Becky and I continued our road trip up Illinois on to Champaign, Illinois. Not only did Becky and I grow up in the same neighborhood, but we attended the same grade school, high school, and even college - the University of Illinois (see picture of us our first semester of college). We decided to be roommates in the dorms our freshman year. Everyone said that it would be the end of our friendship, we'd get on each other's nerves. But we were friends already for so long and had only one true fight (over a boy) that we knew we could live with one another in harmony. And we did, our friendship grew, and we only had one fight (over a beer) in the two years we lived together.Here's a pic of us below in front of Snyder Hall, the dorm we lived in (Room 306). We lived in that small room and made many friendships (and plenty of shenanigans - some I'd be happy to tell you, some I may keep to myself!) in those halls. Half of our floor was for girls and half the floor was for guys separated by a locked door. One funny fact about Room 306 is that when we connected our TV, we'd only get two channels: CBS and Mtv (maybe another reason I love music). All we had to do was fill out a maintenance report and probably have it fixed. Did we? No, for some odd (lazy) reason, we didn't for TWO years! Our daily routine was pretty much this: go to classes, come home and take a nap, watch the video countdown on Mtv, go to dinner in the cafeteria, study (yes, we really did study and got good grades!) and at about 11pm go out! Yes, go out at 11pm. We didn't go out every night, but I'd say 4-5 nights a week, we'd be social! This was our freshman year schedule. Our sophomore year we both joined sororities and the Human Development and Family Studies Club, so we had added meetings and events as well. Word on the street is that Snyder Hall is now considered the "Clean Teen" dorm: no drinking, no smoking, no opposite sex sleepovers. What is funny about that is that is probably what the rules were when we went there, but no one really enforced them (or maybe our floor was really sneaky...I remember a time where some guys smuggled in a Party Ball full of beer).
Becky and I thoroughly enjoyed exploring our old campus together. It was a beautiful fall day, and we walked on "the quad" where many buildings where we attended classes were (see the Illini Union in the background where we occasionally went bowling!). The students looked young and scholarly, many were texting and walking. I wished I'd have brought a backpack to pretend I was going to class. If we'd had more time, I may have even sat in on one in the auditorium!
We then headed towards where our favorite bars/hangouts were in town. Here's us in front of Kam's, the bar we frequented the most. We were all set to go in and have a Coke and "take a lap" there, but it was closed. Back in college, we'd take a lap and see who was there and if anyone there was cute! Anyone else remember the terms scam and mash? (To scam was to flirt, mash was make out. There was plenty of both going on at Kam's back in the day.) A few of our favorite restaurants and bars were gone, but we ate lunch at a pub that was there way back when. We also had to stop and buy Illini wear for ourselves and our kids! (Becky and I even bought the same tshirt.)
After our trip down Green Street and memory lane, we headed north home. We still had plenty to talk about (now mostly reminiscing and laughing about crazy college days) on the three hours left in our road trip. I feel so fortunate to have a lifelong friend that I can take off with like that and also fortunate to come home to be smothered in kisses from my family.
