Katharine & Emily's Epic Illinoisian Adventure: Day 1

I made it to the great state of Illinois! It is, as advertised, full of corn.
It all began with a ridiculously early awakening, and a surreal pass through Portland's security line- the personnel were all so homogenous and cheerful. Where do we find them? The plane ride was uneventful, although I got to watch the flight attendant fabulously quash a self-righteous hipster, and I think Masi Oka was actually piloting.
We got a little turned around trying to find the car, but Em didn't have any problem navigating Chicago. The Museum of Science and Industry is enormous (don't) and we decided to poke around until it was time for our date with Harry Potter (again, please, don't). There was an entire exhibition on poo, culminating in how many wheelbarrows full of poo it would take to power your laptop (two if you're wondering). The miniature fairy castle was amazing, but the line to go through the realistic coal mine was to long. We did pay extra to see the greenest house in Chicago; it was very well decorated, and, they tell me, energy efficient. The home and garden channel, not to mention my mother and sister, would approve.
Finally we got in line for Harry Potter: the Exhibition. They made people shout and answer trivia questions before we went in, and they even had a sorting hat. Despite that, it was a great show, and I got to see one of Sirius Black's waistcoats- yay!
The South Side of Chicago is really interesting.
The ride to Urbana took a while. I stayed awake, which is really all there is to say about that.
After an excellent dinner Emily took me on a mini tour of the city. There are quite a few chuches here- our favorite being the Korean Jesus-Love United Methodist Church (Hey, Mel!)
Best of all, when we got back to her house and I slumped onto the couch exhausted, instead of making me do something else Emily said "Hey, have you ever watched WKRP?"