Want to Do Something Outside the Car on Route 66 in Illinois?-- Part 1: Brookfield Zoo

From the November 20, 2021, Northwest Herald "Route 66 the first hundred miles" in Illinois by Ryan Searl.

The first hundred miles of the Mother Road have some beautiful parks, zoos and natural attractions which many Route 66 travelers miss.

Here are some that are near or on the road:

BROOKFIELD ZOO

8400 W. 31st St., Brookfield

Fifteen miles from Chicago, the 200 acre zoo is widely regarded as one of the best zoos in the country with an amazing array of animals inhabitants.

Opened to the public in 1934, it now has 450 species and more than 2,500 animals.  

And, of course, there's the park's famed Mold-A-Rama as a souvenir of your visit.

--RoadZoo

NIU Homecoming 2018-- Part 9: Lincoln and Douglas Halls, the Lagoon, Castle and Gus Goose

October 13, 2018

We drove around campus, past where Douglas Hall once stood.  It has been torn down to straighten Lucinda Avenue.  Liz lived in it for a year and a half.  Nearby stands Lincoln Hall, where I lived freshman year on the 3rd floor of C Wing, Home of the Keggers.  Earlier this fall we had noticed it was quite dark and found out today that it is closed and on the list to also be torn down.  I hope not.  Hey, that's my history.

Next, we drove along Lincoln Highway (Illinois Highway-38) eastward to the Lagoon.   We both consider the Lagoon area and Altgeld Hall, the original building of the school, as the most beautiful spot on campus.  It is water surrounded by walkways, landscaping and bridges.  Plus, in the last ten years, the original entryway to the school was rebuilt and is a stunner.

Near the road going by the Lagoon is named Castle Drive as Altgeld Hall looks like a castle.  There is even a stone with an inscription to Gus Goose, a favorite goose of the Lagoon who was cantankerous and you hadn't lived until you had been "goosed" by Gus Goose.  He especially liked doing it to the coeds.  After you were "goosed" he was friendly, especially if you had  food for him.  The inscription names him William the Goose, but no one I knew ever called him anything but Gus.

Sadly, he was found dead one day back in the 1970s under suspicious circumstances.  You can search "Death of William Goose" to find out the particulars.

Sad to Lose the Goose.  --RoadGoose

About Those Birdseed Thieves-- Part 1: You Can't Win Against Squirrels Who Want Your Bird Food

From the March 2014 Our State Magazine, North Carolina "Our Most Maligned Mammal" by Susan Stafford Kelly.

"Considered bird-feeder thieves by many --  and even worse by some --  these furry creatures are still our cutest state symbol -- paws down."

In 1969, the N.C. General assembly designated the gray squirrel as the state's official mammal.

Generally speaking, anything squirrel is not a positive reference.  There are no teams nicknamed the Squirrels.  How much fear would that strike in opponents?  No N.C. state products use a squirrel as a logo (although the town of Olney, Illinois, is more than a bit proud of their albino squirrels).  If a person is referred to as a squirrel, that is not good either.

Squirrels eat a big variety of foods:  acorns, fruit, even trees  and are "rapacious, mindless eaters."  "squirrels raid birdfeeders, too...."

Love Those Squirrels.  --RoadDog

Opossums in the House

I spent my first day in North Carolina helping my brother move two opossums from his basement out to a wooded area for release.  He has a cat door and evidently the two opossums entered through it.  A few days ago, he was startled by what he thought at first was a snake hanging down from the overhead, but turned out to be an opossum.

He went to the city and they gave him a trap to catch it which he installed in his basement yesterday and caught one.  Later that night, he heard a rustling in his garbage can, looked in and there was another one.  He cornered it and put in in his dog kennel.

We took the two out to a wooded area.

My brother decided to set the trap again in his basement and just an hour ago, he called to say he had caught another one.

Here a Possum, There a Possum.  --RoadDog

Off to See the Groundhog...Again

Only this time, I won't be seeing Scooter, the little furry varmint with serious overbite, who stood in for Woodstock Willie a couple days ago on the actual Groundhog Day.  I found out Scoot is a direct descendant of the original groundhog who co-starred with Bill Murray back when the movie was made, twenty years ago.

I was looking at video I took Thursday morning and Scooter (AKA Woodstock Willie)  was quite cool, calm and collected at first, especially when given something to eat.  But a bit later got quite antsy and it was all his handler could do to hold him.

Sadly, WW won't be making an appearance today, but the big one with a human inside will be around.  Most all of the shops around the square will be open all day so will go to them, including Thoughtfulness, a store I shouldn't go into because of all the things in there I like.  I'll have to get my yearly groundhog cookie at the Swiss Miss bakery (which you can see a part of at the corner where the old man always tried to get Phil Connors to give him money.

They Say He Is a Groundhog If Ever There Were a Groundhog.  --GroundDog

Escaping the Blizzard-- Part 15: Burrowing Owls

February 6th-- Super Bowl Sunday

We were having problem,s agreeing on where we wanted to watch the game. I wanted to see it in a Packer bar, but Frank absolutely despises the Packers, not so much because he is a Bears fan, but from when he was living in Minneapolis-St. Paul and the Packers were winning everything. I think he hates Packer fans more than he hates their team.

So, now we had a place to go see the game. We stopped at a liquor store and stocked up, then drove over to Dave's.

Dave met us outside and said we had to drive over a couple blocks and see the burrowing owls. There is an area next to his house that is marked off with yellow police tape. Burrowing owls are there, but we had never seen any. We had seen many other like areas all over Cape Coral, but never seen any owls. Were they a myth?

While walking his dogs, Dave had seen some a few blocks away and knew we wanted to see them.

We drove over there and parked right next to the owls, who stared at us, but didn't fly away or duck underground. Really mini-owls. They are on the endangered list and you could get huge fines if you disturb them.

Glad We Had the Opportunity to See Them. --RoadDog