Illinois Trip

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm getting ready for my round-the-state tour of Illinois to visit my staff members.

I'll clock 900 miles during the next week and, actually, I'm looking forward to it. You see, I'll only be in a meeting for two hours with each of the six staff members, but will be traversing the bleak, winter-swept countryside of Illinois by myself the rest of the time.

Just me and my iPod and my rental car.

For someone who's basically an introvert, that's a slice of heaven.

I'll be leaving Chicago in the morning, heading to Champaign, then to Mt. Vernon, to Belleville, Bloomington, Sterling, and Freeport, then home.

I've discovered that I like Hampton Inn Suites to stay in and (I'll admit this, too) I really really like Denny's to eat in. Their grilled chicken salad with a big glass of tomato juice just rocks my world.

It should be a fun week.