Sun, Feb 6
02.06.05
We slept until about 10 this morning, then checked out of the hotel about noon.
We headed over to the northern side of the river across from Starved Rock, at the lock and dam, where many folks go to watch the bald eagles. It was cloudy today, but visibility was still good. Somebody had set up a decent sized reflector telescope, and thru it one could see an eagle across the water very clearly.
We left there and headed to Roselle IL to meet with somebody Harlan has been working with online for a couple of years’ time for their first face-to-face meeting. Very nice guy; we went to the Big Bowl restaurant and had good food and conversation from 3pm until nearly 6pm.
From the restaurant we drove to Harlan’s parents’ place (I hope I punctuated that properly) and chatted for a while, picked up some food, and enjoyed the evening. Nancy (Harlan’s sister) is probably coming here from Austin tomorrow, unless she stays in Austin for another day or two. We’re planning to be here until Thursday, when we head to St. Louis for a visit with a friend of Harlan’s from grad school and do some restaurant hopping.
We decided to spend the night at the ancestral home on the matress of remarkable configurations. There’s an excellent chance that we’ll shop for a new matress for the sofabed in the morning, or perphaps check into a hotel so we can get a good night’s sleep.