Last night, anticipating an easier drive I set my phone alarm for 7AM. I learned early this morning that the previous occupant of my hotel room had set the hotel alarm clock for 5:45AM. After a quick hotel coffee I was packed and on the road at 630AM.
On Highway 70, shortly after leaving Terre Haute, Indiana I crossed into the southern tip of Illinois at the city of Effingham. I hadn’t gone 5 miles when the Illinois Department of Transportation shut down the highway. Fortunately, I was at an off ramp which was conveniently located next to a Cracker Barrell. Breakfast sounded better than traffic. At 715AM in the morning the Effingham Cracker Barrell is empty. There were very few customers and it was fully staffed. I was seated and served Grandma’s Breakfast very quickly.
As I ate breakfast I remembered that my Grandmother, Rose, was born in Gibson, Illinois. A quick check and I found I was only 90 minutes from Gibson. I was tempted to make the side trip, but a three hour detour without proper research on what to look for or at, didn’t make sense. I also remembered that I had at least one great uncle who lived for a time in Effingham. I overheard the information on Effingham and Gibson over 50 years ago and just couldn’t remember much of the substance nor context. As I was eating I used the phone to research Effingham and found that I was only a half mile or so from the Effingham Masonic Lodge.
The construction of the Lodge was very interesting. The exterior looks as if they only thing it houses is
a Lodge room. It is situation East to West and the building simply looks like someone covered a lodge room.
Back on to the highway. The southern tip of Illinois is pretty flat. Small towns and hamlets are dotted between flat farm land consisting of acres and acres of corn. I think corn fields are creepy. Nothing good (except the corn) happens in corn fields. Think Casino or The Get Away. I crossed over the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers and was in St. Louis, Missouri.
About the time I crossed into Missouri the Dodgers began to play Tampa Bay. Coffee, Baseball and cruise control for three hours and I arrived in Kansas City, Missouri. My hotel is in the northeast part of the city, right across from “Worlds of Fun” and “Oceans of Fun.” I can see giant roller coasters looping in the sky from my hotel room. Thus, the area is filled with families. It feels like I am staying in a hotel in Anaheim across from Disneyland.
Tomorrow a tour of the Truman Presidential Library followed by a relatively short drive to Wichita, Kansas.
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