Made my annual pilgrimage to WIU for the broadcasting banquet over the weekend. There were more Alums there this year than last year. We settled into a table with everyone's favorite engineer, Tom Durso. The bar is only opened for a half an hour, until dinner starts. Then it closes for the rest of the night. My graduating class is at fault for this little rule. The very first broadcasting banquet in '03, the bar was opened the entire duration of the event. This resulted in some drunk and unruly broadcasting students. The next year it changed, limiting bar time to a half an hour. This year, Zack and Brian and Pete worked around this little rule by buying 12 beers right before the bar closed. They placed the opened bottles of beer all over our table. We essentially had a stock pile for the next couple hours. We ate the tasty food and watched as countless people received awards. It definitely is more fun when you actually know the people, but I enjoyed watching video and audio samples of their projects.

It was perfect weather for sitting in a beer garden, so naturally, we went to the Pace. I did some drinking and schmoozing, but no dancing. Colleen did not come with me this weekend. Around 1:30, I left with Brian Deneve and his girlfriend, Sara. We bought hot dogs from the hot dog man just like old times. Then we proceeded to walk back to our rooms at the Super 8. (More pictures here.)

The next morning was weird, and not just because I was hung over. I had to make the ultimate decision, was I going home, or staying in Macomb another night? I originally booked the room for 2 nights. And I was looking forward to lounging in the room that afternoon. But if I wanted to skip out, I had to do so by the 11am check out time. If I didn't have anything to do that night, it was pointless to stay in Macomb another night. Brian and Sara were leaving that morning, so they were out. I luckily ran into Brian and Pete. Both of them, as well as Zack were not staying another night. But I did find out that Dave Walker, was going to be in Burlington, Iowa (about 45 minutes away) that night before he heads off to his new job in Florida. People were gathering at Fun City at 9pm. It didn't make sense to drive up there, and then drive back to Macomb to sleep. So I checked out of the hotel and hoped to find a room when I got to Burlington. And now I had 10 hours to waste.

Before I left Macomb, I drove around town for a little while. It was weird...Macomb feels like home, but I had no home to go to. I used to know people everywhere, now I knew no one. I felt like a lost soul. I left Macomb to begin my leisurely drive to Burlington.

Since I had time to waste, I drove on some very rural country road to get there. I got to drive through some really tiny towns. One that sticks out is a town called Smithshire. It was very small, and off the main highway, so it's probably rare that people drive though it. I figured this when I saw a man and his kids in his front yard. Even though he didn't know me, he waved as I drove by. I felt very welcome in Smithshire. They had a little square in the center of town with some playground equipment, a volunteer fire department (a garage, pretty much) and what looked like, at one time, a little cafe. The cafe looked as if it had been closed for some time. It's kinda sad. It was probably the one place in town where people could come to gather. I bet it was devastating for the residents when it closed down. But, in reality, how could a business like that survive in such an area?

When finally arriving in Burlington, I checked into another Super 8, right next to the Fun City, which was convenient. I showered, ordered some pizza from Happy Joe's, and watched a movie about Michael Jackson on VH1. It was strange to have so much time to waste. It was pretty relaxing actually. I ventured out into Burlington around 5pm, going downtown, hoping to find some shops or something.

I was very unimpressed with the downtown. Every business that wasn't abandoned, was closed. There wasn't really anyone driving or walking around either. I drove around some more and saw some really cool historic houses on the ridge overlooking the Mississippi river. I also discovered that it was prom night in Burlington. There were girls in dresses everywhere, especially up on the ridge getting their pictures taken.

I eventually ended up on the west side of town and found a mall. I bought a pair of shoes, a book and saw the horror flick "Vacancy" at the movie theater. I think it was the first time I ever saw a movie by myself at a theater. It was pretty good.

By the time the movie let out, it was time to head over to Fun City. I met up with Dave and some of his friends he went to high school with. We sat in the bar for a couple hours and had some beers. It was kinda laid back, I thought Walker was going to get out of control, but he actually left early. I was a little disapointed that we didn't make use of the other entertaining things there such as the arcade, go-karts, laser tag, etc. That's why I wish Colleen was with me. Nevertheless, after Dave left, I hit up the arcade and found my new favorite arcade game...Mario Kart Arcade.

The next day, to continue my adventures of rural America, I took back roads all the way home. It took about 5 hours. But I did find a really cool abandoned building.