Just In Time(scape) in Lafayette, Indiana

Yesterday I drove to Lafayette, Indiana, home of Purdue University and more importantly, one of my friends from Warcraft, Justin aka Timescape.  I hadn't met Justin before, just played with him online, so I was a little nervous it would be awkward and we'd have nothing to talk about (except maybe the game).  Turns out I needn't have worried; Justin was easy to talk to and very graciously let me stay overnight in his cozy apartment.  (Thanks again, Justin!)

There's not a whole lot going on in Lafayette, but we walked around town, and I say there are definitely worse places a person could live.  But it's one of those towns where I wonder how anyone makes money, because everything closes at 5pm.  And since everyone works until 5pm, when do they go shopping or out for coffee, etc?

One surprise (for me, not Justin) was the free zoo in Lafayette.  It's pretty small, and connected to a city park/water park, but had a number of animals I would not have expected to find in a small town in Indiana:

Justin, attempting to tame the giant caterpillar.

These animals were much nicer than the dead and decaying cat we passed along the way to the zoo.  Poor kitty.  I'm not sure why no one has cleaned it off the sidewalk yet, because believe me, it was not freshly dead.  Photo available upon request.  (It's much creepier than the dead fish, and I didn't want to ruin anyone's appetite.)

[I'm having trouble uploading photos; will add later.  Photos added the following day.]