When we woke up this morning Jeff informed us that they had lost all power again. They didn't want to hold us up so they decided to stay in Springfield and told us to go on ahead and maybe we would reconnect in Joliet.
I had researched and found the location of the Bus/RV Parking Lot so we made the short drive downtown, parked and went to the Abraham Lincoln Museum.
The museum was small but well done and covered his life from childhood through his presidency and assassination.
The guide at the museum told us that the library is primarily for research with a few small exhibits on Lincoln so we decided against the library.
After leaving the museum we drove over to the cemetery where Lincoln's tomb is located. It is a beautiful cemetery and the tomb is huge and quite impressive. Unfortunately, due to a massive power outage caused by last night's tornado we could not go into the tomb.
When we were done at the memorial and tomb I wanted to go get a Maid-Rite hamburger. We drove over and each got a burger and a mug of homemade root beer. The Maid-Rite burger is a loose ground beef sandwich with mustard, pickle, and onion. The burger itself is really nothing special but it was very nostalgic for me because my mom used to take us to get a Maid-Rite after swimming lessons and an afternoon of free swimming in the community pool in Grand Junction, Colorado. We finished our sandwiches and drove a few blocks and I discovered I had left my purse on the chair at the restaurant. I called immediately and the girl found it right where I had left and held on to it for me to pick up.
We continued on along Route 66 and stopped at Funk's Grove for some maple sirip. The sirip (their spelling) is very good but the stop was disappointing as there was really nothing to see about how the sirip is collected or processed. We bought a bottle to bring home and continued on our way.
We drove along to Bloomington/Normal and went a few blocks off the Route to see the Sprague's two-story service station dating back to 1930.
At this point in the day Bill was very tired of driving and there was a tornado watch in the area so we skipped several small towns and started looking for a place to stay. I called several places and either they didn't answer or they had no space. I used about 5 different apps and found nothing. Then all of a sudden while we were pulled off to get gas a place popped up on my screen. I'm still not sure what app or site lead me to it, maybe divine intervention. Anyway, I called and the very nice man said he had space for us. We were actually already at the correct off-ramp. All we had to do was drive back across the highway and go a couple of miles to his location. The man told me if I couldn't find him to call back and he would come find us. After yesterday's harrowing experience with the tornado in Springfield, the first thing we asked was the location of the storm shelter. He gave us a key to the restroom/bathhouse and said it was solid block and cement and very safe. We got some heavy rain and a little thunder and lightning but thankfully nothing more.
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