The Final Day

We got up this morning and began packing up before breakfast with John and family at McDonalds in Lawrenceville.  Back at camp we finished the final pack-up, hook-up and clean-out before heading for Decatur.  We got back about 2:00 and decided to unpack before taking Hunter home.  He was anxious to see mom, dad, and Keegan and we reunited them about 5:30.

It was a fun week.  The weather was perfect considering it was the last week of July.  We enjoyed the time with Hunter.  It was wonderful having so much time with John, Linda, Katie, and Aidan.  Add camping in God's beautiful world and it made for a wonderful time.  I am posting a couple of picture just so they are a part of the journal.

Hunter travels so well...just have a DVD player and a Shawn the Sheep video

                                     

Aidan, Katie and Hunter check out a canon at the George Rogers Clark National Monument.

Hunter would make his ancestors proud with the way he loves to chop wood.

To Moonshine and Back

We woke up to a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies.  It was a great day to go to Moonshine and back.  Moonshine is a little country store famous for its hamburgers.  The store/restaurant(???) is way, way off the beaten track and serves sandwiches from six in the morning until 12:30 pm when they shut off the grill.  We crested a hill from a tree-lined country road to find 15-20 cars and motorcycles already in the parking lot/field.  You go inside the store to place the order and when it is ready, the food is eaten at picnic tables outside.  This place has been written about in several magazines and it is close to Flat Rock so we wanted to see what the fuss was about.  The food was very good but expensive but it was worth the drive to experience it.

Aidan - Hunter - Katie

The famous "Moonburger".

Eating our lunch in the "dining room" of Moonshine.

Afterr lunch Carol, Hunter, and I drove to Lincoln Trail State Park to check out the campground.  It is more nicely maintained but the sites aren't as good...no lakeside views.  Someday, we may come back to camp.  Back to camp for the boys to fish, eat supper, and head to VBS.  This will be our last night. We want to have a fire after we get home so this may be a late night.

This road leads to Moonshine

Gone Fishin'

We woke up to mist but no heavy rain.  Hunter and Carol were finally able to go fishing.  No one was fishing off the dock near our site so that's where they went.  Hunter caught a crappie, I got a picture of "the big catch" and the fish was released back into the water.  Hunter was so proud because papaw didn't catch one.

After fishing we drove to Flat Rock to spend time with John, Linda, Katie, and Aidan.  The plan had been to play outside with water toys but it was rainy and not a nice day to be outside so the kids had fun playing inside.  After lunch and some more visiting, we headed back to camp.  Once there, I walked Sandy and the guys went fishing again.  This time they didn't catch anything to release.  After the rainy last few hours, it is very humid so we turned on the air conditioner for the first time.  It will help us sleep tonight.  We have had good camping weather for the last week of July.  It is almost time to go to VBS so I'll close with a picture of the fisherman and his "big catch".

History Lessons

We met John and Linda at Lawrenceville and then followed them to Vincennes and the  George Rogers Clark National Monument.  In 1779 this part of the country was under British control.  Clark, with a small army of 200 defeated the British at a British garrison called Fort Sackville.  Because of this victory, the British gave up their claim to the territory east of the Mississippi River.  This battle helped win the American Revolutionary War and made possible the westward expansion of the United States.

 Hunter enjoying the military museum.

After we toured the grounds and saw the exhibits, we ate lunch at an Amish buffet.  The food was very good.  Carol, Hunter and I then went to a military museum.  It was very nice and I know that Hunter liked it.  We didn't get to look at the exhibits outside because it began to rain and has continued to now (3:00).  We are inside the camper watching a DVD and relaxing until time for VBS.  We probably won't get a chance for a fire tonight.  Hopefully, it will not be raining tomorrow.   I'm posting pictures from the day.

A memorial built on the grounds of Fort Sackville in honor of George Rogers Clark.

John, Linda, Aidan and Katie

Hunter and grandpa on the steps of the memorial.

A beautiful family

John, Linda, Katie, and Aidan

Abraham Lincoln Memorial bridge which crosses the Wabash River between Indiana and Illinois

Monday, Monday

After we got home from VBS, we lit a fire, made s'mores, and told ghost stories and other camping stories.  It was a beautiful evening to be outside.  Hunter wrapped up in a blanket.    We woke up to another great day to be camping.    We went into Lawrenceville for breakfast at McDonalds and then some shopping at Walmart.  After we got back to camp, Hunter and Carol went fishing.  Nothing was biting.  John, Linda and the kids came out to eat lunch with us.  We had a wiener roast with more s'mores.  Hunter showed John and the kids his trail that he discovered that leads from the site to the lake.  It was good to have this time with them.

We went to VBS.  Our preschool class had nine three, four and five year olds.  As I have heard others say...getting this age child to walk in a line is like "herding cats."   We got back to camp around nine o'clock.  While the guys took a shower, Sandy and I enjoyed the night symphony of insects.  The bull frogs added their bass "belly deep" to the chorus.  It was a very relaxing way to end the day.

One of us got to take a nice nap after lunch
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First Missionary Baptist Church, Flat Rock, Illinois

Red Hills State Park, Illinois

We are on a mini vacation this week at Red Hills.  Our main purpose for being here is to help John and Linda in VBS at their church in Flat Rock; but, the secondary reason is to get in some camping.  We have camped at this park two other times and are in site #86.  It is a semi-private spot under the tall trees with a view of the fishing lake.  It looks like the lakeside loop will be full of older couples with the same idea as us.

We packed up leisurely and left at 8:30, arriving at 11:30.  We are set up very nicely.  John, Linda, and the kids got here for a short visit.  Hunter and I will go to VBS tonight and Carol and Sandy will stay at the parsonage.  That will be the plan for every evening.  We hope to do things during the daytime.   The weather is perfect today.  High for today will be 75.  We have had some hot and humid temperatures the last few weeks so this week will be a nice respite.

The little white spot in the center of the windshield is Sandy.  Once it became evident that we would be going somewhere, Sandy wanted in the truck just to make sure she wasn't left behind.  The truck hadn't even left the garage!

This is site 86 at the park.

Wrap Up

Jessie:  Lives with Bill and Ericka

Niki:  lives with Don and Peggy

Sandy: Lives with us.

I wanted to write a final blog and get boring but necessary figures on the record.  We drove  2289 miles.  We averaged 8.7 MPG with the average cost per gallon of $3.60.  The average cost per gallon for the fall trip was $3.84 so I guess we should be happy that we paid less.

Not only did we camp with some great people, but we camped with some great dogs as the pictures show.  Unfortunately the dogs didn't get along as well as the humans did.  Someone said that the fact that the dogs are all females explains it.  Each dog felt the need to protect their territory.  I did run into a dog in the campground that wasn't territorial.  His name was Augie and he was a Rhodesian Ridgeback.  He was huge, calm, very laid back and basically ignored Sandy when she tried to put him in his place.  His owner said that despite his size, he was just a big baby.

This was a great trip.  We enjoyed every minute of it and hope we can go back next year.  There is so much interesting history in the Louisiana area and we barely scratched the surface this trip.   The temperatures aren't as warm as Southern Texas but it is a whole lot warmer than Central Illinois.  I will end this entry with a final sunset picture.