June 24-28 Rochester, IL

Next we drove to the Springfield KOA in Rochester IL.

Our first trip into town was to visit Oak Ridge Cemetery where Lincoln is buried. We saw the tomb but also viewed Spanish American and Civil War graves and some impressive war monuments.

Me in front of Lincoln's tomb

Ray near graves from the Spanish American War

The Korean War Memorial.  Double click on picture to read about Chosin.

On our second trip into town we toured the Lincoln Museum. It was very well done.

This is a recreation of Lincoln lying in state.

That night, the sky rained buckets. Not only was our campsite flooded, but so was the road into Springfield.

We took a detour and saw flooded fields and goats on a trailer. (Was it too soggy underfoot for them?)

That wasn’t the only wildlife we saw during our stay. We spied a hawk in an abandoned parking lot (30 ft from our car) and a frog in my folding chair.

We deposited the frog on the grass before we sat out with cocktails.

In our final foray into town we visited the Illinois State Museum—very entertaining, especially the tornado exhibit.

June 20-24 Indianapolis IN

Our next stop was Lake Haven Retreat in Indianapolis.

Despite being in the city it boasted its own little pond complete with Canada Geese.

We spent most of our time shopping in the city (including the purchase of a new laptop), but we did manage one excursion—to the Indianapolis Speedway where we toured the Hall of Fame Museum and drove around the track in a van.



June 16-20 Delaware OH

We drove 240 miles to Cross Creek Camping Resort in Delaware OH.

When the weather cooperated we spent time at nearby Alum Creek State Park, watching the boats launch.

We made several excursions, one to the Olentagy Indian Caverns

And another to the Ohio Historical Center.

In addition to the normal exhibits of fossils seen above, they had a special exhibit of items not normally seen. There were 5 items in all: a Ku Klux Klan outfit, a crib used to confine the mentally ill, an electric chair, a condom and a metal mitt to prevent thumb sucking. Each had its own room. It was very different.

June 13-16 Bruceton Mills WV

We are at long last returning to the blog.

The month of May and half of June were spent at home in Virginia with Holly & Brian and visiting relatives (including Tony & Lois) in Massachusetts.

We are now once again on the road. Our first stop was Chestnut Ridge Park and Campground in Bruceton Mills.

While there we took in the view from Coopers Rock,

encountered a deer at close range at the Botanical Gardens,

watched big rigs as they came out of the brake check (before navigating a 8% downhill incline).

and enjoyed drinks at Archie’s Lakehouse.

It was a relaxing way to resume our cross country trek.

April 22-25 Waynesboro, VA

We drove 250 miles to the North 340 Campground in Waynesboro VA.

The first order of business the next day was to get a new safety inspection sticker. While we were at the gas station, we were intrigued with the passengers in a motorcycle sidecar.

On Sunday we went to the races and I snapped this picture of one of the drag races. Note the advertisements in the background.

Back at the campground, Ray met another dog—Diesel. What a sweet boxer mix! He made it easy to stay at the campground and relax.

April 19-22 Statesville, NC

Our next stop was a KOA in Statesville NC that was experiencing an epidemic of carpenter bees.

Our campsite

Just one of the many carpenter bees--you had to watch where you were sitting

Ray was able to take the following picture of a bee wanna be.

It's actually a moth!

We were in the area to visit Ray’s cousin Bob. The first day we went to his home, walked down to the nearby dock and then visited with his neighbor’s dogs.

The dock is in the background

Ray and the neighbor's dog

The next day, after driving through fields of rape flowers (which yield canola oil),

we toured Fort Dobbs, an historic site of the French and Indian War.

Then, back at the trailer, Ray had play time with our neighbor’s dog.

Columbia SC April 16-19

We camped under tall pines at Susquicentennial State Park in Columbia SC.

We pretty much stayed in the park for the entire 3 days, renting a tandem kayak there for $5 an hour (a bargain!).

Before getting out to take the above picture, I was seated where the black bag is.

We wandered around the lake looking for wildlife and found Canada geese, turtles and a green heron.

The remainder of the time we simply relaxed.