a pleasant treat. She is a real cute one, tall and slender, and is as sweet as she is good looking. David is one lucky fellow and I hope all goes well with them and that they enjoy a long and happy life together. I am very pleased to have her become a part of the family. We decided to go to dinner at Bluefie's, a nearby restaurant Pam and I enjoyed when we live in Madison. I had a great grilled portobello mushroom sandwich and a beer. Very tasty and not overly filling at all.

We parted company afterwards and I made my way to David's place in Lake Mills, about 20 miles or so east of Madison. Looking for his place in the dark proved a bit of a challenge, but I guess my old insurance adjuster instincts are still intact and I was able to find it on the first try. Now to chill, relax, and get ready for a fun weekend with David, Johanna, and my old friends.