DEALING WITH HIGHWAY HYPNOSIS. Brief road trip report. There was an O Scale swap meet in Indianapolis. I was able to find some detail parts for the Andreyev at the traders who cater to scratchbuilders, as well as running gear for some of the passenger cars.

To avoid the weekend congestion in Chicago (For the past 30 years I have not been able to use the stretch of 80-90-94 between Michigan City and Harvey without encountering a work zone somewhere on that stretch) I returned from Indianapolis by way of Champaign and Bloomington to Rochelle. Interstate 74 offers a bit more scenic exit from Indiana than does 65, with some up-and-down into the Wabash and Vermilion valleys as well as tributaries. One local chain of eateries caught my eye. At a number of interchanges the food listings included something called Monical's Pizza, a flatlander enterprise (Arcola, Tuscola, Pepsi-Cola) with outlets in Indiana (near Indiana Beach -- is this pizza any good?) as well as north of the Cheddar Curtain (Arbor Vitae?? That's near Hurley. I smell a mob connection.)

But I must confess that at the first few observations of this sign, I was misreading it as Monica's ... and my mind was reeling. If you're familiar with Slavic vulgarisms you'll grasp what the cruise control allows the mind to do. But when that trailing "l" registered that didn't help, as a sponsor of the women's basketball tournament kept coming to mind.