I've remembered some other things that have stood out for us:

- in most of Oregon, the restaurants/bars have no smoking inside. Nada, nothing, no section.  So being asked "Smoking or Non?" every time we go out still throws us off on this, the one week marker from our arrival.  Champaign-Urbana is in the midst of considering a smoking ban for its restuarants, which has opened an unbelievable can of worms for people around here.  We heard a rumor that the abundance of outdoor seating in downtown Champaign is a direct result of the impending decision.   The outdoor seating is definitely appreciated, and the smoking debate is quite amusing.  

-  even though Illinois borders Wisconsin, the great state of cheese, any varieties outside of cheddar are, like, $15 to $20 a pound! Surely, we're looking in the wrong places.

- along those same lines, we're missing the selection of microbrew beers we had in Oregon.  Well, we're homesick all around.  

- Lori has noticed (and I concur) that none of the businesses here have toilet seat covers in the restrooms.  We could always count on those in Oregon restrooms, but haven't seen a one since east of Idaho.   The details, you know.

We're in a hotel room in St Louis right now visiting a good ol' Oregon friend so I'm distracted at the moment, but I'll be back!