We got an early start from the vineyard in Colona and made our way to a breakfast place a couple of miles down the road. The Brunch House 2 turned out to be a great stop for breakfast. Carol and I each had a breakfast ’skillet’ and were surprised at what a great breakfast it was, and fresh sourdough bread..Mmmmmm. We only had a two hour drive to our destination of Lincoln, Illinois, where my brother Dan lives.
Hanging with Dan in his garage.
I haven’t visited with Dan since 2019, pre-covid days. We only get to hang our every now and then, and it is always an experience. We had a couple of stops to make before catching up with Dan. While Carol was grocery shopping in Lincoln, I called Dan and asked if he knew where a car wash was that might accommodate our van. He made a couple of recommendations. As we pulled into the first carwash he recommended, there he was on his motorbike circling and waiting. It sure was good to see him. As it turns out we couldn’t fit into any car wash in Lincoln… makes you wonder if they ever wash their trucks. We made another quick stop at the CVS - I needed a prescription filled - before heading over to Dan’s.
Looking at the olden golden days
It was a great reunion filled with love and brotherly insults. Dan is the oldest of the three boys - Dan, Ed (me) and Dave, our little brother. Growing up in Illinois in the 1950 and 60s was great, as we were always into something or up to something. Sometimes with explosives and other times just filled with boyhood adventure. Lots of stories for another day. The reunion was great as we sat in Dan’s man cave, his garage where all the good stuff takes place. We had picked up some gifts for Dan along the way in our travels to celebrate his recent birthday. Dan pulled out some old pictures that brought back many memories of California (where we lived before Illinois) and of our home in Decatur, Illinois. This was such fun. It is always great to catch up in person rather than by phone.
Brothers
Dan’s friend Ben stopped by, the postman stopped by and later Dan’s neighbor Bob, stopped by. It was really good to meet Dan’s friends, good folks all. Bob, the neighbor from across the street, invited us all to come over for firework the next day which was the Fourth of July. Later in the day we went to a Greek restaurant called the Idle Hour and had supper, Gyros that were delicious, and the conversation never slowed. Stories flowed as we ate and we got the quick tour of Lincoln, Illinois.
Reminiscing at the cemetery. . .
The following morning we had a good breakfast as Dan had found some fantastic pastries. We ate on the porch drinking coffee and telling more stories. One of the things on our list of things to do was to visit the graves of Mom and Dad. We made a trip into Clinton, to the cemetery where they are buried. Dan brought his weed trimmer and we cleaned up around the grave markers. We lingered there a while, reminiscing once again. So much time has passed, almost twenty years . . .We had things to do before any festivities could be done. Since Dan has a power washer and the van was still covered with road grime and bugs, lots of bugs, we decided his driveway was the best place. I think between Dan and I and with Carol’s help we got the Doodle pretty clean, if even for a little while. Most of the bugs came off, Dan started in on the carpet and Carol did a lot of the detailing. The Doodle hadn’t looked this good for a while, the last wash was in Albuquerque.
Washing the Doodle, getting the bugs off
Dan put some brats on the grill, and we added a few sausages we had purchased out west and the Fourth of July cookout was in progress. It was another great day. Dan had a toy electric pig that really got Harper’s attention. She just didn’t know what to make of it. That evening we all walked across to Bob’s house to play with fireworks. A friend of Bob’s had driven to Missouri just to buy fireworks, which aren’t available in Illinois. Bob says he spent $100, but it seemed he must have spent a whole lot more as he had fireworks of just about every kind. He had whizzers, roman candles and all sorts or aerial bomb and rockets. He even had one called the “Knuckle Sandwich”… it was awesome. Bob has a great backyard with a cool man cave workshop in the back. The fireworks were such good fun, what a great way to celebrate this fine country of ours.
Roman candle time, Happy Birthday America!
Monday was a lazy day, after a good breakfast we hung out just resting and chatting. We made plans to head into town for lunch and chose a nice Mexican restaurant the food was good but just hanging out with Dan and Carol made the day for me. We took an extended ride around to park where Dan frequently walks. It had been under water a week ago when there was some very strong storms going through the area. Central Illinois has some amazing thunderstorms and tornadoes. The water in the river was still very high and muddy. Dan then took us on a tour of the area out through farm country and along the creeks and rivers.
On a bridge in the park
Back home Dan grilled the remaining brats and we had another delicious supper. Then things got a bit sad as we started the process of packing up for the trip home. We planned to head out early the following morning. We turned in around ten and had the alarm set for 5:30. Morning came too quickly and soon we were all standing in the driveway saying our goodbyes…it was all too brief, and we all know it will not happen again for a while.
I miss you already brother.
Below is a gallery from our visit. We didn’t take as many pictures this time as we were too busy visiting.
