Grey Dog goes to Kansas City!!!

Zachary Halterman, the SIU Men's Club Volleyball Team, and the new Grey Dog traveled to Kansas City, Missouri. We traveled 350 miles in the SIU vans  and had a very nice trip. We went to many different places while in Kansas City. The first stop we made was the Kansas City Royals Stadium. We say two top ten sport centers plays when the White Sox and Royals battled it out. Both teams made huge diving catches.

The next stop we made was the Convention Center in Kansas City. Here Grey Dog and the team competed at the National Collegiate Volleyball Championships. Grey Dog cheered the team on to many victories, where he met thousands of people on over 50 volleyball courts.

He also enjoyed taking pictures of some members of the team in front of famous street art. This was a collage painting of many historical people that had visited the city. Grey Dog's favorite was the painting of Elvis. He made Cade, a member of the team, pose because they look very similar in the photo. 

 Overall, we had a great trip but Grey Dog was excited to make it back to carbondale safe and sound. 

Paige and Louie (Sub for King John) go to school!

Louie (a sub for King John) got to go to Christopher, IL to attend class at Christopher Elementary School.

Round trip: 52.8 miles

Total miles traveled: 2,372.8

Latitude: 37.967787

Longitude: -89.058877

When Louie arrived to Christopher Elementary School, Paige took him to Ms. Mueller's 5th grade classroom.  There, Louie got to meet many 5th graders and Paige told them that Louie had been traveling the world and was excited to make a stop in their classroom.  

Paige showed the students in the class the blog that Mrs. Stearns' students had been keeping.  Here, they got to see on the projector the different locations that Louie had been.  The students liked that there was a dog in their own classroom that had been to so many cool places.

Louie watched as the 5th graders learned and were taught a few lessons by Paige.  He ate lunch with the other 5th grade teachers, and saw the students off to their buses.

Louie had such a fun day in 5th grade!

Richard Debates with Douglas & Lincoln

On Tuesday, March 17^th Richard, Andrew, and Misty took a little trip around southern Illinois.  First Richard went back home with Andrew to Carterville to hang out before heading out on their adventure.  Richard, Andrew, and Misty went to go visit Andrew’s parents in Goreville to decide where they wanted to travel.  Richard told us that he wanted to go see the Douglas / Lincoln debate site.  We traveled from Goreville and traveled down to Jonesboro and took some pictures with Douglas and Lincoln.  The coordinates of the famous debate site is N 37 degrees, 27.496' and W 89 degrees, 16.116'.After taking some pictures and reading about the debate, Richard decided that he was hungry and wanted some ice cream from Dairy Queen.  Richard pulled out those big puppy dog eyes, which couldn’t be turned down by Andrew and Misty.  On the way to the Vienna Dairy Queen, the three of us stopped by the tombstone of King Neptune, a famous Navy mascot pig.  Richard was returned back to his home at the Carbondale campus on March 24^th.   The total trip was 112.9 miles long.

Scotlyn and Richard Hang Out at the Former Goose Capital of the World

Round Trip Miles: 36

Total Miles Traveled: 6,917.4

Latitude:37° 45' N

Longitude: 88° 56' W



Richard and I hung out on Lake Hamilton in Marion Illinois. Marion Illinois was recognized as "Goose Hunting Capital of the World" in the year 2011. Because of the large lakes and ample feeding ground, all of Southern Illinois would attract thousands of migrating geese each year.

Because of this Southern Illinois attracted hundreds of avid goose hunters each year as well...my fiancé being one of them.

This article from The Southern explains why southern Illinois is no longer a goose hunting hotspot and what flying bird is now taking its place.

http://thesouthern.com/sports/outdoors/duck-duck-but-no-goose/article_bbac07bc-2fb1-11e2-a160-0019bb2963f4.html

Richard thought traveling to Marion was pretty cool, especially when we went under the overpass decorated with geese!

                                Richard even made some new friends while lounging by the lake!

John’s total mileage: 2,321.28 miles

John’s Round-trip mileage with Sarah: 1.28 miles

Latitude and Longitude of Paul and Virginia statue: (37.727273, -89.21675)

John and Sarah visited the Paul and Virginia statue in the middle of historic campus because another individual that is a well known figure in US History also appeared  by this statue.  In the “then” picture, Minnijean Brown is walking by the statue.  Minnijean was a student at SIU after her attendance at Little Rock High School.  Although she did not attend Little Rock High School for her entire high school career, she was one of the nine students that braved the mob to receive an education.  She was not the only one of the famous “Little Rock Nine” to come to school at this campus either.  Thelma Mothershed and Ernest Green also attended SIU.

Richard Travels North with Jennifer to the Chicago Union Station

Round Trip Miles: 699.6

Total Miles to Date: 6,863.4

Latitude: 41.8786° N

Longitude: 87.6402° W

On April 9, 2015, Richard traveled 1.2 miles to Jennifer's home away from home in Neely Hall from Wham. He was really bummed that he did not get to hang out with all the other RAs because Jennifer was going home to Evanston in about twelve hours. On April 10, 2015 at 3:00 am traveled 1.6 miles with Jennifer to the Carbondale Amtrak Station to take the train to go home with Jennifer. Jennifer and Richard got onto the train that got to the station at 4:15 in the morning and traveled 332 miles to Chicago . Jennifer and Richard got to the Chicago Union Station at about 10:30 am. Jennifer's mother picked the two up and they traveled 15 miles to Jennifer's home in Evanston, IL. 

Jennifer wanted to bring Richard to church with her to meet some family, and show him around Evanston, but she forgot him at home.

On April 12, 2015, on the drive back to the Union Station to go to back to Carbondale, Jennifer decided to show Richard the City of Chicago on their drive on Interstate 94. Richard really enjoyed looking at the Chicago Skyline . Before getting on the 8:05pm train, Richard and Jennifer snapped a picture together. Richard really loved the blue lights in front of the Union Station. While waiting for the train to go back to Carbondale, Richard learned a lot about the Chicago Union Station. He learned that the Union Station was built in 1925 and it replaced an earlier station that has been built in 1881. The station is by the Chicago River and the Chicago Loop, Richard saw the Chicago River when they were on their way to the station. Richard wants to walk around the Chicago Loop the next time he goes to Chicago again. Richard was shocked to see the amount of terminals that are in the Union Station. Although he thought only Amtrak trains go through the Union Station, Metra trains go through there as well. 

 

Richard was sad to leave Evanston and Chicago, but was finally glad to be able to go back home to his home in Wham 308. Richard is ready for his next adventure!!!!!

Source: http://www.chicagounionstation.com/

John the Dog Goes to the Coal Miners Memorial

John made the trip to Sesser, IL with his acquaintance, Taylor Hill, on April 27, 2015.   Sesser is about 35 miles northeast of Southern Illinois University by car.  The Coal Miners Memorial is located in the city park.  The names of many southern Illinois miners who lost their lives in a mining accident are displayed on the memorial. The total mileage for John was previously 2,224. On his trip with Taylor, he logged 96 more miles, traveling to Taylor's house north of Ewing through Sesser and back.  John also spent some time outside the Boys and Girls Club in Carbondale, but he was minded not to go in, as the Boys and Girls Club can be a dangerous place for a toy dog. Now John has now traveled 2,320 miles in 2015.  The memorial in Sesser is located at 38.09 degrees north latitude and 89.05 degrees west longitude.