One of the fun things looking at the map is to find interesting named places to visit. When we found the Illinois town of "Normal" next to Bloomington (Illinois State University) we knew we had to stop and see what a "Normal" Fire Department might look like.  Sure enough, we found three Normal Stations, several Normal fire trucks, and a number of above average, Normal looking firefighters who shared a Normal patch in exchange for one from home.

      Next stop was Springfield, IL which is of course the state capital and hometown of Abe Lincoln.  We had a wonderful visit to the Lincoln museum and the Springfield FD Headquarters.  Upon recommendation of the local firefighters we enjoyed a nice lunch in town as well.  We even saw Mr. Lincoln himself walking the streets near the capital.

      The day was far from over.  We set out to make it as far as Branson, Missouri for the night. The drive took us through St. Louis with an unsuccessful attempt to find and photograph their fireboat. We did see the Arch and the Cardinals new Busch Stadium before continuing on our way to Branson. We actually drove through another Springfield (MO) although we ran into some torrential rain and a thunder storm so we did not stop.  As we arrived in Branson, the most spectacular sunset  welcomed us to this unique town.

     Another 502 miles and another state (MO) for the map.