On November 29th, Sarah and I went to the Dahlgren Train Depot in Dahlgren, Illinois. The Dahlgren train station was built in 1871. It was built as part of the St. Louis Railway. It is no longer in use. Sarah and I traveled 118.84 miles to the train depot and back. We traveled in my car.

Dahlgren is located on Illinois Route 142 (formerly U.S. Route 460). The Evansville Western Railway, formerly CSX Transportation, provides freight rail service to Dahlgren. CSX put 120 miles of rail line from Evansville, IN to Okawville, IL to the Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL), an operating entity of Four Rivers Transportation, Inc., in a transaction whereby CSX sold all track, ties and track equipment to PAL and provided a 20-year lease on the right-of-way. Upon completion of the sale on December 31, 2005, PAL transferred all interests to the new Class III operating entity.
Dahlgren has no regularly scheduled passenger services. The nearest passenger rail connection, which is the AMTRAK, is in Centralia, Illinois.

Hello! My name is Holly Wilburn. Sarah and I went to the West Frankfort Coal Miner's Memorial on October 26. The trip is 27.53 miles from school. It is about a minute from my house in West Frankfort. According to google earth the latitude was 37 degrees 53 feet 53.31 in. N while the longitude was 88 degrees 55 feet 44.37 in. W.

Sarah behaved while we were on the trip. We looked at the memorial and read the poems on the memorial. The memorial is shaped to represent "Little Egypy," which is Southern Illinois nickname. One enscription stated, "We can only hope and pray that this monument will always serve as an ever lasting memorial to all coal miners everywhere; those who work and live, those who worked and died, those who gave and sacrificed so much, those who gave it all." Coal mining has been an important occupation for many Southern Illinoisans. It has been a booming business in the past and is becoming more prevalent again today.

Sarah Goes to C.E. Brehm Memorial Library

Hello, my name is Adrienne Skidmore. On November 1, 2011, Sarah and I traveled to C.E. Brehm Memorial Library in Mount Vernon IL. We traveled 57.74 miles on IL-148. This took about one hour and ten minutes. Sarah was very good during the trip. She got to see the new statue about the women that has served our country. The statue featured two famous women veterans. The women are Molly Pitcher of the Revolutionary War frame and Maj. Tammy Duckworth an Iraq War veteran. Duckworth, now the Department of Veterans Affairs Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, was injured on Nov. 12, 2004, while piloting a UH 60 Black Hawk helicopter in Iraq. A rocket-propelled grenade fired by insurgents hit her helicopter, Bruckner said. The subsequent explosion caused severe injuries to Tammy Duckworth’s legs and right arm. She now walks with the aid of prosthetics. Tammy Duckworth received a Purple Heart on Dec. 3, 2004, and was shortly after promoted to major and presented with an Air Medal and Army Commendation Medal. Tammy Duckworth, an Illinois DAR member, said she initially was reluctant to consider lending her face to the sculpture.

This Library is one of the oldest functioning libraries in Illinois. C.E. Brehm Memorial Library is located on latitude longitude coordinates 38-19'03"N and 088-53'51"W. The library was erected in 1904. The library services were started in 1893 when women started a Shakespeare Club. In 1894, the club took rooms on the south side of the square in what became the second floor of the downtown Mammoth Department Store. The circulating library opened its doors on January 9, 1895. Andrew Carnegie was a local businessman that donated 12,700 dollars to the construction of a library. He is now considered one of the founding members of the library.

This trip was very enjoyable for my mother and myself because we are walking distance from the library. Both of us had not seen the new statue and was very surprised by the detail the sculptor used. It was very engaging to visit a local jewel in the middle of our town.
-Adrienne Skidmore.

Frank goes to Tunnel Hill Bike Trail

Franks adventure to Tunnel Hill State Trail started off a little rough. From SIU the car ride is 35 miles to the trail, however it is much worth the drive. My home is on the way to the trail, so we stopped to introduce him to my new kitten, Muffin, that did not like him very much. After he was fed, we took out on the trail for a walk to take pictures of this beautiful bike trail. My daughter made the trip with us, and for a six year old turned out to be a great photographer! She has been to the bike trail all of her life because it is only three miles from our home.
If the 45-miles of the trail could be seen in cross- sections, it would taper to its lowest points at either end, with Harrisburg and Karnak the lowest point and Tunnel Hill having the highest point. This point being just high enough to for the railroad builders to decide to tunnel through it, rather than go over it. The result is a comfortable 2 percent grade for the length of the trail. In 1929 a portion of the tunnel collapsed and this landmark was shortened by 300 feet, now 543 feet long.

During the 19th century the trail was a railroad that was a part of the cross country railway system. Among the developers was a Civil War General, Ambrose Burnside. Burnside was best remembered for his facial hair now called "sideburns. This railway system transported passengers, coal, salt, wood products, and orchard grown peaches and apples.

Sarah's Trip to the Granada Theater!

My name is Kelly Ellis. On October 28, 2011 around 11:00 a.m. Sarah and I, along with two of my children drove in a car to the Granada Theater located at 106 N. 9th street in Mount Vernon, Illinois. According to my Tom Tom, G.P.S. navigational system the latitude is 88 degrees 54.156 W and the longitude 38 degrees 19.075 N. Sarah traveled 59.60 miles and that took one hour and ten minutes.


The Granada Theater was built in 1937 by the Boller brothers. It was the first theater in Mount Vernon to have air conditioning. It began as a theater then in the 1970's it was used as office space. It was again used as a theater in the 1980's and I saw many movies there as a pre-teen and teenager.
Now the Granada Center for the Performing Arts is working on restoring the building to it original beauty. It can be rented for public and private functions. The money goes toward the restoration project. For more information copy and paste this site,
http://www.granada.mvn.net/Facility%20Rental%20Information.html
Occasionally a family friendly movie will be played at the theater for no charge. This is a good time for families to go enjoy a night out with no additional costs. The have played "It's A Wonderful Life" and recently the showed the animated film "Shrek".

Sarah's trip to Garden of the Gods

On Oct 2nd, Sarah and I decided to go for a hike at the Garden of the Gods located near Herod IL. The Garden of the Gods in located in southern Illinois in the Shawnee National Forest. The wilderness area is over 320 million years old and covers over 3,300 acres of beautiful forest. The sediment rock in this area is over 4 miles deep and the fractured bedrock and created various rock formations. Sarah and I observed many rock formations and wildlife. The rock formations included: Camel Rock, Turtle Rock, and Knights of the Round Table. We traveled to Garden of the Gods by car and it took us over an hour to reach our destination. The trip from Wham to Garden of the Gods was over 60 miles. The latitude and longitude coordinates were 37.609880 - 88.387985. Sarah behaved well for me, but I didn't let her stray very far for the high cliffs can be dangerous.

Frank Learns About Coal Mining in Southern Illinois!

Hello! My name is Kara Stark, and Frank and I spent some quality time cruising around good, 'ole, Southern Illinois! After jamming out to some awesome 90's tunes in the Escort, we decided to make a stop in Herrin, IL, where we observed the Coal Miner's Memorial. We had a little trouble finding it at first. Frank finally decided to stop and ask for directions, and we were able to find it. It was hidden away on the corner of 14th Street and E. Cherry. It was only 16.12 miles (37.803574 latitude, -89.026445 longitude for the map readers out there), but it sure seemed to take all day! After we got out to explore, we were overwhelmed with how many names there were. Frank and I first stopped to read the inscription at the base of the statue, which read, "In memory of coal miners who gave so much that future generations may benefit with a better life. They labored, served their country, sacrificed for their families and some lost their lives. We honor and salute them so that they will never be forgotten." We learned that the monument, dedicated on October 14th, 2000 (my birthday!), depicts a miner returning home and being greeted by his son. We also learned that Southern Illinois used to be a huge coal mining community. In fact, it was the reason that many of the towns in southern Illinois were created! Coal was even called "black gold". As Frank pointed out, it was amazing to see how many names were around the Memorial. It sure is something to know that that many lives were impacted by the coal mining industry. We tried to stay and read all of the dedications, but it was past Frank's bedtime, so we had to make the trip back. It was definitely an interesting trip, and I hope that we can go back, soon!