Go Illini

This last weekend, Jo and I joined our friends, John and Linda, for a trip to our alma mater, Illinois.  The main purpose was to see their youngest daughter who just started at Illinois and to see her play and march with the Marching Illini during the football game.  We drove down to Chicago on Thursday and then all piled into a car for a wild ride to Champaign-Urbana as it was raining cats, dogs, squirrels, chipmunks, and any other animals you can think of for most of the drive down.  The next morning had us up and taking a walk through the campus to see the good old quad, Illini Union, and Alma Mater statue.  Jo then headed off to do a bit of work meeting with some of the local Northwestern Mutual sales representatives while John, Linda, and I walked around the campus and got lunch at one of the restaurants that managed to survive through all the years since we were there last.  After Jo's meetings we all did some much needed replenishing of our Illini clothing and gear at the stores in campus town.

Saturday we were up and going early to watch the Marching Band march over to the football stadium before we settled into our seats to watch the game against Purdue.  We were joined by John and Linda's oldest daughter and significant other who came down for the day.  T
he weather certainly wasn't what we had expected to see in Champaign in early October with the temperatures struggling to get into the high 40's and every now and then a little sprinkle to keep you from really warming up.  But we were at Memorial Stadium again after almost 35 years so the weather didn't dampen our mood too much.  The first half went well although neither defense seemed particularly adept at stopping the other's offense.  Still high scoring games are at least fun to watch.  Unfortunately, Illinois came apart in the second half and we didn't get the chance to see an Illini win.  After the game we marched with the band back to the Education building where they played a short concert.


Then it was off to probably the real reason for the trip, dinner at Papa Del's pizza.  If you haven't realized that Papa Del's is the best pizza on the planet, then I'm sorry for you.  Even though the place was packed and it took almost 90 minutes to get a table (everyone at the game obviously realizes it is the best pizza) it was worth the wait for the delicious combination of thick tasty crust, sweet sauce, and just the right amount of too much cheese.  That evening we caught some more volleyball as we watched the Illinois women's volleyball team take on our other alma mater - Madison.  The Badgers won the game and since we rooted for both teams - although much quieter for the Badgers - we were guaranteed a win.


Sunday after brunch with John and Linda's daughter it was back to Papa Del's to pick up 3 extra large pizzas (30 pieces of future deliciousness) to stock our freezer at home.  The weekend flew by, but we had a really fun trip:  we were amazed again at how much the campus has changed from our college days, it was fascinating to listen to John and Linda's daughter talk about her college experiences and realize how similar they were to ours, we got to see and sit in the Illini Union where Jo and I first met, and we came home with lots of pizza - what's not to love.  Already thinking about our trip for next year.