A Trip to NIU-- Part 1

Yesterday, Liz and I took a drive out to Dekalb to have a look at things ourselves. Last night, Liz had downloaded a copy of the black ribbon with NIU logo and we put it in the back window.

The first thing we noticed was that all flags from Sycamore to Dekalb were at half mast and many of the signs at local establishments had words of comfort regarding the tragedy. Same with flags and signs along Lincoln Highway, Il. Route 38.

We drove by the infamous Room 105 at the TraveLodge. There was no yellow tape and it appeared to be ready to rent out again. I'm not sure that that is the proper thing to do. Talk about an infamous motel room. We definitely spent a night or two in that room in the past. I don't even think it should ever be rented out again.

We stopped at the Village Commons Bookstore off Lucinda and found a lot of people there buying NIU clothing. I guess everyone wants to be a part of the community and show it by wearing the colors.

At first, we were disappointed that there were no ribbons are anything for sale to commemorate the tragedy. Then I over heard someone asking another person where they'd gotten their ribbon. They said at the cash register by the other entrance to the place. We walked over and found a group of employees working on assembling ribbons. The ones for 99 cents were just a ribbon, but for $5.99, you could get a ribbon with a metal Huskie logo on it. They were a bit on the small side so we only bought two.

I had thought Cole Hall was closer to the Fieldhouse and drove around there, but couldn't find it. Drove along Lucinda to the other side of the Holmes Center, the student center. We could see the much filmed and photographed five crosses on the south side of the union.

Doubled back to the visitors parking and found it was open. They usually charge $5 a day to park, but weren't open. We saw at least six news vans parked along the spaces closest to Cole Hall. This is now five days after the event.

To Be Continued.