YaGoof! Trip Report (Days 3 and 4)

The posts of the trip so far are way too long! Agh! The cyber-equivalent of trip slides!

Keith, Ya Goof!

DAY 3

A short drive to Springfield, Illinois.

Fantastic museum honoring Abraham Lincoln, with state-of-the-art theatre shows that are Disney quality.

We lost track of Emmett for about 20 minutes, enough time that we had security looking for him. When he turned up, he hadn't known he was lost.

About ten minutes later, we lost track of Janet. She lingered too long looking at these gowns owned by Mary Todd Lincoln.

Emmett, Janet—Ya Goofs!

We also saw Lincoln's law office and the home where he accepted the nomination for president. It was an honor to be in both places.

We saw the most complete Frank Lloyd Wright home in the world. The boys thought it a big drag when we entered, but ended up glad to see things like a lamp made for the home, sold at auction and bought back years later for $700,000! Emmett was beside the lamp at the time. I took his arm and steered him away from it.

Ethan, Emmett—told ya this was a good site to visit, Ya Goofs!

We used a very badly-done map to find a movie theater just in time to see "Superman Returns." Our collective review: 3.5 stars. It has plenty of plot holes, but the strengths (pun intended) are the casting of Superman, the action sequences nicely contrasted by quiet and romantic moments, and the story that has a true challenge for Superman.

Bryan Singer, great job overall, but because of the plot holes: Ya Goof!

DAY 4

This trip was built around a church conference where Janet is a delegate. After a rather leisurely morning, Janet realized that she was due in Des Moines earlier than we thought, and we didn't have a minute to spare. MapQuest estimated the trip at five-and-a-half hours. We made it in four-and-a-half.

Janet, Ya Goof!

While Janet started her delegate duties, we figured out where to park for the hotel. It only took three trips around the same block and one instance of driving on the wrong side of the yellow lines.

Keith, Ya Goof!

Des Moines, is VERY quiet on a Sunday. One illustration: We sat at red light looking at a map and stayed there when it turned green because there was no one behind us. It turned red and green again, still with no one behind us.

The conference center, several hotels and other downtown sites are connected by an elevated tunnel called the Skywalk. Naturally, I started referring to everyone in our party as "Skywalker." At first, Ethan didn't get it.

Ethan, Ya Goof!