Midwestern Tornado Destroys 4 World's Largest Objects
SAC CITY, IA—A category F4 tornado ravaged large sections of Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin Sunday, killing 15 people and irreparably damaging four of the world's largest novelty objects, including a prized 150-foot fiberglass muskie and a two-ton bail of hay in Minnesota. "It's horrifying, there are three-foot wide pieces of popcorn ball everywhere," said Midwesterner Emily Roberts, whose garage was leveled when powerful winds dropped Sac City, IA's record-breaking confection onto its roof. "That damn popcorn ball used to be the pride of our city. It's so senseless." Even as volunteers worked tirelessly to clean up debris from the World's Largest Ball of Yarn in Rockford, IL, the city's mayor had already invited Guinness World Records officials to oversee the dedication of the World's Largest Knot.
So, this puts a definite damper on our search for the BBOY. However, after we drowned our sorrows in boxed white wine and left over honey roasted nuts here in our lovely Best Western room in Danville, IL, we have decided to not be deterred in our search for the next biggest ball of yarn. We suppose this will be fine as we had never intended to go to Chicago, so we wouldn’t have found the BBOY anyway. Now we can concentrate on the 2nd largest BBOY and still have a focus for our trip.
We said goodbyes to Jeff and Andrea Kaminski this morning. Our time with them was so fun. They are such a lovely couple, Jeff a good cook, excellent pilot and Andrea a world famous artist/photographer. We are blessed to now own a piece of “Andy Lynn” art. Thank you!
We stopped by the Herbert Hoover birthplace, museum and grave. He loved kids and since he was an orphan himself he was instrumental in beginning UNICEF. I didn’t know that.
We crossed the Mississippi River in the Quad cities on the border of Iowa and Illinois. We couldn’t stomp our feet in the Mississippi River Mud as we were pretty high up on the bridge and still terribly distraught from the traumatic news regarding the BBOY. It just didn't seem right to joyously romp in the water and mud on such a sad occasion. We are hoping to stomp in the Mississippi River Mud on our return southern route.
I hope I don’t offend anyone when I say that Illinois drivers are annoying! They love to get in the way, slow down, speed up, and just generally disrupt the flow of traffic. Why? We found the speed limit signs are few and far between in IL, but the peace officers are plentiful!
We stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest stop outside Normal, IL. Not sure they would let us live in Normal, since we haven’t been that way in decades. Just ask our kids.
Bob noted on our notebook, 2670 miles, most consistent irritating and prevalent “aroma” = skunks. I’d have to agree.
When we checked into our room today, we found the phone like this. I don’t know why, but then after pondering the situation I wondered, who made the rule that the receiver should be facing down? (bc note: possibly the same person that said the toilet lid must be down!) Just another perspective. By the way our room number 211 is also Kate's birthday, February 11
We are onto Carmel, IN tomorrow to spend the weekend with our wonderful friends. I can’t wait to see them!
We love your comments on the blog. It’s nice to know someone is actually reading what we write. Thank you all for your good wishes.
Take care, and love, bc and gc
“I pick you up and in the trunk I’ve packed a 2 day suitcase. There’s a place we like to drive out in the country. Two miles out and your hand is on my knee. If we ever leave a legacy, it’s that we loved each other well. Multiply love by the power of 2.” Indigo Girls.
I told jeff about the big ball of yarn, and he said you should search for the second largest ball of yarn. That's when i continued reading and saw that's exactly what you were doing! There may be twists in the road, but there will always be another way to go.
ReplyDeleteYou should start looking for the 4th largest ball of yarn. That way you're thinking two steps ahead of nature. Let that one blow your mind a little...
ReplyDeleteOh, and "hi" to anyone from Indiana who may remember us from our "delightful children" period!