PAO Productions - 2010 Road Trip

Drove up to visit friends in northern Illinois that I hadn't seen since they stopped over for a night in 2007. Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah Ipsem lorem blah blah blah. I spent a total of four days and nights in the city before returning home. Photos at the time were taken on Kodak T-Max 35mm film, using the same camera I used to shoot the original open mic at Bill's Records from 2002-2004 and the first live music photos in 2007.

Day 1/December 7 - heading out (Tuesday)

I spoke with Ted on the phone the night before striking out, and was advised that the ground was covered with snow up there, whilst here in Texas it was anything but. I planned out a route using Google Maps - this was years before I had GPS or even a smartphone - writing it down with pen and paper and preparing everything I'd need to take along the way, save for one item. Come Tuesday morning, I set out on what promised to be the longest drive I'd ever made in a day, opting to take the more southern route through Arkansas and up through Missouri into Illinois rather than the more northern option through Oklahoma and across Arkansas. About 90 minutes outside of town I realized that I had forgotten to bring one critical piece of equipment with me, and ended up stopping at a Target store in Texarkana to buy a new ice cream machine. It was either that or turn back, and I wasn't about to do that 100 miles into an 800+ mile drive.

By the time I finally made it to the Highway 9 exit off Interstate 57, I was more than ready to be off the road. I exited the freeway, whereupon much to my dismay, I realized upon exiting that I still had another half hour or more to go to actually make it to the house. I finally arrived right about midnight. Impressed with my cold weather clothing, my friend commented to me that I came prepared as we unloaded my things into the house. Of course I was prepared - not everyone from Texas is clueless about cold weather, particularly when they come from North Dakota and Minnesota stock on one side of the family.

Day 2/December 8 (Wednesday)

It was 10 degrees out and the ground was covered with snow when I arrived last night, after 14 hours and 900 miles. Will be going up to Chicago on Friday. This is the neighborhood I'm in and we'll be doing some work on the house tomorrow. Right now it's a toasty 17 degrees outside :)

-- E-mail sent back home Wednesday afternoon

2010 road trip — A sight not often seen in DFW

My friends had purchased their house as a fixer-upper, and there was talk of all of us doing some work on it while I was there visiting. Instead, we spent time catching up and generally hanging out, and no work was done.

Day 3/December 9 - Danville, IL (and Masonic Temple) (Thursday)

Ted and I paid a visit to Danville on Thursday. Danville is the county seat and largest city in Vermilion County, which includes Hooopeston. There were some stops along the way.

Stopping at a cemetery along the way, buried in its entirety below the snow.

Arrival in Danville.

Danville's Masonic temple

Some other spots. Not pictured is a stop made an area K-Mart, a chain which hasn't had stores in the Dallas area since the late 1990s. I hadn't seen one in ages, so I wanted to take a stroll through this one. It felt like waslking around a Target store, truth be told.

Day 4/December 10 - Chicago (Friday)

We headed up to Chicago on Friday, for my first visit to the city. The high temperature was 32 degrees Fahrenheit and Ted wanted to get some ice cream.

We stopped in a local record store, went into a toy store for one of my friends back home, walked through an obscenely large Whole Foods location, and - as one of the highlights of the day - stopped inside a gallery where someone's showing was taking place. They checked our coats for us and we settled back partaking of their wine, cheeses, and crackers while watching amusedly as a bunch of pseudo intellectuals tried their best to articulate perfunctory admiration for some of the most uninspired photography I've ever seen (suck up to the photographer/artist!). The photographer was obviously very animated, but the entire thing struck us as comical.

We stopped at the Chicago Diner, a place to which I would return on subsequent visits to the city, taking the train there and back to where I had moved the car. I had neglected to note that I had initially parked in front of a fire hydrant, and I had ended up getting a parking ticket (and had a series/stream of choice expletives to say about it, too). The temperature was expected to fall overnight as we left the city, narrowly missing hitting a deer standing in the middle of the interstate on the way back to Hoopeston. I've been a lot more observant ever since, given that deer are not a worry anyone has while living in Dallas.

Days 5-6/December 11-12 - the weekend: a wedding, and more snow (Saturday/Sunday)

By Saturday morning, the snow on the ground had redoubled overnight. Heidi's brother was getting married, and we attended the church about an hour and a half outside of Hoopeston. It rained this night as I followed the Cano family back to the house from the ceremony, stopping at a taco shop along the way. Sunday's weather forecast predicted a 70% chance of more snow, and I sent some more neighborhood photos back home to [freak everyone out].

Days 7-8/December 13-14 (Monday/Tuesday) - left for home in the morning with stop over in Joplin

I headed out Monday morning for home.

I made it as far as Joplin, Missouri, where I stopped for the night. At one point I sat inside an Applebee's, but left without ordering and ultimately had snack food for dinner. The Motel 6 I stayed at charged for wifi, but I was able to tap into some unstable from the motel across the street just long enough to get online for a short period.

Tuesday morning, I headed out toward DFW by way of Tulsa, opting to take U.S. 75 all the way down. Upon arrival, I met up with some friends for dinner at Fuzzy's Taco.