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

 

Hernando and Jessica Reams visit Marion, IL.

Hello, Everyone!!! I just shared an adventure to Marion, Il. with Jessica and I am ready to tell you all about it.

First, we went to Rent One Park, this is where the Miners play baseball.  The Miners baseball team is a minor league baseball team that represents Southern Illinois.  Rent One Park was completed in 2007.

Next, we went to the town square.  Here I am with a statue of Mayor Bob Butler.  Mr. Butler has been the mayor of Marion since 1963, that is 50 years!! His grandfather, J.H. Clarida, served as mayor in the 1920's during the Bloody Williamson era.

While Jessica and I were on the square we paid our respects to the victims of the May 29, 1982 tornado that tore through Marion.  This memorial provided us with a lot of information about the tornado including how many victims there were, how many homes and businesses were destroyed, and how much money was lost due to damages.  Although this is a very sad artifact, it is a very important piece of Marion's history.

The last place that Jessica and I visited was the Multicultural and Civic Center that is located on the town square as well.  The original building was lost due to a fire on March 10, 1997, leaving only a few pieces behind.  When the designing the reconstruction, they decided to reuse some of the old building, that is what you can see behind the windows in this photo.  That concludes my trip to Marion, Il.  I learned so much and had a lot of fun with Jessica.  I just couldn't wait to share all of my new knowledge with everyone.

Latitude:  37.7303
Longitude:  88.9303
Miles Traveled:  36.98 miles
Total Miles for CI 424-Section 02: 1119.56 miles

Sir Francis and Sydney Root go to Fort Massac

Today, we traveled to Fort Massac in Metropolis, IL. It was a beautiful day to walk around the grounds but weren't allowed to actually enter the buildings. They are still completing repairs on them from the March/ April  2011 flood. In the visitors center, they had pictures of the flood and how it affected the historical buildings.

  This is a replica of the way the buildings were back in the middle 1700's. The fort was an important part of the American Revolution, War of 1812, and the Civil War. The fort was first built in 1757 by the French because of its location on the Ohio River. The first fort built here was called Fort De L' Assension.

Inside the visitors center, we looked at many different artifacts found at the site such as dishes, bottles, knives, and everyday utensils. They had rooms set up to replicate the time period and also examples of the clothing wore by soliders.  The location of Fort Massac is 37.1439 N and 88.6872 W. Today we traveled a total of 121 miles!

This is a statue of Colonel George Rogers Clark. During the Revolutionary War, Colonel Clark led his regiment into Illinois at Massac Creek and was able to capture Kaskaskia, 100 miles to the north, without firing a shot.