We were up by 6 AM and started loading the car for our trip to St. Louis, Missouri. Breakfast consisted of a banana and orange/grapefruit juice to wash down a pill and a vitamin. We had planned to leave at 8 AM (EDT) in order to arrive in Glen Carbon, Illinois around 4 PM (CDT). We had the car loaded and the house secured by 7 AM and decided to hit the road. We took Golf Club Road over to Latson Road and stopped at Teeko’s to pick up coffee and a couple of bagels. A short distance south from there put us at the new Latson Road interchange on I-96 where we headed west towards Lansing.
We picked up I-69 at the southwest corner of Lansing and headed south-southwest towards Indiana. About half way to the border we crossed I-94. From that point on our route was one we have driven many times in the car over the last 38 years. We stayed on I-69 to the northeast corner of Indianapolis and then continued down the east side of the metropolitan area until we got to I-70. We took I-70 through the heart of the city and out the southwest corner. From there we continued on I-70 westbound all the way to the Glen Carbon/ Edwardsville, Illinois exit. In spite of our morning coffee stop, several stops at rest areas, and a stop for food and gasoline, we arrived in Glen Carbon at 3:35 PM CDT. As we did not expect anyone to be home until 4 PM we drove into Edwardsville and stopped at Walgreen’s ad Walmart.
Linda eventually exchanged text messages with her sister, Marilyn, who let us know that she was home from work. We were there not long after 4 PM and had our welcome greetings with Marilyn and the three dogs. We unloaded our car, got everything situated in our room, and settled in for a chat while we waited for Linda H., who owns the house, to get home from work. She eventually did and we had more greetings and more talk. By 6:30 PM everyone realized they were hungry and we went out to dinner at the Pasta House restaurant in Edwardsville. Linda and I had a veggie pizza without cheese. The crust was thin and a bit crispy, the way we like it, and the pizza was loaded with lots of good vegetables but not too much sauce, also the way we like it. We both had a small garden salad to go with the pizza and it was all very good.
When we got back from dinner we got the wireless networking turned on and our various devices connected and working. We settled in for more conversation in the kitchen while Linda made her vegan double chocolate torte which we will have for dessert with dinner tomorrow night. Eventually everyone was tired and retreated to their respective bedrooms. We watched another episode of Doc Martin before turning off the lights.