The Trip Begins

Up by 4:30 and on the road by 5:30 a.m.  The sunrise was a beautiful start to the day.

Our first stop of the day was Shaddon Cemetery and Iola Cemetery to decorate our parents graves for Memorial Day.

Our niece Anita made this saddle for Carol's parents stone.  It is so pretty.  I did take a picture of my parents stone and flowers but, of course, I couldn't get it downloaded!

We got to Betty and Mark's about 10:00.   Betty had a delicious snack of fresh strawberry pie so we enjoyed a piece before loading up in the car and taking a tour of the Herrin area.  Betty and Mark have lived in Herrin nearly two years and we had not explored the area until now.

We drove to Giant City State Park and took a short trail.  At one point, one wall of the canyon had several carvings.  This one of S.W. Corbit was dated 1840.  That is nearly 200 years ago!

Betty in one of the canyons on the hike.

This is a spot called "balancing rock."  I am glad the rock stayed balanced!

Thankfully, there were a few benches along the trail for us on which to rest.

The town of Marion has several buildings with neat murals painted on them.   Recognize this song?

This was a huge building painted on all four sides honoring all the branches of the military, firefighters, and policemen.

We also drove to the Crab Orchard Lake National Wildlife Refuge.  When Betty and I lived at home with mom and dad, every winter dad would drive us to Crab Orchard to see all the Canadian Geese who would winter here at Crab Orchard Lake.  We drove through several of their campgrounds.  They were very nice and we plan to return here in the fall with the motorhome and camp for a few days.  At that time, Mark and Betty will continue their tour of this area.

After the tour, we went to their home for a delicious supper and more good conversations.  Hap, Elizabeth and all their kids, except Sam, stopped by so we were also able to visit with them.  It was a long day but very enjoyable  We look forward to coming back in September.