Back In Illinois

I got a very late start yesterday (it's a long story), and rolled into Springfield at a ridiculous hour last night. (The people working at the front desk were great. They wound up not charging me for yesterday because they had already completed their audit for the night. They told me, "Breakfast is between 6 and 9 in the morning." I said, "Yes, I know, but I'm not going to be there!" They laughed.) For a long time, it was just me and the truckers on the road. Every rest stop and truck stop had tons of trucks stopped for the night. Most rest stops were closed too. I guess that the state of Illinois decided that few people would be crazy enough to have a road trip in November.

I'm running errands today in Springfield. The folks at Lincoln helpfully agreed to e-mail me the offer letter, so I don't need to run over to Lincoln today. I'm planning to go to Bloomington-Normal tomorrow to look at apartments, so I could drop off the signed letter en route. (Lincoln is between Springfield and Bloomington-Normal.)

It'll give me a chance to get the stuff out of the car too. I told my mom that I planned to stay at my new apartment once I found one, and she gave me a load of towels and a blanket to use there. Needless to say, I didn't get everything out of the car last night.

Advantages to Living in Downstate Illinois

I was overdue on renewing my car registration because I was waiting to see about the job in Lincoln. I was running errands, and wound up getting to the DMV at 4:15, and I wondered if I'd have to wait so long that I couldn't get it done today.

I was able to walk right to the cashier, pay, and get the sticker. Elapsed time five minutes, including a stop at the washroom. You couldn't do that in the Bay Area; I remember waiting for two hours once.

I stopped for dinner at a restaurant where I hadn't eaten before with the intriguing name of Sgt. Pepper's Cafe. Cute place with, yes, some Beatles memorabilia, and the food is awesome. I had a chicken sandwich with honey-dijon mustard, swiss cheese, and mushrooms that was to die for. Too bad that I found this place when I'm about to move to Bloomington (probably...).

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Added: The restaurant said that it was "the home of the 'Horseshoe,'" which made me wonder if they invented it. A "Horseshoe" is a local dish that consists of a hamburger, with fries on top of the hamburger, and cheese sauce over the whole mess. If that's too much for you, you can get a "Ponyshoe," which is smaller. No, I haven't tried it.

The restaurant posted a sign saying that they are supplying a free Thanksgiving dinner from 11 to 2, which adds to their cool factor. This place rocks!