Sir Francis and Madison travel to Jacksonville!

Hello everyone, it's Sir Francis. I went on a very exciting trip this weekend to Jacksonville, IL. I got to see so many historical places! First we went to the Governor Duncan Mansion. The mansion was built in 1834, this home served as the official executive mansion for the state of Illinois from 1834-38. It was used for State business during the term of Governor Joseph Duncan from 1834-1838. The early capitals, Kaskaskia and Vandalia, had no “Governor’s Mansion”. The mansion was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971, and houses many of the original Duncan family furnishings. 

Next, we went to the Illinois School for the deaf. The school was opened in 1839 and serves students from Kindergarten to age 21. 

Then we went to Illinois College. Illinois College was the first college in the state to conduct classes and grant a baccalaureate degree. The first president of Illinois College was Edward Beecher was the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of the influential anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The best-known alumnus, William Jennings Bryan, Class of 1881, was a three-time candidate for president of the United States, secretary of state and congressman. Among the visitors and lecturers on campus during the early years were Abraham Lincoln, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Bronson Alcott, Mark Twain, Horace Greeley and Wendell Phillips. It was very exciting to be in a place with so much history. 

The final stop on our travels was to General Grierson's home. Grierson joined the Union war effort as a volunteer from Jacksonville.  His family lived in Jacksonville and remained here during the Civil War.  “Grierson’s Raid” was a sixteen day foray through the South, from LaGrange, Tenn., to Baton Rouge, La., pulling the attention of the Southern army from Vicksburg and allowing Grant to take Vicksburg.

Traveled 374 miles round trip.

Latitude: 39.7319° N

Longitude: 90.2344° W

Pedro and Hope travel to Virginia!

Hello Friends! 
Pedro here, checking in! I made it back from my trip to Hampton,Virginia. I was a little worried traveling so far with Hope, who can be a little ditsy at times. However, she kept me safe the whole trip. The ride there was fun, but very long. Being in a car for over 14 hours can make an animal crazy, but it was worth it. We arrived early in the morning on a Saturday. I got to meet a couple of guys in the Navy. They were very nice to me and we had a good time together. 

The next day, one of the guys took us on a tour of the Naval Base in Virginia. It was so cool! We walked around all over in a ginormous ship. We went down several stairs, and I got to see the beds people in the Navy slept in, which did not look comfy at all! We also walked up to the top of the ship, which over looked the Atlantic Ocean! I was amazed! There other large ships were really cool too. It was quite a site to see. I was very pleased! After our tour, Hope took me out with her to Longhorn Steakhouse. I had a lot of fun hanging out with her friends. 

Too bad we had to drive back to Carbondale soon. I was not looking forward to this long drive back. We left pretty early in the morning. We drove through the daylight this time, so the view on the way back was beautiful! I saw the Appalachian mountains and all the pretty little houses within them! The ride was very hilly. It was a long drive back, but I had fun listening to music and being with Hope and her friends. I got pretty tired later, so I slept for a while on Hope's lap. After such a long trip, I was back in Carbondale. Hope took me back to my home at the Wham building. I was excited to be back home for a little bit before my next trip!

Total distance traveled: 1,810 miles
Latitude: 36.9420 N
Longitude: -76.2983 W

Sir Frances and Maddy Visit Al Capone!

Hi everybody! It is I, Sir Frances, here to tell you about my fabulous trip to Schaumburg, Illinois!

The first thing I did on my wonderful trip up north was go to a wedding of Maddy's cousin. Unfortunately, dogs are not allowed in churches, so I had to wait in the car. To make up for it, Maddy took me to the coolest place ever the next day! It is a former hideout of the infamous Al Capone. Maddy lives in a suburb northwest of Chicago, and many moons ago, it was a small rural community. Al thought it would be great to hideout there because no police would go looking for him in such a small place! His hideout was at a bar called Easy Street Pub. The building is well over 100 years old! Maddy thinks that is old but I do not, seeing as I am over 500. I wonder what Al would think of Schaumburg now!

Here we are outside Easy Street Pub! Al's hideout was upstairs. Now the upstairs is used to store supplies for the bar downstairs.

I told Maddy that I needed a picture of myself alone in front of Easy Street because I am the star of this show! There I am on the sidewalk. 

I noticed a sign on the window that said "waitress needed." I thought I'd take a closer peek before submitting my application, even if I am a male dog and therefore not eligible to be a waitress. Maddy told me I am too young to work there, but I reminded her that I am over 500 years old! I decided that it is for the best for me not to apply, as I do believe I would miss my human, Mrs. Stearns, far too much!

The weekend went by too quickly, and soon we were back on the road to Carbondale. I decided to take the wheel for a while and let Maddy relax, but for some reason my driving did not suit her. 

Who could ever be mad at this cute face? 

Total Distance: 740 miles
Mode of Transportation: Car
Latitude/Longitude: 42.026429,-88.079679

Jennipher and Ponce travel to ATL

Hello friends! It’s me, Ponce! I have to tell you about the exciting weekend I just had. I went on a roadtrip to Atlanta, GA with the always fabulous Jennipher. It was so exciting! Jen was going there to visit a friend and she was nice enough to take me along! Isn’t that swell?

We had to leave really early Friday morning, which I was not delighted about, but the drive wasn’t bad (and I got to nap a bit while Jen drove). We finally made it to Georgia and we got to go to a school fair at Kennesaw State University.  Jen’s friend, Emmie, had choreographed a flash mob that was going to take place, it was so cool!

On Saturday we spent the day in Atlanta.  While we were there we visited so many great places! One of my favorite places was the MLK district.  But on the way there, we crossed Ponce De Leon Avenue. Can you believe it?? A street named after me! We continued on our way to the MLK district, found a place to park and started walking.  We walked right past the house that Martin Luther King, Jr. grew up in.  We then went to see the church he used to preach at, Ebenezer Baptist Church.  We really wanted to go into the church and his house, but sadly, they were both closed because of the government shutdown, wah wah.  But we won’t get into that now. It was still very exciting to be there! I’m so glad I got to spend my fall break in Atlanta with my new best friend Jennipher! It was awesome!

I'm famous!!

Isn't his childhood home pretty? I wish we could have gone inside!

Outside the church

Total distance traveled: 892.2 miles

Total miles traveled so far: 2,878.4

Latitude: 33.755499

Longitude: -84.373137

Hernando Goes To Louisville, KY

 Hernando here!  I just got back from a spooky weekend in Louisville, KY!  After Kayla picked up a good friend in Brookport, IL, we were off.  The ride was long, but we knew we had to get used to it, because once we arrived at the Baymont Hotel in Eastern Louisville, we knew it was right back in the car we'd go!

Danger Run is an event unique to Louisville, KY.  It runs every weekend from late September until Halloween night.  Basically, you pay $20, and that $20 gets you a cluebook, a buy-one-get-one-free cheeseburger coupon from Dairy Queen, vampire fangs, and, if you have four or more people in your car, a $10 gas card!  The cluebook is made up of limericks that tell you what roads to take, and the goal is to reach the end without getting lost!  The car closest to the EXACT mileage (if you took every turn correctly) gets free tickets for the following year, t-shirts, a $500 gas card, and more!  If that doesn't sound fun enough, during your Danger Run trip, you run into TWO haunted houses that you get into for FREE because you have a Danger Run ticket!

And oh boy, did we get lost.  A lot.  Some of the roads were so scary!  They were desolate, unlit back-roads surrounded by thick forests and there was FOG that night!  But oh, how fun it was and how accomplished we felt when we realized we were going in the right direction!  For example, we were all very stumped while reading this clue:

         "His mom called him 'Richard'... He was big, white, and wet.  You'll stay here 'till you pass him, so don't take a turn yet"

Then we came to a stop light, and lo-and-behold, sitting there on the corner, was a place called Moby Dick's (Dick = Richard) and there was a huge picture of a white whale on the building!

We didn't return to the hotel until 2am.  It was a night full of laughter, confusion, and fright, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it!

Look at Kayla's awkward smile.  She was so mad because she trusted her friend when he told her it was a good picture!  I think that guy's a real joker anyway, though, because on our way to Louisville, he thought I really had a tracker in me to calculate the mileage for this trip!!!

Miles for this trip:  576
Total mileage for Sec 002:  1,695.56

Latitude:  38.2526647°

Longitude:  -85.7584557°

Pedro Goes Boot-Scootin' down in Nashville!

Hi, everyone! It’s me again, Pedro! I had such a fun time this weekend exploring the great city of Nashville, Tennessee. I met so many nice people, and of course I loved being the companion of Kellyn and Nick! We left for Nashville on Saturday morning. First, we went to Grimey’s, a record store. I like music, but I have never really considered the impact it has had on the world, specifically the United States. A lot of really cool bands play there sometimes. Oh, but wait till you hear what we did later! That night we went downtown to Broadway Street. Man, oh, man! There were so many people! So many boots! I even got to see the Ryman Auditorium! Did you know that in 1907, Teddy Roosevelt gave a lecture from the Ryman stage?! Oh, oh, oh AND Helen Keller! Nick told Kellyn and I a lot of interesting information about country music singers. After we adventured downtown, we went to Wendy’s and got a frosty. I really liked that. The next day, Kellyn insisted on getting a picture by some mural. Nick and I rolled our eyes, but of course, we went anyways. It turned out to be a really neat mural called “I Believe in Nashville,” painted by DCXV. This specific mural was located in the 12 South District. We then went to the Opry Mills Mall and SHOPPED. Kellyn loved it, I think Nick did, too. I got really hot and bored in the car. Then we, well, I’ll let Nick tell you what we did next! But after that, we went to see some loud bands. I think they were called Into it. Over it. And Saves the Day. We saw them at this place called the Exit/In. A lot of influential musicians have played there, like B.B. King, Hank Williams Jr., Billy Joel, Etta James, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings. It was a fun trip, but we didn’t get home until 3 in the morning! I am one tired pup. I am happy to be home with Mrs. Stearns now.

Total miles traveled on this trip: 409.4 miles

Total miles traveled by Pedro: 687.8 miles (wow!)

Latitude:37.926627

Longitude: -86.497193

Ponce goes to Sterling IL!

 
Hello! It is Ponce again and I am well-traveled this weekend!  Sara Craft and I went to Springfield, IL and then onto Sterling.  I rode on the dash board and really enjoyed the view!  After one night in Springfield we headed off to a wedding in Sterling.  On the way we stopped at Tenner's Apple Farm, it was huge and amazing!  We walked the apple orchards and ate pie and drank apple cider.  This apple farm has been around since 1947 and it has over 11,000 trees and 17 varieties of apples. They grow over 20 acres of pumpkins along with various other fruits and vegetables. There is also a corn maze a playground where I saw other dogs!

After the orchard we visited Sterling High school.  The high school was very large and was established in 1919! Of course the school has really grown and modernized but I could still feel the school’s history!

Miles Traveled: 661.1

Mode of transportation: Car

Latitude and Longitude: 41.7967 N, 89.6933 W

October 5, 2013

Miles Traveled by Ponce: 1,986.2