Yreka, CA

We are now one day away from Travis AFB  and where we hope to catch a flight to Hawaii in a day or two.  We hope the pending government shutdown doesn't affect that.

                             Pat sets up the Apples to Apples game while Allyson makes art objects of wax                                                from mini Edam cheeses which Grannie Annie brought along. 

 

Much of our weekend was spent playing games (Apples to Apples and Scrabble and telling stories around the table one word at a time or three words at a time) and working on Wynne's lighted doll house which she bought for $20 at a yard sale.  Dave and Pat took all the wiring out and rewired the whole thing.  It's two stories with a large deck attached to the second level.  It has a lighted fireplace, light over the kitchen, and two lights in the living room area on the first floor and a light in the bedroom area on the second floor and a light on the deck upstairs.    Wynne specializes in using play therapy in her counseling business, so children use the doll houses (this is her third, but the only one which is lighted) to relate issues which are troubling them.  

It was a wild weekend in Astoria, meteorologically with record rainfall and winds between 35-80 mph; yes, that's in the Level One Hurricane range.  Astoria had 5 inches of rain in two days, over half of the September normal rainfall and a record.  Many were very concerned this very early rainy event portends a long wet winter.  Usually these rains don't come until late October.  

Back at our camp, the wind was so strong it pushed the camper stabilizers off their blocks and torqued the front driver's side one so much it was difficult to crank into place.  The wind also knocked the tongue of the hitch off its foot.  We were able to leave this morning during a lull in rain, but the wind was still blowing fiercely.  We had rain until we finally got to Medford, OR (over 250 miles) where the sun came out.  We were almost afraid to say anything about sunshine for fear it would go away!!  We drove I 5 all the way down from Portland to Yreka, CA often climbing then descending.  We peaked at 4200 feet at a pass on the CA-OR border.  As we descended into Yreka, snow-covered Mt Shasta was off to the East.  

The next blog will hopefully be from Hawaii!

Astoria-Day 1

We arrived at Camp Rilea about 1 PM yesterday, after driving along the Columbia River most of the way.  Ann tried to read to avoid looking to  her right towards the River, but even that didn't work well.  She was very relieved when we turned away from the Columbia near Portland.  There were some magnificent views of snow-capped Mt Hood, elevation >11,000 feet, along the way.

Last evening we went to dinner to celebrate Ann's birthday at the upscale Bridgewater Bistro, complete with Ann's favorite dessert, blueberry cobbler.  It's wonderful to be here!!

Our beautiful oldest granddaughters, Jessica and Allyson, sitting on their Daddy's 2008 Ford F150

This morning we delivered the maple dining room set, the major reason for taking this trip at this time of the year.  We had to deliver it in the Astoria sunshine---rainy, windy Northwest style.  Yesterday, when we'd arrived at Camp Rilea, we had put the awning out on Jay, our travel trailer, to let it dry out from rains along the way.  Wellllllll, this morning we took it down before leaving Camp because the wind was threatening to tear it down--also in the rain!

Our truck's bed minus the furniture--sooo much room now!

Grandma Click's maple set looks beautiful in Wynne and Pat's home.

Our daughter, Wynne,  is a MSW who specializes in counseling with children primarily. She has her own business here in Astoria called Kaleidoscope Counseling Services.  She recently found a large doll house with electrical wiring which she wants to use in her office.  Her husband, Pat, is very skilled in many crafts including wiring and refinishing things.  After the doll house was unpacked, they discovered the electricity didn't work; so Pat is rewiring the house.  That will be a combined project for he and David this weekend.  Wynne is "chomping at the bit" for her "contractor" to get done with it so she can take it into the office. 

We intend to leave on Monday for Fairfield, CA and Travis Air Force Base, overnighting in Yreka, CA.  Then on Tuesday we will put the travel trailer into temporary storage at a place just outside the Travis AFB gate.  We had hoped to leave it at the Travis FAMCAMP, but they don't permit it to be unattended for more than two days.  So, because the trailer will not have power while we are in Hawaii, the refrigerator and freezer must be empty.  We are almost to the empty state now with just enough for breakfasts through the weekend and on Tuesday before leaving Yreka.  Ann is pretty smug about her careful planning to achieve an empty refrig without having to throw food away.  

Rufus, OR

We crossed into Oregon today traveling I 84.  We climbed  through passes, the highest at 4200 feet and descended into the valleys, looking very much like Idaho and Utah.  Eastern Oregon is hilly, brown and grassy, albeit brown grass.    There are sharp curves about which Gypsy warned us as well as Oregon road signs advising slowing from 65 mph to 50-55 mph.  We could look out across wide expanses of countryside, seeing the roads ahead.  Again there was a lot of bridge construction, but none that slowed us very much.  

We stopped at a Rest Stop in the Umatilla Indian Reservation on I 84 for lunch.  There's not much left in the refrig or freezer which must be empty in a few days.  You'll hear about why later!

After going  down a 6% grade over 6 miles to come down toward the Columbia River, we saw huge wind turbine farms along the ridges on both the Oregon and Washington side of the River.  

And again there was the railroad traveling with the river and interstate.  Ann was on the river side of westbound I 84 as David drove, and again, she leaned to the middle.  The interstate hugs the banks above the Columbia. 

We arrived at the Rufus RV Camp at 3 PM.  It nestles below a large field of turbines as you can see in the photo.  

Tomorrow we drive to Camp Rilea, an Oregon National Guard  Post with a campground, just outside Astoria where our daughter and her family live.  Our blogs may be less frequent over the next several days as we enjoy family time before heading to Travis AFB, in Fairfield, CA for hopefully a military hop to Hawaii.  Should the politicians shut down the government on Oct 1, there will be fewer flights available and limited spaces available for retirees.

Boise-Day II

One of the advantages of spending a second day at a site without a set agenda for the second day is sleeping in.  Today we slept in until 6:30!! Now you may not think that is late, but when you have been getting up at 5:15 to 5:30, that is a luxury.  Another advantage is having something special for breakfast. Today it was Eggs Benedict!

We had showers in some of the best restroom facilities we've ever used.  While this campground is packed very tightly with both year-round huge RVs as well as over-nighters, it does have some other good amenities.

After lunch of tomato soup and toasted cheese and ham sandwiches (comfort food), we drove in the rain to the World Center for Birds of Prey.  This Center is operated by the Peregrine Fund, an organization dedicated to the conservation of birds of prey.  They have wonderful displays, some of live raptors (meaning birds with sharp beaks, strong claws and big eyes), and lots of information about falconry, the ancient art of training falcons and other raptors to hunt and return to their masters.  Falconry existed in the early centuries in the Far East.  When the Sheik of the United Arab Emerites visited the center, he remarked about nothing dedicated to the Arabs.  So he donated the money to open a whole wing about falconry in the Arabs countries.  It includes a huge woven tent set up with three life-size Arabs talking over a coffee service and many other typical desert memorabilia.  We saw a live American kestrel show, too.   The kestrel is about ten inches "tall."

The Peregrine Fund came into being when that falcon began being scarce, and claims credit for alerting the world to the dangers of DDT which was hurting raptor reproduction by thinning their eggshells.  One of their concerns today is the decreasing numbers of American Kestrels, as yet unexplained.  To learn more, go to www.peregrinefund.org

Later in the afternoon, the rain moved east and temps are already falling.  There is snow predicted in the Sawtooth Mountains above 6,000 feet tonight!  That's only about 50 miles northeast of here.  Too close!

Boise -Day 1

Black magpies abound in Wyoming, Utah and Idaho

We broke camp about 7:30 with Ann behind the wheel, as David was suffering from a Nyquil hangover.  He's been fighting a cold and nasty, persistent cough for several days and didn't get much sleep Saturday night listening to trains passing in the night.  So we purchased some Nyquil for last night and he slept very well, but has the druggy feeling those kinds of syrups give for someone not used to taking them.  We usually share the driving with David starting the day, but Ann ended up driving 2/3 of the 380+ miles of today to Boise, ID. 

Ann drives up I 84 passing by the Great Salt Lake, near Ogden, UT

                                               Trains still carry a lot of goods in the upper-tier Western states, at least the ones we've passed through.  The tracks run along I 80 in Wyoming and Utah's I 84.  The interstate passes through wide valleys with red ?sandstone mountains on both sides. As the sun rose above the mountains, the reflections and shadows were very reminiscent of Lesotho for us.  We saw a train in the distance which had four locomotives, one facing forward and the three behind it traveling in reverse pulling a very long train of cars carrying double-decker containers and many carrying coal.  (Sorry if our terminology is incorrect, but we are not railroaders and don't speak "railroad-ese".)  Speaking of carrying a lot of goods, trucks are triple affairs in Utah and Idaho, a truck towing three trailers.  The wide-open roadways in Utah have 80 mph speed limits on them, but we didn't observe trucks going that speed.  Thankfully, most of today was without much of a wind, too.  Idaho slowed the limit down to 75 mph and limited semis to 65.

Beware!!!

 Our campground for tonight and tomorrow is right beside the Boise Airport.  We chose it to be closer to the route to the Idaho Bird Conservatory's site.  After having dinner out, we stopped for groceries and then drove to where the directions lead us above the dam on the Boise River.  Ann already didn't like this drive because it skimmed steep dropoffs.  (She's acrophobic!) Then we found the dirt, bumpy, hillside-hugging (without guardrails) road to climb for six miles to the trees where owl banding was occurring.  We got to about three miles up in thirty minutes and decided the better part of valor is the wisdom to know when to stop.  We'd met a vehicle coming down and miraculously it was at a spot where there was room for two vehicles to pass.  (One of us has a very good guardian angel!!)  The major reason for this trip to Astoria, Oregon is to carry Mom Click's maple dining room set to our daughter and we have it packed in the bed and back seat of the truck. We could hear thunking as we drove over especially bad ruts.  So back to camp we went (slowly down the mountain road!) and we will have to just dream about the owls. 

We mentioned dinner out.  That was only our second meal out since leaving Knoxville on the 16th. Ann plans and prepares the meals ahead which enables us to maintain a low fat/low sugar diet.  David says it saves a lot on the cost of trips like this because we eat what we'd have eaten at home.

Tomorrow we'll have a day of relaxation.  It's supposed to rain throughout the area.  Hopefully it will help David to recover more from his cold, too.  

All the way across Wyoming

Before talking about today, we want to go back to Kirwin and talk about their siren.  After settling in on Friday, we were surprised by the loud blowing of a siren at 7 PM. We figured it was likely a test of their tornado warning siren as this is tornado alley.  So the next morning, we were trying to be very quiet as we were breaking camp before 7 AM.  There was another RV next to us.  All of a sudden at 7AM, the siren blew again--so much for quiet!

Today was travel across Wyoming on I80 from Cheyenne at exit 359 to Evanston at exit 6.  We had forgotten from our trip through this area in 2008 how hilly and windy it is.  Gypsy warned us of strong lateral winds as did roadside signs.  They use something called variable speed postings which we surmised was in response to wind velocity as well as precipitation.  Posted speed most of the time is 75 mph.  David got the brunt of difficult driving as we climbed from Cheyenne's 6060 ft to >8000 ft near Laramie and remained above 6000 ft for the whole trip.  Couple climbing, with wind, and again truckers who go the speed limit and you get very tired.  Then just before planned rest stops we get a "closed" sign.  Wyoming compensates for having few full rest stops by providing pull outs without any relief facilities where truckers and RVers may stop.

Atop several high ridges are massive wind turbine farms.  We mused about how much energy these turbines are generating.  Also atop many of these ridges are staggered snow fences along the south side of the road.  We crossed the Continental Divide several times, too.  Interestingly after the Divide the prevailing winds must be from the north because the snow fences were on the north side of the road.  (We are not sure if that's a non sequitur!!)

As we passed the town of Sinclair, there was a very large refinery.  The sign along the road stated it is the most modern refinery of the West, whatever that means.  

When we left Cheyenne this morning it was 54 degrees.  Here in Evanston it was 57 when we arrived.  The forecast says 37!!!! tonight.  Gonna keep the heat on that's for sure!

This cottontail rabbit kept us company at the Warren FAMCAMP.  We think he's a guard rabbit.

 

     

Pronghorn deer roam freely on Warren AFB, but there are many fewer than during our visit in 2008.

Hundreds of wind turbines were busily spinning along the I 80 corridor.

Sinclair Petroleum Refinery--"most modern in the West"

We crossed the Continental Divide several times.

We don't know what these blooming bushes are, but they create a beautiful roadside shrub.

 

F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyene, WY

This is Dave writing this evening, as the topic is military.

We are camping tonight in the Family Campground (FamCamp) at Warren AFB in Cheyene, WY.  The buildings on this base are from the frontier cavalry days, very reminiscent of Forts Leavenworth and Riley in Kansas and other former cavalry posts in the western US.  They've been upgraded and airconditioned, of course, but from the outside they appear as they did almost 200 years ago.  What's housed here today, though, has nothing to do with the frontier or the cavalry.

The 20th US Air Force is based here along with one of its Minuteman Missile Wings.  The United States today still maintains a nuclear triad on alert ready to respond nuclearly to an attack on the US or its allies.  One arm of that triad is the nuclear missile subs of the Navy.  The other two arms of the triad are in the US Strategic Command headquartered at Offut, AFB, Omaha, Nebraska.  One of the Air Force arms are the B1 and B52 bomber and their supporting tanker aircraft.  The second arm is the 20th Air Force here at Warren.  Its Minuteman Missile wings are underground in Wyoming, North Dakota, Montana and elsewhere, and I believe they also have a mobile capability to move and fire their missiles from other than fixed locations.  Its other Missile Wings are headquartered at Minot AFB, North Dakota, and Malstrom AFB, Montana.

A local newspaper article at Warren states that the 20th Air Force is DOD's "only immediate response nuclear alert force."  Thus, these USAF personnel are the ONLY fingers on the nuclear trigger should our president need to command a nuclear retaliation.  Apparently the Navy and the bomber crews are not on standby alert, although I question whether that is true.

So sleep securely tonight; the missile crews of the USAF 20th Air Force are awake and alert.

Good night,

Dave

 

Kirwin to Cheyenne

It was a cool crisp Fall-like night last night.  Ann turned on her side of the electric blanket about 3 AM!!!  There was another huge harvest moon and a spectacular sunrise over the punkin' patch across the street from our campground  The pumpkins are a bit difficult to see in the photo.  We were on our way to Cheyenne, WY about 7:30 and arrived at FE Warren AFB about 2:30, but we gained another hour, crossing into Mountain Time. 

Along the way we observed the flooding of the North and South Platte Rivers from the torrential rains which devastated Colorado.  There were farm buildings still partially inundated as we passed by on I80.  One farmhouse was totally surrounded by water which looked like it had receded quite a bit already.  Fortunately, I80 is elevated a few feet above the surrounding terrain and not threatened by the water.

Nebraska is hilly with lots of open range where cattle and occasionally horses graze.  We saw one huge feed lot which must have had well over 1000 cattle.  The methane smell lingered for several miles from all the manure. 

Kansas is called the Sunflower State as much commercial sunflower oil is produced there.  We never saw any sunflowers in Kansas though,  but we did see a large sunflower field in Nebraska.

Our bodies still haven't adjusted to the hours we are gaining and we usually are sound asleep by 9 PM. 

Tomorrow we will cross most of Wyoming.

Sunrise over the punkin' patch in Kirwin, KS

Flooded building on North Platte River near Cozad, NE

Flooded building near Paxton, NE

Very ripe sunflowers in Nebraska

Kirwin, KS

Today, for the first time in our RV camping experience, we broke camp in the moonlight.  It doesn't get fully light until near 7:30 and we were on the road then.  We wanted to get to Kirwin by mid-morning to have a full afternoon of birding at the Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge.  We had nice straight roads without wind!!!! Delightful driving.  In Kansas the north/south roads are avenues and east/west roads are streets/roads.  Most are in north/south, east/west orientation.  As we drove to Kirwin, population 171 in 2010 census, we began to see more hills and "mountainous" terrain typical of eastern Colorado and Wyoming.  

The campground we finally found after calling the manager is what we would call "primitive" in that it's an open field, but there are four sets of full hook-ups (sewer, water, electric) in a grassy area.  There doesn't appear to be any restroom facility which is no problem for us with a toilet and full-sized shower in Jay, our travel trailer. There's a connection for an antenna but we haven't bothered with TV thus far on our trip.  Per instructions of the manager, we put our $15 fee in a mailbox on the end of one of the hookup sites!  Crime doesn't appear to be a major issue in Kirwin, KS.  

We got to Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge about 10:45 and birded for a while until we stopped along the reservoir for a picnic lunch.  The ranger told us the water level is so low that they will institute an early closure for boating and fishing on the reservoir.  This area of Kansas has definitely not recovered from the severe drought of the past several years and the refuge water is also used for irrigation.  The birding was not very good, either.  We are early for the most intense migration, but the low water levels are hampering even the early migrators.  We did have a great find in the afternoon, however.  We saw a bird swoop across and it looked initially like a raptor (hawk), but then it lit and it had ears!!  It was a great horned owl which we'd disturbed from its tree perch.  Ann got a photo, blurry, of it through the spotting scope!

As we returned to camp, David was fascinated by a farmer moving large round straw bales, four at a time to a roadside station.  He thinks the farmer is getting ready for winter.  Ann, who grew up on a farm in Wisconsin, couldn't tell him much about the process because such large bales were not made when she was growing up.  She remembers rectangular bales of hay bound with twine, which she handled using hooks, slinging them off the baler onto the stack of the wagon behind the baler.  Sometimes those bales weighed 75 pounds!  (Dave, although a city boy, slung hay bales at his granddad's farm as a teen, Ann now knows.  When the dust gets down one's T-shirt, it itches like mad!!)

Harvest Moon over Kansas

Campsite at Fort Kirwin Campground.  To the left of our rig is a stone building which  has a date of Jan 1, 1876!!

                       The snow goose is the symbol for the National Wildlife Refuge System.
                        At Kirwin NWR they have the goose supporting their mailbox!

Using the spotting scope at the Reservoir of Kirwin NWR

Great horned owl through the spotting scope

 A classic small town photo.  Most of the streets in Kirwin are not paved.  Wonder how long this building has been leaning!

                                 In the town of Phillipsburg is a cobble stone street in which
                                 parking spots are in the middle of the street, too.

                                                  Dusty job placing straw bales all in a row!

Quivera National Wildlife Refuge

More birding today, this time at Quivera National Wildlife Refuge.  Like Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands, which we visited yesterday, QNWR is one of the top 500 birding spots in the world.  You wouldn't ordinarily think of Kansas as having wetlands, but in reality this area was once an ocean.  While Cheyenne Bottoms is a freshwater wetland, QNWR is a saltwater wetland.  We wondered how you could have a saline wetland so far from the ocean, but saw an explanation which we hope the photo will explain.  If not, comment and we'll tell you in another blog!

This was actually the second time we'd been to QNWR.  The first time was on September 18, 1999 when we had a free day in our deputation schedule for the Division of Overseas Ministries.  Kansas was our Global Mission Partner; so, we came to Kansas to talk after completing our first term as missionaries.  There were birders in the Park Place Christian Church in Hutchinson, KS where we'd given a talk.  The birders offered to take us to QNWR.  You wonder how do we know this.  Well, it's because we make a notation in our bird guidebook where and when we see a bird for the first time (a lifer).  There are many notations from that first visit and today we logged another lifer!!!

In our blog yesterday, we listed sights of the countryside.  But we left out one---oil wells.  They dot the fields and waft petroleum smell in the air all over central Kansas.  Today we saw a well and its nearby storage tank painted orange, almost camouflaged by the sorghum field!  We mused if there was a Big Orange (U of TN) fan here, but it's more likely the company which drills uses orange, rather than the black of most of them, just to be distinctive. 

Tomorrow we head for the town of Kirwin, KS where there is yet another of the top 500 birding spots, the Kirwin National Wildlife Refuge.  Quite a distinction for Kansas to have three top birding spots.  

Our original plan from Great Bend had us going to Colorado Springs, CO, and the Air Force Academy Family Camp and then on to Arches National Park in southern Utah.  As Ann looked for construction along the highways we were traveling, she noted that Colorado DOT had posted a "chains required" notice to truckers traveling I70.  So we adjusted and decided to go north on I25 through Denver to Cheyenne Wyoming and pick up I80 west.  Wellllllll-then the floods happened and parts of I25 were washed away. So we have abandoned Colorado entirely for this trip.

Miles and miles of miles and miles

Ann was fixing breakfast of creamed chipped beef on toasted English muffins when the smoke detector started alarming.  There was no smoke; so we determined it was a defective detector--actually part of the original equipment, so it had lived a useful life! Noisy, though. Reminded us of a similar event at our son and daughter-in-laws home over the Labor Day weekend when the detector in our grandson's room malfunctioned. 

Yesterday, it was rain; today it was wind.  We left camp at 8:08 and, after refueling our truck, we hit I70 West which is pretty much a straight shot west.  We encountered 30 mph+ winds out of the south, southeast.  You figure the dynamic and you understand why we switched drives four times in the 200 miles to Great Bend.  Couple the strong cross wind with truckers going 75+ especially downhill, (the posted speed limit is 75 mph) and you get very tired holding the steering wheel.  If you have ever driven a towing vehicle, like our extended cab F-150 pulling a 28-foot travel trailer, and you are passed by a truck, a  bow wave of air pushes you out of your lane; now add a 30+mph cross wind!  We were very relieved to settle into our camp.

We drove along a stretch of I70 which is designated the Native Stone Scenic Byway with lots of rock formations and occasionally a fence of stone.  We also passed Ft Riley where David went for Summer ROTC training and which was his first assignment on active duty in 1960. We also passed our first wind turbine farm on this trip. 

Kansas is rolling prairie--miles and miles of miles and miles.  You see fields of rust-colored sorghum, golden ripening soybeans, lush green alfalfa (hay), dried corn awaiting harvest, brown post-harvest wheat fields and prairie grass with grazing cattle, mostly black Angus.  

This afternoon we drove through Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands after visiting a great educational center about the wetlands and conservation.  We'd seen tents set up in the morning there while driving to our Great Bend campsite.  The ranger told us they'd had 400+ second graders in those tents this morning!!  Outside the Center, the flag was at half staff for the DC murders.  You can see how stiff the wind is from the flag.  The wetlands have been replenished by the bountiful rains this year and birds are just now beginning to come back after several years of drought. 

Tomorrow we will visit Quivera National Wildlife Refuge.  A cool front is predicted with hopefully less wind and temps below the 90's we had today. 

                                      A gorgeous Kansas sunrise over our campsite in Topeka.

"Native Rocks" everywhere

              Ft Riley water tower.  Ft Riley is home to the Big Red One Infantry Division.

Wind turbines outside Ellington, KS

Miles and miles of miles and miles

                                                                      To honor the slain!

Across Missouri and into Kansas

On every RV trip a bit of rain must fall, and today was our day, maybe not the last.  We drove perhaps125 of our 400 plus miles today in the rain.  Fortunately it wasn't a driving (no pun intended), forceful rain, just aggravating.  It didn't really slow us down much, but increased the stress.  After I posted yesterday, we did a walkabout (as the Aussies would say) of our campground and came across the carving you see below.  It has a cow, pig, rooster and duck seen from different angles all around.  Most skillfully carved!

We were on the road at 7:22 AM again today, not really by any intentional effort.  Again there was lots of construction, but nothing which halted our progress, just slowed us down a bit.  We are truly out "west" now as we crossed the Mighty Mississippi in St Louis, getting good glimpses of the St Louis arch, and the Missouri River which Ann was able to photograph.  The last time we came through here in 2008, the Missouri was in flood. 

Our campground tonight is in Topeka and has very level cement pads, but no trees.  There are trees buffering I70 noise on the perimeter, but the campground is really rather sterile.  We put the awning out to dry it out after the rain. We are not even going to unhook, so it will take very little time to get on the road in the AM.  We are heading to Great Bend and some birding tomorrow afternoon and Thursday.  

Knoxville to Whittington, IL

We were on the road at 7:22 AM (EDST) which means it wasn't even 7 AM in Illinois, our destination.  We had angst about construction on I40W at exit 364 where so much back up has occurred this past week.  But Gypsy (our GPS) assured us there was no delay according to her live traffic connection.  This time she was right and we breezed through the one-lane area without delay.  We have encountered a LOT of construction, much of it not identified on DOT websites, which Ann had visited prior to leaving home, or Gypsy's live traffic connection.  Much of the construction is on bridges, trying to improve some of the many, many bridges in the US which are in sore need of repair.  So far no construction has caused us to stop, just slow down.  

We passed through Metropolis, IL where David visited with family members, and arrived at our campground about 2:15, having stopped for lunch at a very nice Flying J in KY.  We like using Pilot/Flying J fuel centers because they cater to big rigs/trucks and are easier to get into and out of.  We also subscribe to Good Sam's fuel card which gives us 4 cents off the posted price of fuel, in states which allow discounting.  We learned on our Wisconsin trip that Wisconsin does not allow discounting at the pump!!

Our campground is in a very nice, wooded, level-gravel site with free-range chickens running around.  I've attached a photo of their coop. My Mom, who loved to raise chickens, would have found this to be a very gemutlich (that's German meaning comfortable, cozy) campground.  They also grow very large squirrels.  The carved eagles, outside the office, are very impressive.  We had time after arrival to visit the Southern Illinois Artisan Center nearby.  I wish I could win the lottery (but then I'd have to buy a ticket, eh!) so I could afford to buy some of their beautiful juried items on display. 

Tomorrow we head to Topeka, KS.