Back Home Again in Indiana

Saturday morning Andy, Pete, and I got up excruciatingly early to take a train trip down to Indiana to visit my family. Andy was more than excited for the train and was practically giddy by the time we boarded. Turns out, trains are really fun to take. Sure, it's a longer trip. But you can get up and walk around to stretch, go visit the observation car or the dining car, AND you get a seat with more room than first class on an airplane. Plus, you don't have to buckle in. The trip into Chicago was mildly uneventful and relaxing.

Chicago itself was busy. Union station was packed with people and no one knew where to go or what to do. The three of us managed to get outside to grab some food down the street and check out the Sears Tower. After that we stood in a long and confusing line, and then hopped on the train to LaFayette. This leg of the journey promised to be even more uneventful as the three of us were not sitting together. However, just outside of the second stop our train hit a car. We were stopped for about an hour, and thankfully the driver managed to walk out of the car alright. It was a bit jarring to be apart of that experience though. We finally made it home in time for some good, old fashioned sleep.

Sunday we enjoyed a lunch with Grandpa, Jean, Mary, and Dale. It was a delicious cook out with corn, green beans, burgers, and tomatoes picked from the garden. Later Pete and Andy went four wheeling as I walked around in the woods and was generally fearful for their safety. Pete managed to make it all the way across the abandoned railroad bridge. A feat that no other guest has accomplished. After dinner at the Overpass, we three enjoyed a friendly game of Boggle and unknowingly expanded our vocabulary.

Today it was raining pretty hard, so we ditched plans for kayaking and canoing in the Wabash for some drier activities. We drove out to Indianapolis for a tour of the speedway and a look through the museum. Then we wandered through Circle Center and saw what a mall in the downtown of a city is supposed to be like. After that we dined at the Alcatraz Brewhouse and drank home made beers. Yum! On the way home we stopped for some ice cream and took a hike through the woods to the infamous location of my four wheeling accident. It doesn't look like too many people have traveled through there recently.

At the moment we're enjoying a relaxing bit of reading in the sun room. I'll add pictures when I get them uploaded.

The Bridge Fell Down

Today the 35W bridge by my apartment collapsed into the Mississippi. Andy's mom called to tell him that a bridge had collapsed, we turned on the news to see it was the bridge that was a block away. Andy had just arrived too, coming over the bridge next to the one that collapsed. Thank goodness we take the 10th Avenue bridge daily, and not 35W. I didn't even hear the collapse, but that's probably because I live in a fortress, and on the first floor. Our lights did flicker though. So far everyone I know is OK, and I'm thankful that we had some people over when it happened.

I do appreciate all of the calls and texts from people concerned about me. My sympathies are with those who have been lost and injured from the collapse.

Thankfully, I don't travel on the interstate usually. I'm a bit worried about how traffic is going to be affected because of this. It's going to be really bad in my area now, since most people will take the 10th Ave bridge that goes right next to 35W. Biking around is going to be more unpleasant now, I'm guessing.

Two more things in response to things I've heard and read about this. This is NOT an act of terrorism. And I'm sure we can't blame the mayor for not giving us enough transportation funding, since there was work being done to the bridge.

For more information go here, and surprisingly here.