Greetings from the Land of Lincoln. We are currently writing you from the Windy City or as Jess likes to refer to it the place where the 1896 World's Fair took place. There will be more updates about our time here later. However, the weather is perfect right now.

On Friday morning we left Memphis for Rushville, IL. The original plan was to get up early, swing by Graceland and arrive in Illinois for dinner. But... we decided to see the National Civil Rights Museum. What we had originally planned to be a short hour stop, turned into 2 1/2 hour visit. And that was not nearly enough time. The museum itself is part of the original facade of the Lorraine Hotel, the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968. The museum detailed the Civil Rights movement from slavery to the present, and focused on the movement during the 50's and 60's. It was incredibly powerful, educational, and moving. This is a definite recommendation for all those who finds themselves in Memphis. As we scooted out of town, without Graceland, we ate one last pulled pork sandwich and headed to Akansas.

Arkansas is the original home of the Cooper family. We visited the town where my, Jason, great grandmother was born. Fontaine, AR has the population of 1. I met him and his name is George. However, they do have an amazing arts district. There is an instillation piece there titled "Car in Backyard".

From Fontaine we moved through Southeast Missouri. There were beautiful woods and winding rivers. I hope we get to stay longer there sometime.

Missouri woods gave way to rolling hills of green and once again we approached the Mighty Mississip'. As we arrived in St. Louis we noticed crowds moving towards downtown, so we parked and followed them to see where they were going. We happened onto Festival St. Louis. Crowds gathered on the lawn underneath the Arch. Musicians played on a stage near the water and we relaxed and ate BBQ. Counting Crows headlined the concert before a firework show lit up the sky. We needed to move though, so... we missed the fireworks but we stayed long enough to hear Mr. Jones.

Our faithful GPS took us out off Missouri and onto the farm roads of Western Illinois. The darkness of the roads made it perfect for Jess to experience lightning bugs for the first time.

We arrived shortly thereafter in Rushville. It had been 16 years between visits for Jason and we were both glad to see our old neighbors and friends, the Seals. 

An update of time with them will be posted manana.