Danvers, Illinois

Saturday, October 10, 2015

This morning is turning into a beautiful Fall day, so after our morning walk and breakfast, Yuma and I decided to take the jeep for a ride over to Danvers.

Danvers is about five miles west of our house and has a population of about 1100.  Beautiful horse enjoying the morning.

Still harvesting corn, but the farmers are nearing the end of their season now.

Danvers is a typical small village in central Illinois.  Many of the residents farm part time and work in Bloomington/Normal or Peoria during the week day.

That’s it!  No stoplights, only stop signs.  The village bar is in the nicest building.  There are some nice old homes in the village too. 

Yuma is intently looking out the side window of the jeep as we ride down the road.  We have our pumpkins covering the lights in our driveway.  The first is looking north toward the road and the second is looking down the driveway.

Our fence has been there for many years and is showing it’s age.  We’ve lived here since 1987.  The kids and I put up the fence about 25 years ago.

See you later.

Hiking the Trails

Wednesday, September 30, 2015

As the sun rose this morning, Fergie, Yuma and I took a walk to the swimming lake.  The geese were honking up a storm and taking their morning baths. 

Will be a beautiful day with a high near 70 and breezy.  Dolly and the crew plan to walk trails this morning along the White River.

The trailhead is just west of our camp site, so we are off.  It isn’t long before we are walking along the small White River.

You can see from the white water mark on this oak tree the water can flood this entire area at times.  We follow the river for about four miles as it winds around the reserve.

The trail is beautiful as it follows the river, but soon we reach a large meadow.

We finally end up back at the camp site and it was time for a rest.  We could not believe that Fergie walked the whole time.  Usually, she gets tired and has to be carried, but I think she didn’t want Yuma to think she was a baby.

When we turned off hwy 136 yesterday to our campground, we could see a large church steeple, in the very small town just off the highway in the opposite direction. 

This afternoon, we drove the five miles back to the town of Penfield to see the church.  There are no stores or gas stations in this small farming community, but it did have one beautiful church.  There was very nice log cabin that has been beautifully maintained.

See you later.

Harry L Swartz Campground

Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Dolly and I decided last week we would take the MH out for a few nights.  This would give us a chance to check things out before heading out for a three month  journey.

I had recently read that Chris and Cherie of Technomadia stayed at this campground several weeks ago.  We only live 50 miles away and had never heard of the campground, so we decided to check it out.

Several days ago, I changed the oil in the MH and in the generator, so today, we packed up, and headed out.  First, we stopped to fill the propane tank and then I hooked the jeep to the MH and started southeast. 

Traveled I-74 for about 10 miles towards Champaign, Illinois and then exited on Hwy 136 due east for 40 miles.  The campground is located in the Champaign County Forest Preserve District

There is a lake at the campground and it was full of geese.

The trees are all ready turning and beginning to look like fall.

There are only about three campers in the campground.  Here is a view from our site.

Looks like Yuma and Fergie are ready for bed.  Hope it isn’t too crowded for the four of us.

See you later.

Fall is Close

Saturday, September 19, 2015

As far as the eye can see, there are soybeans.  At the forefront is a corn field with one swath already harvested.  We had rain last night and the clouds are puffy today and there is a brisk, cool north wind.  A common, but beautiful sight in the mid west this this time of year.  Won’t be long before the land is baron, waiting for the winter winds and snow.

Yuma and Fergie are slowly beginning to tolerate each other.  Yuma is okay with Fergie, but Fergie still wishes Yuma was someplace else.  Yuma is very possessive of me and does not like me holding Fergie.  To keep peace in the house, Fergie sits with Dolly and Yuma with me.

 

 

There have been a number of events over the past month.  I have passed my 70th birthday and my youngest son, Jim has just turned 40.  Dolly and I celebrated our 49th anniversary too.

Fall flowers and football.  Our grandson, Nick is playing on the junior varsity.  He is number 26 on the near left.  Can’t believe, he and Lane are 9th grade high school freshmen now.

Our grand daughter, Erin (second from the left) is a cheerleader for the 5th grade school football team.

 

 

 

Lane, is in a band and we went to several of his gigs over the summer.  He is the one in the center with an electric guitar.  Had to play over the arrival of an Amtrak train right behind them.

We had a nest of four rabbits right outside our window and Yuma could hardly stand watching them hop around eating the grass right in front of him.

It has been a pleasant and quiet summer for us.  We plan to drive over to Indianapolis for Steve’s marathon next month.  He has run in all eight they have had there.

If all goes well for the next three months, Dolly and I plan to head for the south west once more.

See you later.

Rte. 66 Road Trip to Atlanta, IL

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Old Rte. 66 passes through Normal and Bloomington on its way to California.  So, this morning, Yuma and I decided to follow it south about 30 miles to Atlanta, Illinois.

After leaving Bloomington, it follows the I-55 interstate and passes through the villages of Shirley, Funks Grove and Mclean before reaching the town of Atlanta.

 

 

The road is well maintained and used extensively by those living in this area.

I took a short trip across the bridge into Shirley and stopped at Sam’s Auto Body shop.  I met Sam many year’s ago and knew he had a shop there.  With a population of under 400 and only about four buildings in the whole area, it wasn’t hard to find.  Had a nice visit and was on my way.

During my short drive from Shirley to Funks Grove, two police cars passed me.  When I arrived to the accident, it was on a road just off Rte. 66 leading into Funks Grove.  It was crowded with ambulances and and a fire truck.  There was a farm implement half way across the road and to the right of the road on the railroad tracks was a large track laying machine.

No idea what happened and did not want to bother anyone, so I just kept going.

Yuma spotted this old fire truck in a farmers front yard.

Atlanta is not very big.  Population 1692 in 2010 census.  Has a beautiful octagon shaped city library and museum.  There is a beautiful tower clock next to it.

They have a Paul Bunyon giant holding a hotdog.  Don’t see those often.

See you later.