Mid-West: Cross-country Drive (2/3)

We changed the route at the last minute so that we could have a lunch stop at State College, PA, to meet my friend LL and his parents, who were visiting from China. It was a small world that I found out about this a few days before I started the trip. I got to know LL in Beijing's Toastmasters' circle a few years back.

Ann Arbor, Michigan is where I had my first full-time job in the United States.
It was at Sycor, which later became Northern Telecom Inc., and then Bell Northern Research. Now this 100 Phoenix Drive building belongs to Borders.
Jeanet also worked in Ann Arbor with Warner Lambert, and with Double A Products in Manchester, MI. Those two companies were also gone and/or morphed into something else.













We bought our first home on Marian Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1979. I took a picture again and I waved at the current owner when he happened to drive out from the garage. He will never know that I lived in that house 30 years ago. Life is a mystery ;-)

Joseph was born in the University of Michigan's Women's Hospital in 1980.

I attended SIU at Carbondale to get my Master Degree in Electrical Engineering. I have fond memories of this school. The financial support I received made my first two years worry free, and everything I encountered had a serious impact on my understanding and appreciation of this new country and culture.

Two interesting signs of our time:
1) Condoms for sale from Motel 6's vending machine. It is not cheap for the name brand Durex.
2) Reserved parking spaces for expectant mothers in front of the Borders' main office.

Lodging:
Motel 6 in Ann Arbor, Michigan $55.49 per night
Motel 6 in Marion, Illinois $46.61 per night
Motel 6 in Caseyville, Illinois $52.05 per night
YJN's apartment in St. Paul, Minnesota

Where we went and miles driven:
PA, OH, MI, IN, IL, WI, MN
The Yahoo! Map planning tool originally had us going through St. Louis, Missouri, and then Iowa and Minnesota. Somehow, our GPS directed us back towards Chicago, crossing the Wisconsin border and then to St. Paul from the Wisconsin side.

Friday, June 10 7:30 pm @43642 - Monday, June 6 9:00 am @41701 = 1941 miles

We hit record-high temperatures on June 8 and June 9, we both felt a bit sick from heat stroke. It was near 98 degrees in those two days.

Whom else or what else we saw:
1) University of Michigan Women's Hospital, Joseph's birth place.
2) Ann Arbor apartment where we stayed for the first year.
3) Ann Arbor's home for the second year.
4) My work place at Sycor, Inc.
5) Jeanet's work place in Warner Lambert in Ann Arbor and Double A Products in Manchester, Michigan.
6) Southern Illinois University Electrical Engineering Department and the campus lake.
7) SIU's apartment and old house I called home for a total of two years.
8) Minnesota visit to the family of YJN, who is doing his sabbatical at the University of Minnesota.
9) Mississippi River and its most upstream lock in Minneapolis near the old Flour Mill Tower.
10) A 9-hole golf game at Roseville, Minnesota near YJN's beautiful apartment. YJN's family and Korean food and hospitality were so memorable. I got to know YJN 9 years ago at IBM Almaden Research Center when he came for a year of visit.