Home

Glad to wake up to overcast but no rain.  This was going-home day so no organized breakfast only pack up mode.  We had loaded the car, put away lawn chairs and the mat yesterday so a lot was already done.  We took our time and left the campsite at 10:00 (EDT). The boys were anxious to get back home.  I know they had a good time but with the trip to Arizona and immediately followed by this trip, they have been away from home for two weeks.

We decided to go back to Decatur a different way in hopes of avoiding some of the road construction from the trip here.  We took I-65 north to US 24 to I-57 to I-72.  We discovered that it was actually less miles and time to go that route and the best part was no road construction.  We had some sporadic rain but nothing like we had for the last few days.  The temperature was in the low 70's although there was still a lot of humidity. 

Not the usual fancy "Welcome to Illinois" sign but a reminder that we were back in Illinois.  This sign was in Sheldon, Illinois on US Route 24.

The sky looked ominous as we headed on I-72 west near Decatur.  We did make it home and mostly unpacked before the rain hit.  Our garden looked well watered so we assumed that Decatur had gotten as much rain as we did in Indiana.  Carol will definitely have to mow the yard.

It was official.  We are back home.

It was a 372 miles round trip.  Prophetstown State Park was a very nice park.  We enjoyed the time there but both Hunter and Carol like Turkey Run State Park better.  Despite the rain, heat and humidity, we had a good time.  We are home for three weeks before we head out again for Colorado  for a week.  John and Family will be moving to Florida so this will be the last time we go to Colorado to see them. 

Water (Rainy) Day

It rained most of the night and continued until 1:00 p.m.  The continuous rain called for a change of plans.  We were going to spend the day at Fair Oaks Dairy Farm but decided we needed to do something inside.    So, we did something we have never done before.  We went to the movies.  First, we went to the Tippecanoe Battlefield Museum.  They had old guns and artifacts that the boys enjoyed seeing.  There was also a short interpretation of the battle between the Army and the Indians.  It was a good way to understand the battle that took place on this land 211 years ago.   Then we went into Lafayette to see the movie Incredibles 2.   While we were at the movies, it finally stopped raining. The traffic on I-65 north was bumper to bumper and all lanes were creeping.

This picture doesn't do justice for the way the lanes of traffic looked.

 This is the speed we traveled as we moved north on I-65. 

First campfire of the trip.  It has been too wet and humid to have a fire but the weather finally broke today after the rains came through.  The high was only 70 with a cool wind blowing.  We finally were able to turn off the air conditioner and open windows in the motorhome.  I think we may need a light blanket tonight.  Yeah!   Today, I reminded the boys how things have changed.  They should consider themselves lucky that we went to a movie to avoid the rain.  When their mom and Uncle John were little and camping with us, we didn't go to movies.  I told them about one trip in particular when we were at Acadia National Park in Maine it rained all day and most of the night.  We did some sightseeing but spend most of the afternoon and night in our small tent on air mattresses.  We played Uno.  There was  no cozy motorhome in which to stay dry and I-Pads and computers with which to occupy themselves.  It was just mom, dad, air mattress beds and a deck of Uno cards.  Amazingly, we all survived and for the most part had a good time.  Ah, the good old days!

Tomorrow we head back to Decatur.  I think we are going back another route to avoid all the road construction.  

 

Water Day

This morning the kids slept in again.  Carol and I were up and took Sandy for a walk before the boys even thought about getting up.  The day was overcast but still very humid.  We went to the water park at 11:00 a.m. when it opened.  It was a good day to go to the water park because most people stayed home because of the overcast day.  Hunter was able to ride the two water slides endlessly.  He even convinced me to ride too.  I refused to ride the body slide but I did go on the tube slide several  times.  After an hour, Keegan was cold so papaw took him back to the camper and Hunter and I stayed for another two hours.  He took the water slides most of that two hours.  I did the tube slide and lazy river and rested.  It was really a lot of fun and I know that Hunter had a blast. 

We got back to camp and ate a late lunch before heading out again.  We decided we were too tired to walk the 2.8 mile to the site of the Indian village so we went to the site of the battle between Tecumsah and his Indian warriors and William Henry Harrison and 1200 soldiers.  The battle lasted two hours with the American soldiers winning.    This battle basically broke the back of the Indian resistance to the westward expansion the white migration.  The war between the Indians and Americans in the lands east of the Mississippi was over and the Indians had lost.  Not too many years later, the Pottawatomie tribe was forced to relocate to Kansas and were marched from Indiana to Kansas passing through Monticello, Decatur,  and Springfield.

The site of the battle was near the Tippecanoe River.  When William Henry Harrison was running for president his slogan was "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" which was a reference to the battle in which he led the American Army.

These three are always willing to pose for a picture.

The monument erected on the battlefield is a memorial to those who fought and were killed here.  It was too tall for me to get it all but you can see William Henry Harrison.  There was also a museum but unfortunately, it was closed on Wednesdays.  If we have time, we may stop by tomorrow.

After we left the battlefield memorial, we went back to the park another way.  That road led to a one-lane bridge across the Wabash River. 

After we returned to camp, we stayed in the park and rested.  The boys and I went to the playground for a while.  Even though the temperature isn't as high as it has been the last few days, the humidity is high so it didn't take too much effort to make yourself sticky and exhausted.  The good thing was that we didn't have any rain.  I hope tomorrow will be a little cooler.  

A Better Day

Everyone was slow to rise.  Carol and I got up at 7 and walked Sandy and sat outside enjoying the quiet and comfortable temps before the heat and humidity settled in.  At 8:30 we got the boys up, ate breakfast and went to the visitor's center and a 1920's farm here in the park.  At this point it was another hot and humid day.   I am thankful that, unlike Turkey Run, there is internet but I am still having trouble downloading pictures.    I have been working at getting them in order but have given up.  After we went to the farm, we went back to camp for lunch and to change into swim suits for the water park.  The park is small but the boys enjoyed it.  There are two water slides.  I went down both one time.  Carol went down the slide that used tubes twice.  There was a lazy river that all of us enjoyed.  Keegan spent most of his time in the smaller pool for smaller kids with a slide and a large bucket that dumped water out sporadically.   Surprisingly he enjoyed that.  Keegan even rode a double tube with Hunter on the lazy river.  After we had been there an hour or so, everyone had to get out of the pool area because a storm was coming in.  We came back to camp to wait out the storm but decided to not return.  I think this storm will cool off things.  We are hoping the rest of the week will be less humid.  We plan to return to the water park one more day.                 

After breakfast, Keegan and I walked to the playground.  It is very nice with lots of different places to climb and use up pent-up energy.

Parts of the part were originally a Christmas tree farm.   These spruce trees were part of the farm.

Keegan had fun climbing on several of the sections of the playground.

?When we got back to camp, Keegan's hair was soaking wet from the humidity so Papaw combed it.  Doesn't he look stylish?

The entrance to the park crosses under a highway using this rock/stone bridge.

Three hot guys trying to cool off on the porch of the farm house.  The house was ordered from the Sears, Roebuck Catalog.  

The park is the site of an Indiana village in the early 1800's called Prophetstown.   Several Indian tribes in this part of the country formed an alliance to try to protect their land from the white settlers that were taking over the territory.  This monument is called "The Circle of Stones."  Each stone has the name of an Indian tribe that was a part of the alliance.  There are 14 stones.  In 1811, William Henry Harrison (a future president) and his soldiers defeated the Indians and burned down their village.  The Indians no longer were a threat to the new settlements of whites.

The wild flowers were pretty.

The kids got to throw hamburger buns to the pigs.

If It Could Happen, It Did Happen!

This has been quite a day!  It started off very innocently.  Never did we suspect what trouble/mishaps this day held for us.  The first sign of trouble was when Carol was trying to test the air pressure in the motorhome tires.  The tire gauge picked this very day to stop working.  So at 7:30 we headed for Farm and Fleet for a new tire gauge.  I continued to pack miscellaneous items and get the boys up to be ready to leave at our planned 10:00 a.m.  That didn't happen!  Instead as were loading the car, the bolt on one of the ratchets decided to refuge to tighten.  Another trip to Farm and Fleet for a bolt  It was nearly 10:00 by now.  Add to these problems, the weather forecast for the day was hot and humid and we were feeling it. Anyway, we finally left our driveway at noon.  We had reservations so we knew the late start would be okay. 

We avoided Interstate 74 because of road construction.  Instead we took US 36 across to Indiana and then got back on the interstate.  I had figured the trip would take 3 hours and it took four hours instead.  Finally there by five their time, we pulled into Site 110.  It is very nice.   This part of the campground was an old tree farm and the sites are very shaded, flat, and spacious.  All the troubles of the morning had been forgotten.   When we hooked up to water (site is full hookup), we forgot that when it was winterized, all  the water valves were opened and when the water was turned on, it came pouring out of every open valve.  Yikes!  After getting valves closed and water wiped up, we were again very hot and tired.  We decided to go back into Lafayette for supper.  Oh, yes, I forgot one more thing.  We forgot to pack any shoes for Carol except for the Crocs he was wearing.  So into Lafayette for supper and a visit to Walmart for a pair of cheap shoes.   $20 later and different shoes on his feet we looked for someplace to eat.   Another problem arose and it was with Keegan.

Keegan suffers terribly with canker sores and today his mouth was so painful that he hadn't eaten all day and though hungry couldn't eat anything but something soft.  We looked for a Steak and Shake so he could have a milkshake.  The road to the first one we googled was on the other side of road construction so we couldn't reach it.  We finally found another one and it was a dilly.  We didn't know the problems that this particular place had been having until we sat down.  There was only one waitress and she told us that she had been on duty since 5 a.m. and that yesterday, the rest of the waitstaff had either been fired or quit.  It was a mess.  We were hungry (it was 8:00 by then) and Keegan needed food so we ordered and waited.  Actually the food came rather quickly but no milkshakes.  We all ate while Keegan sat very patiently and quietly waiting for his milkshake.  It never came, so we got up to pay.  After a long wait for the cashier, we paid and when we were getting ready to leave, the milkshakes arrived.  Keegan finally got his milkshake

Site #110.

.  He felt much better.  In fact, after showers we all felt much better.  Hopefully, this day of troubles/mishaps is now behind us.  We have big plans for the next three days.  The weather is supposed to cool down some.  This park has a waterpark so even if it is hot, we won't mind.  Ending with a couple of pictures. 

A serene sunset to calm the troubles of the day.