On the road day 2

We got up early again and enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel.  The hotel is converting to a Motel 8 the 1st of August and will discontinue the free breakfast.  That is too bad since it is apparent a lot of people stop because they do have a nice breakfast buffet.

We took 5 minutes out of our drive to pick up a geocache that was at the Cracker Barrel restaurant next door.  It was an easy find and we signed the log and hit the road.

We stopped in Galesburg, IL to get some gas and a Dairy Queen fix for Gerry.  We were surprised to see how run down and sad looking Galesburg is now.  It looks like it may have been nicer in the past, but not now.  Sad and depressing.  The main street is basically dead and businesses have moved out of town, which is typical of many small towns in America now. 

We did take time out to visit Carl Sandburg's birthplace in Galesburg.   Sandburg was a poet and historian and born in the three room cottage shown below on Jan 6, 1878.  He was the son of a Swedish immigrant railroad worker.  Carl attended Lombard College in Galesburg, and his first poetry was published in this town.  He later became a journalist and prolific author.  First gaining prominence in Chicago. his Complete Poems and a biography, Abraham Lincoln, The War Years won pulitizer prizes.  He also wrote a novel, an autobiography, children's stories and folksongs.  After his death in 1967, his ashes were buried beneath Remembrance Rock behind his birthplace.

We continued on down the road after that and stopped near Grinnell, IA at a rest stop and saw these two plaques about the history of Grinnell.  I thought they were interesting and thought I'd share them with you.

We are starting to feel like Sherwin & Linda after driving 580 miles today.   Monday will be a shorter day of only 285 miles and we should have a chance to look around Sioux Falls a little and see if they have anything touristy to check out.

That's all folks.