A Good Day

Well, Tim and I made it back to Illinois to enjoy the last two days of our scheduled get away.  Although it was a little shorter than originally planned, it was still good.  Wednesday, in particular, was a good day.

We decided to go to Iowa (only 20 min. away) to the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.  A very interesting place to learn about wildlife along and in the River.  They also had a 4D theater showing a couple of movies.  It was supposed to be $19 each for admission and one movie, and we decided to do that, even though our budget was a bit tight due to the unexpected hospitalization of Mason again.  Well, the Lord was working it all out.  Before we left, I remembered that I held a zoo pass with reciprocal privileges at certain other zoos/aquariums, and National Mississippi River Museum offered a 50% discount for my ticket.  Then, as we walked in, a volunteer came up and offered us one of his free tickets for the day.  So it only cost us $15.50 total for our experience!

We had such a nice time there, and it wasn't crowded!  We saw paddle fish (only place they are now found in the wild is in the Mississippi) and got to see them feeding.  They are just docile, kind of boring fish until they eat.  Suddenly their jaws drop open (sort of disconnect like a snake's), and you see this glowing filter inside their huge mouths.  Then they just swim around letting everything filter into them that they need for nourishment.  Looked sort of alien.  Paddle Fish Eating   The 4D movie was about bugs in the rain forest, and it was really amazing.  The only part I didn't like was when a spider stealthily dropped from the ceiling into my face due to the great 3D (thankfully no 4D for that part - had rain and rumbling seats a few other times).  Tim didn't like the spider part much either, as he ended up a bit deaf from my shrieking, and probably had some grip marks on his arm!

Later, we found a great deal on some yummy food at a Casino across the street from the museum.  We have found that most Casino's offer really good food at reasonable prices, as they don't want the gamblers to have an excuse to leave the facility!  After eating, we headed back to the condo to rest a bit before attending a magic show Wednesday evening.  The theater only has 24 seats, so it is a very intimate setting with lots of audience interaction (I didn't tell Tim that part until after he agreed to go LOL).  Even sitting 3 ft from the magician, we still couldn't see how any of the tricks were done.  I even got to participate in one with a little car named Dennis.  Below is my picture with Dennis and P.T. Murphy, the magician.