Illinois and Red Bay, October and November

Illinois to Red Bay, October and November

Red Bay, Alabama,                                                                       October and November, 2016

We left Fairview, IL for Red Bay, AL (where we’ll get some motorhome problems fixed) on October 18.  We stopped in Sparta, IL, three days to visit with Jerry’s brother and sister-in-law, Don and Sally Woodall.  Sally certainly had the “eye” for fall colors.  Their home looked so pretty!

They had saved up some projects for us!  We parked the motorhome at the World Shooting and Recreational Complex, about 5 miles from their house.  The Shooting Complex, an Illinois DNR park, had 1000 campsites and 1600 acres in the strip mine spoils, dedicated to hunting, shooting, and boating.  We were there very late in the season and the whole place to ourselves.

We had not explored their corner of southern Illinois, so we went touring.  The little town of Chester, located on the banks of the Mississippi River about 60 miles south of St. Louis, expected the arrival of steam engine #844.  This locomotive was the last steam engine built for the Union Pacific Railroad in 1944.  It pulled many well-known passenger trains, such as the Overland Limited, the Los Angeles Limited, and the Portland Rose.  Since the engine’s retirement as a working locomotive, it has been used as Union Pacific’s ambassador of good will.  Some surprising facts:  the engine and tender weighed 454 tons, were 114 feet long, and carried 6,200 gallons of fuel.  You can see in the photo that I might have been a little too close to the tracks!

We happened to be in Chester on the day that the American Queen, the largest river sternwheeler steamboat ever built arrived.  She had 222 staterooms for a capacity of 436 guests and a crew of 160. She was 418 feet long and 89 feet wide.  Plans for another time???

Chester was an old river town, established in 1829 as the site of a ferry and a mill.  It was known for its production of castor oil for lubrication until the petroleum industry took over.  Chester was also home to the creator of Popeye and the visitor’s center provided me with a perfect photo op!

The visitor’s center gave us a great view of the bridge crossing the Mississippi and a superb place for me to pose in my Cubbies’ shirt.  I practically slept in this shirt during the World Series…and my efforts certainly paid off!

Mary’s River, a small stream just outside of Chester, was an impediment to the plank road as it made its way in to town.  The solution was to build this pretty covered bridge.

Don and Sally decided to travel with us as far as Memphis, Tennessee.  Along the way, we stopped at the New Madrid rest stop where we found a display about the New Madrid earthquake fault.  (I was in Champaign, IL, in 1968, when I first experienced an earthquake, thanks to the New Madrid fault).  The biggest earthquake in modern times occurred as a series in 1811 and 1812 over a period of several days.  This seismic activity changed the local topography, created sand volcanoes (yikes!), and caused the Mississippi River to temporarily flow backward.  It was felt as far away as Boston and New York!

We found the delightful Tom Sawyer Campground in West Memphis and, even though we were parked in their overflow, we thought we had a great spot.  This park was on the Mississippi River flood plain and on the wrong side of the levee.  The last flood’s high water mark was 11 feet above flood…well over the tops of our RVs.  That would be exciting!

We loved Memphis and will return for more exploring.  Originally we thought one of the attractions we wanted to visit was Elvis’ birthplace, but the whole area was so surrounded with touristy hype and expense that we skipped it.  We wandered up and down Beale St., surveyed the touristy trinket shops, and listened to the music that came rolling out of the bars.  It all reminded us of our time on Bourbon St. in New Orleans.

We did go to Beale St for dinner one evening…such sights!  We found yummy dinner at the Blues City Café where we were served seafood gumbo, ribs, and catfish.  Perfect!

Our favorite stop in Memphis, and, yes I hate to admit this, was Bass Pro Shop.  What a place!  The pyramid behind the bridge is the Bass Pro Shop building.  Not only did it have all of the hunting/fishing/sports paraphernalia one could imagine, but also it had a luxury hotel, a beautiful restaurant, a swamp, and huge aquariums.  

The elevator ride to the top took us up 28 stories for a spectacular view of the area.  I don’t think we’d been in anything quite like this before! 

Sunday, October 23, Don and Sally pulled out to head home and we pulled up the jacks to head to Red Bay, AL.  As luck would have it, we pulled in to the Tiffin Service Center right behind the coach who got the last spot in the campground.  That put us in the overflow…very busy place right now!  We learned from Norris (the Tiffin employee who visits the new arrivals to triage the work to be done) that it could be 3 weeks before we got into a repair bay.  Yikes! It was imperative to find stuff to do while we waited for our turn in a service bay!

We discovered that fellow Jell-O Travelers, Larry and Kathy Belikoff are here for repairs on their Allegro Bus as well.  They were parked at the Downtown RV Park, a more comfortable spot for their German shepherd, Dakota.  We had dinner with them lots while we waited and even found a new restaurant in Red Bay, the Mason Jar.  This was a yummy place run by a delightful family.

Since we had spent about three weeks in Red Bay in May, 2015, we had visited all the easily accessible and readily apparent tourist spots such as the Coon Dog Cemetery and the Rattlesnake Saloon.  Tough to beat those places!  Our first “second tier touristy” stop in the area was Woodall Mountain, just outside of Corinth, MS.  This is the highest point in Mississippi at 806 feet.  We drove to the top of this pine-wooded knob and found it covered with cell towers and no view.  Not really very impressive.  By the way, I think Great Great Great Grandpa Zephaniah Woodall, for whom this mountain was named, must be from another branch of the clan…not one of us Yankees!

Another day we drove to Natural Arch Park, southeast of Red Bay and hiked through the woods.  The 148-foot sandstone bridge towers 60 feet above winding pathways and is the longest natural bridge east of the Rockies.  Rattlesnake Saloon, a touristy spot near here, was located under an overhang that had not lost its “roof” and turned into an arch.  

We saw lots of evidence of iron ore, acting as a protective "cap" on the limestone overhangs.

Grocery shopping in the South was quite a surprise after becoming very accustomed to the offerings in the Northwest.  Here are a few new items to us:

Grits were very popular but who knew such a large variety existed?

This robust display of many types of salsa was a surprise…not to mention the bone suckin’ mustard!

And then there is always “bourbon and branch water!”

Florence and Muscle Shoals, located northeast of Red Bay, comprised a large metropolitan area on the Tennessee River.  Since the 1960s, Muscle Shoals had been known for music and developing the "Muscle Shoals Sound".  Local recording studios (including FAME Studios in the late 1950s and Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in 1969) produced hit records that shaped the history of popular music. 

After exploring the area we found lunch at a pretty marina on the Tennessee River.  This huge waterway was part of the “Great Loop” which at one time we thought we would cruise.

It’s possible to circumnavigate the eastern third of the US…east coast, Great Lakes, Mississippi River to the Ohio River, and Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway to the Gulf Coast.  This marina would have been a welcome stop along the route and in fact we talked to a couple who were “loopers” on their Nordhavn yacht.

Huntsville, about 100 miles northeast, was home to the Marshall Space Flight Center, a part of NASA.  Joy came here to Space Camp when she was in elementary school.  What an experience!  We were particularly impressed with the Saturn 5 museum and all the history presented.  This was an amazing time in our country and we wondered what has happened to the enthusiasm for space exploration. 

While we sat in Red Bay we watched all the World Series games and moaned when the Cubbies fell behind.  Everywhere we went, I wore my Cubs shirt and had lots of interesting conversations with folks who would not have had much to say otherwise.  We went to breakfast with Larry and Kathy Belikoff one Saturday morning and I had a delightful discussion with a young man who obviously had seriously followed the Cubs for quite awhile.  It was a great chat, but seemed “half a bubble off” since he had a heavy Alabama accent…not the Chicago brogue of Cubs fans!

We decided to take the Tiffin Motorhome factory tour even though we had done this when we were here last year.  We knew we still had a lot to learn.  We were still amazed that the factory produced 12 motorhomes every day.  Period.  Tiffin employed a total of 1500 employees and 900 worked at the manufacturing plant.  This is obviously a plum of a job in northwest Alabama.  In the photo the tile floor is being laid on the sub-floor of a new Allegro Bus.

The next day we toured the paint shop in Belmont, MS, just over the state line.  It was here that all of the motorhomes were painted, including the tricky striping, typical of every coach. The facility was huge and fairly new.  It felt much more organized than the manufacturing plant in Red Bay.  In the photo you can see that it took time and patience to place the beautiful stripes on the bus.

The weekend of November 5 and 6 we decided to leave the bus overnight and go touring down the Natchez Trace.  This ancient trail extends roughly 440 miles from Natchez, Mississippi, to Nashville, Tennessee, linking the Cumberland, Tennessee, and Mississippi Rivers.  The trail was created and used for centuries by Native Americans, and was later used by early European and American explorers, traders, and emigrants in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Today, the path is commemorated by the 444-mile Natchez Trace Parkway.  The road is a two-line highway on which no semis were allowed and the speed limit was 50.  Not for the lead-footed!

We settled into our Natchez hotel and found our way to the “The Camp” a sports bar located “below the hill”, right on the Mississippi River.  The photo is a shot of the bridge that leads from Natchez, MS, to Vidalia, LA., our view off the front porch of the sports bar.  As luck would have it, the LSU/Alabama football game was televised that evening and the sports bar was alive with LSU fans.  We stayed for the whole game and visited with a young couple, about Jill and Bob’s ages (our daughter and son-in-law), from Gulf Shores, AL.  A very entertaining evening!

Sunday morning we toured Melrose Mansion, the prototypical antebellum home in Natchez.  During the Civil War, General Grant, apparently said “This city is too beautiful to burn” and consequently there were many antebellum homes to tour, but no time!  Off we went to Vicksburg to explore the Civil War Battlefield there.

Vicksburg saw a prolonged campaign/seige of several months and employed both ground troops and watercraft.  The battlefield itself reminded us of Shiloh and Gettysburg, with many monuments and markers.  This monument to the army of Illinois was particularly impressive.  The toll on human lives was staggering:  Union casualties for the battle and siege of Vicksburg were 4,835; Confederate were 32,697 (29,495 surrendered).  The full campaign claimed 10,142 Union and 9,091 Confederate killed and wounded.  The result of the Union victory was complete control of the Mississippi River and was the beginning of the end for the Confederacy. 

We did make it to church a couple of times while we waited in Red Bay.  We attended the First Baptist Church of Red Bay, one of the friendliest congregations we had encountered.  We even saw an immersion baptism…something new to us.  This church was a key member of the community and had a huge “Treat or Trunk” activity on Halloween.

Another Sunday we drove to Corinth, MS, to attend an LCMS (Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod) Lutheran Church.  This congregation was very friendly too…all 12 of them!  We met a man and a woman from Washington State and, interestingly, neither knew the other was a Washingtonian.  We also met a young man who was originally from Peoria, IL, and was in the process of transferring to Corinth, where there was a significant Caterpillar presence.  His family had not yet joined him and he was ready to talk to someone “from home.  The worship was very traditional and we didn’t think the church would be around much longer.

That Sunday afternoon we drove to Tishomingo State Park, just over the state line in NE Mississippi.  It was a beautiful warm fall day and we decided to hike the Overhangs Trail.  This was a well-used park and we met several families with kids and dogs along the way.  The CCC had done a lot of work in this park, building roads, establishing trails, erecting cabins, a lodge, and even a swimming pool.  In the summer this place surely was crazy busy!

Bear Creek ran through the park, and had eroded a creek valley with exposed limestone cliffs…thus, the overhangs.  They had built this amazing bridge over the creek to make the trails much more accessible.  As you can see in the photo, the fall colors were outstanding.

Wonder of wonders!! We got a phone call to be in service bay #3 Thursday morning, November 10 at 7 a.m.  Wahoo!!!  We had about 25 items to be fixed and Danny and Scott jumped right in.  

They easily replaced this broken hose that drained our kitchen sink.  Every time we used the sink the bay below it would get wet if the slide was in.

By Friday afternoon all of our problems but the “big 2” were left…a horrible dash squeak and our exuberant odometer…no decimals in that number!  Apparently we had driven over 7 million miles!

Back to bay #3 on Monday morning for those dreaded repairs.  We were sure the horrible dash noise would require deconstructing the whole cockpit of the coach.  Jer took the 2 bay technicians for a drive and Danny immediately knew what was wrong.  A cord connecting the Mobile Eye sensor to the console display passed between the dash and the windshield and squeaked every time the bus body flexed. Using a dremel tool to create a channel, Danny solved that problem.  Another technician connected his laptop computer to the bus data center and determined our odometer should actually read 27,792 (only 22 miles greater than my calculations!).  A new odometer/speedometer was installed, the correct mileage was programmed and we were good to go!

Tuesday, November 15, we left Red Bay to begin our travels to the mid Atlantic States.  That’s another story!

Illinois September and October 2016

We almost had tears in our eyes when we left Anacortes to head east on Sunday, August 28.  Leaving sunny skies, 70-degree days, and all the friends with whom we had reconnected was difficult.  Fortunately, we were looking toward new adventures and seeing friends and family in Illinois.  Our route took us to Seattle on I-5 and then east on I-90 to southern Minnesota.  We travelled quickly, taking only 6 days to get parked in our same spot on the south side of Fairview, IL.  


I wish I could take credit for this great photo of our little town, but I cannot.  Son-in-law Bob took this with his drone when we had our family reunion in mid-September. 



Before harvest started, we drove to northern Illinois to visit Jerry and Sue Hipple.  They provided us with a new treat…a visit to an estate distillery on a working grain farm, called “Whiskey Acres.”  This three-generation farm family had everyone involved in both grain production as well as whiskey distilling.  We had a libation prior to the distillery tour and found their wares delicious.  



We always have a good time with these old friends, but bourbon tasting in the backyard of the distillery added a new layer of hilarity!

West central Illinois provided us with many opportunities to explore old cemeteries.  Whether we knew the residents or not, we were intrigued by the headstones.  Foster Cemetery, east of Fairview on the Farmington blacktop was an old cemetery, perhaps established by Reverend Foster, an early Fairview resident.  This headstone is the most unique one we have seen.  I think little marbles were embedded in the concrete.

Sinnett Chapel, southeast of Fairview was a nondenominational chapel that had been in operation since 1848, and next to two cemeteries.  Unfortunately the chapel was closed but we have heard that a handful of faithful congregants still worship here. 


After church one Sunday we drove west to Monmouth to see if we could find the graves of some of my relatives.  My paternal grandmother’s maiden name was Erlandson.  We found the graves of her parents and four of her siblings but could not find Grandma and Grandpa.  Next time perhaps!  



The story is told in my family about great grandma Ida Christine, who immmigrated from Sweden as a teenager in the late 1800’s.  She came to Chicago as an indentured servant to pay for her passage.  She came through Ellis Island, as so many other Swedes did.  The immigration officer, who did not speak Swedish, and great grandma, who did not speak English, didn’t communicate well.  The official, unable to understand her name, decided her last name was to be “Thor”…like so many other Swedes!  Great grandma eventually made her way to Monmouth, married Charles Erlandson, and had six children, one of whom was my paternal grandmother, second from the left in this photo The family posed for this shot just before leaving for church in the early 1900’s.



Speaking of churches, we have enjoyed attending Trinity Lutheran Church in Canton.  This welcoming congregation called a new pastor this summer, and we could feel the energy and excitement of their new leader, Pastor Micah Garnett.

I would be remiss if I didn’t include this photo of the sign in front of the Reformed Church in Fairview. The first two weekends of October are always the Spoon River Scenic Drive, an event encompassing lots of little towns on the banks of Spoon River…or somewhere close by.  In the 1970’s vendors and local folks offered handcrafted items and yummy homemade foods, but this event has devolved into one big rummage sale and cheap items made in China.
  

In spite of the bad press, Jerry and I drove to London Mills to survey the offerings with my sister Carol and her granddaughter Zelda.

One of the locals maintains a permanent collection in one of the old buildings along Main Street and some of his stuff looks intriguing...but not if one lives in a
motor home!  

The other activity on the scenic drive is to eat…here’s a typical menu.  Where else can you get deep fried snickers?



One September Saturday, Cottage Hospital Alumni held the annual reunion for all graduates of this diploma nursing school.  I graduated from this school in Galesburg, IL, in 1968, along with 23 (I think!)classmates.  At the reunion there were four of us to reminisce and tell stories.  Each of these ladies is part of my memories from this tough, challenging, and exciting three years, but Mary Frank Smith, next to me, was a close friend.  We had not seen each other in 30 or so years and we had a wonderful time together!  

Mary and I decided to continue the gabfest, so Jerry and I met Mary and her husband John in Peoria at “Thyme Kitchen and Craft Beer”.  This restaurant along the Illinois River in Peoria’s warehouse district was housed in the old Sealtest Creamery.  Mary’s stepson was the architect who reworked this old building into a very cool place to eat. 

The third weekend in September we held our third annual Woodall/Rask family reunion.  Since Mom and Dad Woodall live in the little town of Fairview it was our home base.  We had several days of multi-generational fun and of course I’ve got lots of photos with which to bore you!

Our Granddaughter Lauren

Great Niece Zelda

Anticipating the arrival of 4 boys and 5 girls between the ages of 3 and 7, I knitted some gifts for these cute little people.  The boys got ninja masks and the girls got crowns.  One family was unable to attend at the last minute, so only three little girls in crowns.

Lauren, Sheldon, and Shyla, another great niece
and great nephew

Sheldon

More great nephews, Gabe, Levi, and Micah

Friday evening of reunion weekend we gathered at sister-in-law Becky Yurkovich’s house for pizza and catching up.  Eventually the young folks…our kids and their Yurkovich cousins…went out

on the town.  The four cousins and two spouses had a great time together and it looked like they would continue this family gathering for years to come.  The lucky grandmas and grandpas got to stay home with the cute little princesses and ninjas!

Of course we could not have picked a hotter weekend…90 degrees and 90% humidity.  In spite of that we made our way back to Canton on Saturday afternoon for “A Taste of Canton” in Big Creek Park.  The little kids gravitated toward the crafts and the adults followed along.  Lauren and Shyla are intent on a project as Aunt Dorothy looked on.

 The highlight of the weekend was the wiener roast and hayrack ride at Don Woodall’s farm.  It did not matter that it was a blazing hot summer day!  We had a great fire and cooked hot dogs and s’mores! We found lots to do before it was time for the hayrack ride. Eating, of course! 

Mom and Dad enjoying hot dogs. 

The kids loved shelling corn off the cob.  A unique experience for these city kids! 

Lauren gave a Sheldon a lesson! 

Aunt Sally’s new pup, May Belle was a hit with everyone!  The little kids kept May Belle moving! 

Can't beat all the good conversations!  My brother Chuck, my sister-in-law Suzanne, and my brother-in-law Don have known each other forever and always have a good story or two!

Jill, Bob and Lauren went for a ride in the side-by-side

Of course we took some group family shots.  

First the Woodall’s.  The only family member missing was Aunt Dorothy's husband Donald.  A very good showing! 

And then the Rask’s.  We were missing my niece Kelly, her husband Matt, and their daughters Lilly and Lauren, and my sister Carol, her spouse Rusty, son James, and Zelda. It was finally time for a hayrack ride to the back pasture.  

Grandpa Jerry and nephew Todd made sure all the little kids got a chance to drive!  Lauren was quite comfortable driving one handed! Young and old alike joined in the fun.  

We did have a little excitement while Jerry changed the junior drivers.  Great nephew Gabe, at his second driving experience, had spotted the clutch on the old John Deere 70 and put the tractor in gear before everyone had re-settled.  Gotta watch those three year olds!

Once again our son-in-law Bob brought his drone and he got some amazing shots!

Sunset.  Looking west over the cornfields.

Sunday after church we found another park for the kids to burn off some energy…

Lucky us!  Our family didn’t leave until Monday evening so we spent Monday afternoon at the Caterpillar Museum in downtown Peoria.  Lauren loved “driving” the big machines.

 What a great weekend we had with our family!  We’ve got everyone cued up to do it again next year. Even though life was considerably slower after the big weekend, we did find some things to do.

Such as shopping at Farm King.  It was deer season and the shelves were full of meat processing ideas!

Or keeping an eye on this praying mantis, that seemed to be everywhere! 

Having dinner at the Bernadotte Café with Bobbi LaPlante and Chuck Schleich.  We had heard this little town on Spoon River had great catfish.  It was good but small, so it was supplemented with scored buffalo carp…not so good! 

It was harvest time and it seemed we were always following a big piece of equipment down the road!


Phil and Rita Olson came for a whirlwind tour so we took them to farmer friends, the Schleich’s, who were combining corn. 

Phil (on the far right) rode with Jesse (second from left) in the combine and Rita (second from right) rode with Lara (far left) in the tractor pulling the auger wagon.

It was back to Thyme Restaurant on the second day of the Olson visit.  Former Visalia pastor Barry Vail and his wife Allison were in Peoria, so we all gathered for a beer and lunch.  Once again we thought this was a great place! 

We’ll soon be leaving Illinois to go to Red Bay, Alabama, for some repairs.  Stay tuned…