Over the last week, we have stayed our last night in New Mexico, two nights in Colorado, a night in Kansas, one night in Missouri, one night in Illinois, and now for our first night in Wisconsin. It’s kind of surreal, and the scenery so far is quite similar to that of Missouri and Illinois. So green, with beautiful trees, amazing cornfields, and picturesque farms. We have listened to Ramona Quimby and The Last Battle, and the Capitol buildings have been so fun to see. In some ways, they have been so similar, and other ways so different. With each tour we have learned more things about each state. I’m so glad that we have done it. Today we toured the Illinois Capitol building, the tallest Dome Capitol at 405 feet from ground level, and grandest of all state capitols. The Capitol building in DC is 297 feet tall.
The stained glass window in the dome is quite impressive.
We entered the Capitol through an underground tunnel that connected it to the nearby government buildings.
The doors to the ground floor opened up to beautiful ornate halls and staircases as well as a welcoming statue that made you feel like you just might be in Europe.
This tour was focused on the purpose of the building, not the workmanship, art and materials that went into making it what it is today. Built in the late 1800’s, it cost 4.3 million dollars to build, in comparison to the Missouri Capitol building built 50 years later, which cost nearly 1 million less to build. I do have to admit, there is no comparison visually when describing the inside of each.
The wall paper in the state Supreme Court is awesome!
The street view of the Capitol is less impressive, and we found the silver dome rather intriguing. Who do you think would be the statue out in front of the Illinois state capital main entrance? We are in the land of Lincoln, coined on each license plate. Well Stephen Douglas of course!
We enjoyed the monument to the states firefighters and the one to the states police force.
We left the Capitol and made our way to the nearest Krekels, which had been recommended by our favorite Illinois couple Pastor Tim and Cindy.
As we are in corn country, so more ethanol is added to the gas, lowering the gas prices.
We found some fun signs that reminded us of our family back home.
We have made it to Wisconsin at last!!!
Owens Endeavors 