It rained all night, part of the HUGE weather system that was passing through the southern states, so Charlie and I were happy to have everything loaded in the truck and be sleeping under a solid roof. We stayed at another Hampton Inn, like I did on the way down, and again they had these phoney pre-printed stickies on the headboards of the beds. Dah . . . I mean isn’t it taken for granted you would have clean bedding on the bed when you check in? Seems like a BAD marketing scheme.

We had a final breakfast and Charlie was good enough to agree to a short tour of downtown Frankfort so I could see where my honey lived 28 years ago when she worked in Frankfort for TNC. Her apartment is the walk up with 4 windows and the blue/green brick. Talked to a woman who lived across the street and she said a fire had wiped out emJays apartment and the second floor of most of the block and the owner had just about completed the post-fire restoration.

Frankfort is the state capital and here is their dome . . . nice setting, but not quite as majestic as Wisconsin’s!

We ventured north and decided to take a route Charlie suggested, bypassing the whole Chicago thing. GREAT idea. Easy driving and really only about 1/2 hour longer which we could have certainly lost going through Chicago in the late afternoon.

Illinois is BIG into wind farms too, utilizing every available space including one right in the middle of the north bound lanes. You REALLY need to swerve quick to miss it.

Wonder if these folks with one in  their back yard get free electricity?

The hours flew by as we yapped all the way back to MSN where we arrived on the beltline during rush hour traffic and the worst backup we had had on the whole trip! A fast side route home on Rimrock Rd and soon it was time for the final unpack.

Only thing to do now is have our de-briefing session (READ:another party) to finish off the wine and cheese and to discuss all the interesting observations of Merlefest 2014.

Stay tuned . . .