Got up bright and early at the crack of a continental breakfast in a
converted gymnasium. That hotel was just weird, and filled with
children. We let out of that joint, and stalked the “World Market” for
interesting stuff. We found a big bamboo shade we had been looking for
cheap. Threw it in the car, and made our way to Busch Stadium to see the
St. Louis Cardinals vs. the Atlanta Braves.

Paid $6 for parking, about 2 blocks from the stadium — which i can deal
with. We showed up about 2 hours early, and the place was packed! It
turns out the gates open 2 hours prior (1:10 being the game start). We
watched some batting practice after we got our tickets, and just chilled.
Kelly and I downed a beer and pretzel to start things off.

Bud Light is like water. It’s evil, really. Also, it’s not good beer.
But it’s definitely potable. The game was a great time, but the
Cardinal’s fielding wasn’t exactly stellar. And the pitching wasn’t all
that great. I respect Darryl Kile, but he got behind pretty fast (no
thanks to the fielding of his own team). Luckily, this made for a good
end-game, with the Cardinals making a small rally from the 4-0 deficit
they had dug. They lost 4-2, though.

We bid fond farewell to Busch Stadium — i enjoyed it greatly. The park
is nice, easy to get to and, perhaps more importantly, easy to get out
of. The ballgame was great fun, and the crowd there was a good time.

We hopped on 64 Eastbound, and as the Arch faded from our rear-view
mirror, Kelly and I both felt a little sad. Our journey in the west had
officially come to a close, as we passed back through the gateway to the
west.

However, our adventures were not to end just quite yet. We still had
“Albino Squirrel Hunt #2″ to go — Olney, IL. About an hour and a half
drive down US150, we get to Olney, where a sign greets us saying “Home of
the White Squirrels”. Note: not “albino” but “white”. Maybe this is a
technical distinction — maybe they are just WHITE, and not “albino”.
Though, i think they are technically “albino”, but i never got close
enough to actually check out the eyes and other albinism-affected
features.

We stopped at a great little Mexican restaurant called “El Rancherito”,
escaped for under $20, and went a’huntin! We drove about, searching the
“suburbian” areas of Olney (a small area) for a while, noting that many
of the squirrels we were seeing were in fact WHITE, but they were all
fake. As we rounded a corner into another neighborhood, we struck WHITE
GOLD! A white squirrel chasing, and possibly harassing, MAYBE EVEN
belittling a “normal” fox squirrel. Kelly and I snap photos as they seem
to pose for our peering lenses. They even pose ON THE TREE — but then,
as quickly as we had noticed them, the squirrels do that squirrely thing
they do, and escape around to the other side of the trees. One down, how
many to go, i wonder?!

We search as the summery day fades, noting yet more squirrel-themed yard
ornaments, and a bunch of white STUFF in the yards that fool us for mere
moments (bags, cups, foam, etc). We snap some photos of various Olney
squirrel-related stuff, and the post office and police office for good
measure.

I must say, as far as style goes, Olney, IL has Marionville, MO beat.
Marionville is a Podunk, whereas Olney is more towards Mayberry. They
had nice little town centers and stuff. Also, the ratio of normal to
albino squirrels (based on our cursory 30 minute searches) for both Olney
and Marionville was 1 to 1! In Olney, we saw two (real) squirrels — one
white, one “normal”.

Ahhh well.

We took US150 back to I64, passing through Paoli, IN and Palmyra, IN.
It was nice to see Louisville’s skyline again, and home felt real
comfortable.

I plan on making a directory and map and such for the places we visited
in the near future. As for now, I’m tired as heck! Hope you all have
enjoyed these travelogues!