Nothing like a Goose

This morning Mae and I decided to go for a walk and work out the kinks before we left Little Rock AFB. First off, let me say Little Rock AFB is a gorgeous place. Beautiful pine trees, green every where (now, for those of you who are NOT from San Antonio, please realize we haven't had rain since the last full eclipse of Pluto...so green grass etc. is quite appealing). Any way, we were on a walking path that meandered around some static displays of airplanes (which is always a great thing to meander around) when I heard a honking noise. A very familiar honking noise that instantly made me long for Alaska and a cool autumn. We watched as a flight of Canada geese flew by.

OK, enough of that, it's time to get on the road again (thanks Willie Nelson). So, here we are driving through Arkansas (once again very green, lush countryside; sorry, just can't seem to get past the greenness of the place) and lunchtime is rapidly approaching. We're looking for a rest area in which to, well, rest; and eat lunch. We saw three rest areas in the next 100 miles of Arkansas. All on the other side of the highway. As we left the state, and entered Missouri, we decided to give Arkansas an "F" for rest stops. But we finally found one 41 miles into MO and stopped for lunch.

The rest of the trip to Champaign, IL was uneventful. That is until we got to Champaign. Oh, before I forget, I absolutely have to let you know what kind of gas mileage we're getting in our new Hyundai Elantra (standard). I am so impressed I can't even use numbers, I'm spelling it out because that somehow seems more reverent, more impressive, should be spoken in hushed tones. Thirty eight point nine miles per gallon. I know! Amazing!

Now, where was I before I was so rudely interrupted by the part of my brain that just jumps in anytime it wants? Oh yeah. Arriving in Champaign. Ooops, here comes another one of those brain interruptions...We are a fairly up-to-date, computer-savvy, know the score couple. However, we've decided to start writing (on actual paper) the address and directions to the place we're going because when you don't have wi-fi the computer is basically worthless especially when everything is either in Gmail or Google maps. Duh!

That leads into the whole getting to Champaign thing. I knew basically where the hotel was. And by basically, I mean I knew it was in Illinois. Not much help when actually trying to find it. Now we had made it to Champaign in about 9 hours, and I was pretty pumped about that. But my hard-won victory was being diluted by not finding the hotel. To make a long painful story short, we found it (after about 30-40 minutes). Then off to a great steak restaurant, back to the hotel to the hot tub (an absolute necessity when traveling), and bed.

Oh, by the way, when we got back to the hotel after dinner Mae pointed out a herd of geese across the parking lot (they weren't flying, but waddling on the ground, hence the herd reference).

So we started the day with a goose, and ended with one.