Beautiful Weather in Illinois But More Rain Coming

We were finally able to catch up with one of my former Verizon bosses and her husband in Rapid City on Monday.  They are fulltimers too and our paths hadn't crossed for awhile.  It was nice to catch up over a nice lunch at Sanfords, the place with all the 'garage memorabilia' I talked about last week.  Then we went to see each others 'home on wheels' and visited some more and were entertained by Tucker, their Aussiepoo.  He 'sings/barks' along with Todd when he plays 'Happy Trails' on the guitar.  I must say it was quite entertaining and something I've heard that dogs can do, but never actually witnessed it.  I told them they need to do a YouTube video on it.

We left on Tuesday as planned and made it to a WalMart parking lot in Worthington, MN, 400 miles, for the night.  Of course, some rain but nothing serious.  Apparently, Walmart is the place to stay in that area because there were several of us, along with some semis, there for the night.  Wednesday we traveled as far as the I-80 Truck Stop in Walcott, IA(another 410 mile day).  We had a LOT of rain most of Wednesday so was glad when that driving day was over.  I guess those of us in the SW, that aren't used to rain, have become 'wimps' at driving in it because people just passed us like we were standing still and that makes me very nervous.  Remember, I'm following Dick in the new car because we don't have all the towing stuff installed yet!

That entire exit for the I-80 truck stop, known as the world's largest truck stop, is something else.  Two HUGE pilot fuel stations, restaurants, CB radio shop and anything else that a trucker might need/want.  The one Pilot station where we stayed can hold 800+ semis in the parking lot so you can imagine how big it is.  We quit about 4 p.m. and by 8 p.m. the lot was almost full.  We were off in a far corner and 'hoped' to have no one next to us but by 9 p.m. we had a semi on each side.  One side the driver didn't turn his engine off all night.........grrrr!!!!  I do admit though that you kinda get used to the 'hum' of the engine and after awhile you barely notice it.  Of course, they come and go all night so that can be interesting.

I-80 Truck Stop in Walcot, IA

Thursday was a short driving day with only about 130 miles before we arrived at my brothers in Illinois about noon after driving in rain up until about 5 miles from their house.  It was the craziest feeling to be in all this rain and then all of a sudden it stopped and the sun was out and Jerry was actually planting beans in the field.  He only had about 2 days of planting left and was working frantically to get done before the next storm comes on Sunday.

The price is right for this 'farm campground' with 50 amp service

We enjoyed our visit with the family although we didn't get to visit with Jerry much at all.  He did finish the beans Friday evening and is now helping a neighbor.  Becky and I and her daughters did lots of fun girl things......manicures, pedicures, shopping, lunch, etc. so the time went by quickly for me.  Dick usually spends our time there washing/waxing the rig and car but with more rain predicted for Sunday when we were to travel again, it seemed senseless.  We got to meet my great-niece who is almost two, and quite the little charmer.  It was hard to say goodbye to her, because this is such a cute age and she is such a happy little girl to be around.  We said our good-byes this morning over breakfast and headed to Elkhart, IN, an easy 2.5 hour drive.  We like doing this drive on a Sunday morning because the traffic/construction is much lighter on Sunday through Chicago and that held true today.

Last evening before leaving we took a drive to Marseilles, IL, a little town of about 5000 people not far from where we grew up.  In fact, Dick & I lived in Marseilles for several years after we were first married.  There is a granite Memorial Wall sitting on the banks of the Illinois River there that most people don't even know about.   It is called the Middle East Conflict Memorial Wall and contains 7000+ names of those lost in worldwide conflicts since 1979.  It is quite impressive, especially since it is totally supported by the Illinois Motorcycle Association and was built entirely with donated material and labor and is the first of its kind in the U.S. to give honor to our fallen by name while the Middle East Conflict is ongoing.  There will be as many as 10,000 motorcycle riders descend upon Marseilles next weekend to pay tribute and more names will be added.  Needless to say this little town and the surrounding area are overtaken with motorcycle riders that day and my brother tells the story that about 3 years ago he waited at a corner near their house for 50 minutes while a massive line of motorcycle riders got off of Interstate 80 at the Marseilles exit headed to this 'Freedom Run' as it's called.   You can read much more about this memorial on the internet if you are interested.   It was the perfect ending to a nice few days with family.  Marseilles was also hit very hard recently with flooding of the IL River so the financial impact of these people coming next weekend will be a huge boost to their economy.

Middle East Conflict Memorial Wall

We are currently settled here at the Elkhart Campground for the next month as we get some things taken care of here.  It is one of those campgrounds that is considerably cheaper by the month so this will be home until early July.  We haven't had the predicted rain yet today but we can see it coming and is predicted for tonight and tomorrow.  What a surprise!

Have a good week ahead and for our family/friends in Phoenix, I'd say 'stay cool' but I don't think that will be happening anytime soon.