Photo travelogue

Ok, I thought it would be good to have something on our recent daring adventures in order in one place. So, without more ado:	I will be adding more photos to this entry in the next day or so. Please revisit it.
	This is the Courier Cafe in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.  Meli ate there all the time when she was in college here.  After stopping there on the way out for quesadias and chocolate malt milkshake for dinner, I can understand why. :) Highly recommended.
	This is the University of Illinois Honors tablet for 1991.  The 10 th entry down is Melissa's roommate all through college.  We visited Rose and her family in Lincoln, Nebraska later in the week.
	Lightning during severe thunderstorm that hit as we were visiting Urbana, Ill. Daisy was NOT pleased.
	Daisy - still sleeping through Illinois.
	We stopped briefly in Farmer City, IL to get some shots of an abandoned railroad crossing I saw mentioned on www.abandonedrailroads.com. As I said before, I've always had a fascination with this stuff as long as I can remember.
	More of the abandoned rails. Drikung Khenchen Rinpoche said that it is very good to hang around such places - it's a great reminder of impermence and decay.
	This is the massive Black Forest Crepe we got at the Landmark Cafe in Galesburg, IL. If you are in town, I highly recommend getting one.
	257 Miles to Des Moines.
	One afternoon, we went with Jen and her family to the Hot Air Balloon festival in Indianola, Iowa. We didn't go in, because we couldn't walk around with the dog, so we instead drove to another location in the direction the wind was blowing to eat pizza and watch the balloons fly over. It turned out, we parked about 100 yards from where half the balloons landed! Here's a hot air balloon eclipsing the sun.  I've got more shots from that afternoon here.
	Meli's Uncle Steve eating tortilla chips.
	Cousin Ben wrestles with Daisy in Jen's living room.
	Jen finally gets onto Facebook!
	Daisy gets mobbed by admirers at the Des Moines Farmers market - she wasn't complaining. :)
	Emu Meat??!
	Here is the welcome sign for Omaha, Nebraska - an Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy", the biggest, most powerful steam locomotive ever built in the world.
	Meli's old roommate Rose with her daughter Katie.
	THIS is the front that we raced ahead of on Monday and Tuesday to get home. We were going to take i-80, but instead took a southern route through Ohio to Parkersburg, West Va. It was a good idea, since this storm system later gave birth to some tornadoes in Indiana and Illinois (including a stadium-clearing tornado warning in Chicago!)
	Here are some steeples and smokestacks outside Cinncinati, Ohio.
	We took Route 32 and then Route 50 through Southern Ohio after Cinnicani to avoid the aforementioned storms. It was actually very nice, especially compared to the flat dull land of Illiandohio. I retract my earlier criticism of the state of Ohio, which really wasn't so much about the state anyway. :)
	There were a LOT of roadside crosses along Route 50 from Parkersburg to Clarksburg, West Va. It was a bit trecherous driving in the rain during the day - I can only imagine how awful it must be at night. :(
	The highway bridge over Cheat Lake in Western maryland.
	Almost home - the sign for different kinds of rest at the Maryland Welcome Center rest stop.