Utica, IL.
79 deg. partly cloudy, no wind.
Forecast tonight = Some passing clouds. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
Forecast tomorrow = Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm
developing during the afternoon. High 84F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.
Chance of rain 30%.
This past week has been spent pretty much getting ready to leave Rantoul and head up to Wisconsin to Linda's family's reunion. On Wednesday, they took Big RED and headed up to Wilmington, IL to talk to their financial advisor in the morning, and then went to Manteno, IL to see Jim's cousin, Adeline. Other than that, they've done some grocery shopping and went out to eat a couple nights.
Of course, Jim checked out Big RED and Nora to make sure both of them were ready for the trip. :-)
Then, this morning, about 10:45, we pulled out of our site at the Prairie Pines CG and started our journey West and North. We took US 136, west out of Rantoul for about 11 miles to IL. 47 where we turned North and followed 47 up to the little town of Forest, IL. There, we turned West again on US 24 and followed it all the way over to I-39. 39 then brought us up to I-80 where we turned East for a few miles and to the Hickoory Hollow Campground near Utica, IL.
It was 1:20 when we pulled up to the office, so it took us right at 2 hours and 35 minutes to stop for fuel for Big RED and travel the 130 miles up here.
Hickory Hollow is a Passport America Park, so we can stay here for 1/2 price, as long as it's not on a Friday or Saturday night. If it wasn't a PPA park, I don't think we'd stay here cause they've raised their rates to $38 or $40 per night, depending on hook-ups. In fact, Jim has already been looking at other parks for our return trip because we'd be getting here on Saturday evening.
Tomorrow morning, we'll be leaving here and head up into Wisconsin. There'll be no need to hurry though cause check in time at the CG where Jim has made reservations up there, isn't until 2:00, and, we only have about 180 miles to go.
So far, it's been a good trip and both Jim and Linda seem to be enjoying being on the road again. ;-) They're both, (especially Linda), looking forward to seeing family again and catching up on what's been happening.
Did you know that on this date in 1971 - Men rode in a vehicle on the moon for the first time in a lunar rover vehicle (LRV)?
Woof!!!
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Hot!! Hot!! Hot!! and Happy Birthday Linda!!
Rantoul, IL
88 deg, clear, S. wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm developing this afternoon. High 89F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Like so many other parts of the country, it's been really hot here in Rantoul lately. Many of the days the temp. has been up around 90 with high humidity and light winds. :-( So, , , , , like almost everyone else in the park, Jim and Linda have been mostly staying inside of Nora where her A/C unit is purrring along nicely and keeping the temperatures nice and cool!! :-)
One exception is that yesterday afternoon, Big RED took Jim and Linda down to Champaign and to the Longhorn Steakhouse where they both enjoyed nice steak dinners.
Now, I'll bet you're asking yourself, "Why would they go out to get a steak dinner when it's so hot out?" Well, , , , yesterday was Linda's birthday and Jim decided to treat her to a nice dinner!!!!
By about 2:30 or 3:00 they were back here, (stuffed), and were over across the street, talking to Paul and Louise. They didn't stay too long though, it was pretty hot and the "sweat bees" were driving everyone crazy.
After returning to Nora, they both just stayed inside.
Other than that. nothing much has been happening around here. Both Jim and Linda have been starting to get ready for our trip up to Wisconsin for Linda's family reunion, which is just over a week away. Jim dumped the tanks today and then will dump them again just before we leave, so that we'll be traveling with almost empty black and grey water tanks. He will make sure that we've got plenty of fresh water though, so he doesn't have to hook up the water hose when we stop at a CG part way up there.
Did you know that the highest temperature ever reported in Illinois was 117°F in East St. Louis. IL on July 14, 1954?
Woof!!!
88 deg, clear, S. wind @ 4 mph.
Forecast = Scattered clouds with the possibility of an isolated thunderstorm developing this afternoon. High 89F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Like so many other parts of the country, it's been really hot here in Rantoul lately. Many of the days the temp. has been up around 90 with high humidity and light winds. :-( So, , , , , like almost everyone else in the park, Jim and Linda have been mostly staying inside of Nora where her A/C unit is purrring along nicely and keeping the temperatures nice and cool!! :-)
One exception is that yesterday afternoon, Big RED took Jim and Linda down to Champaign and to the Longhorn Steakhouse where they both enjoyed nice steak dinners.
Now, I'll bet you're asking yourself, "Why would they go out to get a steak dinner when it's so hot out?" Well, , , , yesterday was Linda's birthday and Jim decided to treat her to a nice dinner!!!!
By about 2:30 or 3:00 they were back here, (stuffed), and were over across the street, talking to Paul and Louise. They didn't stay too long though, it was pretty hot and the "sweat bees" were driving everyone crazy.
After returning to Nora, they both just stayed inside.
Other than that. nothing much has been happening around here. Both Jim and Linda have been starting to get ready for our trip up to Wisconsin for Linda's family reunion, which is just over a week away. Jim dumped the tanks today and then will dump them again just before we leave, so that we'll be traveling with almost empty black and grey water tanks. He will make sure that we've got plenty of fresh water though, so he doesn't have to hook up the water hose when we stop at a CG part way up there.
Did you know that the highest temperature ever reported in Illinois was 117°F in East St. Louis. IL on July 14, 1954?
Woof!!!
Friday, July 15, 2016
Canceled Fireworks, Planning for Family Reunion and Doctor's Visits.
Rantoul, IL.
67 deg. Clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
It's been a long time since I've last posted, but not a whole lot has been happening. The 4th of July celebration here in Rantoul was kind of a "bust"!!! It rained most of the holiday weekend and in fact, the city even canceled the fireworks because of the weather!! :-(
One evening, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed into town to have a pizza at Monical's Pizza. Another day Linda went grocery shopping at the County Market Grocery Store, They had dinner at the Blue Star Restaurant in Fisher, IL. another evening and headed to Walgreen's another day for prescriptions and a few other things.
Oh and on the 8th of July, Linda had an appointment with her retinologist, Dr. Gandhi. They did a scan of Linda's eyes and then the Dr. did a visual inspection. When he was finished, he told Linda that both eyes were "stable" and that she should come back and see him in a year!!!!
Folks, that's great news!!!! No more of those dreaded injections into the eye for at least another year!!!! She will have to go see Dr. Anderson, who did her cataracts a couple years ago and have a "film" on her eyes removed though. That will be done in her office with a laser treatment.
Jim and Linda have decided to head up to Wisconsin for Linda's family reunion, at The Wisconsin Dells, the first week of August. So, this last Wednesday, Jim called the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground up there and made reservations for us to stay. I'll stay in Nora out at the CG all day and Jim and Linda will go into the Dells during the days to be with Linda's family.
We'll be leaving Rantoul on the 31st of July, arriving at the CG, (which is actually in Baraboo, WI.) on the 1st of August. We'll be at the Dells for 5 nights and will leave the morning of the 6th, arriving back here in Rantoul on the 7th of Aug.
Then, on the 8th, both Linda and Jim have appointments with Dr. Anderson, (Linda to get the film removed from one of her eyes and Jim to have his glaucoma checked.) Then, in a week, Linda will have to go back and get the film removed from the other eye.
The only other thing that I know of is that sometime before we leave Rantoul around the 22nd of September, Linda will need to see here primary care doctor for an exam and to get here prescriptions renewed.
Did you know that on this date in 1952 - Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como?
Woof!!!
67 deg. Clear, no wind.
Forecast = Sunshine to start, then a few afternoon clouds. High 81F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph.
It's been a long time since I've last posted, but not a whole lot has been happening. The 4th of July celebration here in Rantoul was kind of a "bust"!!! It rained most of the holiday weekend and in fact, the city even canceled the fireworks because of the weather!! :-(
One evening, Jim and Linda took Big RED and headed into town to have a pizza at Monical's Pizza. Another day Linda went grocery shopping at the County Market Grocery Store, They had dinner at the Blue Star Restaurant in Fisher, IL. another evening and headed to Walgreen's another day for prescriptions and a few other things.
Oh and on the 8th of July, Linda had an appointment with her retinologist, Dr. Gandhi. They did a scan of Linda's eyes and then the Dr. did a visual inspection. When he was finished, he told Linda that both eyes were "stable" and that she should come back and see him in a year!!!!
Folks, that's great news!!!! No more of those dreaded injections into the eye for at least another year!!!! She will have to go see Dr. Anderson, who did her cataracts a couple years ago and have a "film" on her eyes removed though. That will be done in her office with a laser treatment.
Jim and Linda have decided to head up to Wisconsin for Linda's family reunion, at The Wisconsin Dells, the first week of August. So, this last Wednesday, Jim called the Fox Hill RV Park & Campground up there and made reservations for us to stay. I'll stay in Nora out at the CG all day and Jim and Linda will go into the Dells during the days to be with Linda's family.
We'll be leaving Rantoul on the 31st of July, arriving at the CG, (which is actually in Baraboo, WI.) on the 1st of August. We'll be at the Dells for 5 nights and will leave the morning of the 6th, arriving back here in Rantoul on the 7th of Aug.
Then, on the 8th, both Linda and Jim have appointments with Dr. Anderson, (Linda to get the film removed from one of her eyes and Jim to have his glaucoma checked.) Then, in a week, Linda will have to go back and get the film removed from the other eye.
The only other thing that I know of is that sometime before we leave Rantoul around the 22nd of September, Linda will need to see here primary care doctor for an exam and to get here prescriptions renewed.
Did you know that on this date in 1952 - Patti Page made her TV debut in a summer replacement series for Perry Como?
Woof!!!
Saturday, July 2, 2016
A New Chair, A Nice Ride, Shopping and CG Filling Up For The 4th
Rantoul, IL.
58 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Not a whole lot happening around here since my last post about a week ago. Saturday, I think it was, Jim went over to visit with Ron and Marilyn, (friends who come to the Prairie Pines CG here in Rantoul just about every year). Ron had purchased a couple new lawn chairs and Jim remarked how comfortable they were when he sat in one while visiting, so, Sunday morning Jim took Big RED and headed over to Rural King where Ron had bought his chairs.
Did I mention that they were on sale?
Anyway, Jim ended up buying one of the new chairs, cause that's all they had left. It's a rocker lawn chair and Jim has been using it every day since.
He says that it's more comfortable than the other chairs we have and is really enjoying it.
Monday, Jim and Linda hopped into Big RED and took a ride over to the Fourwinds RV Dealer in Maroa, IL. It's quite a way over there, but they had a nice ride through the countryside and both Jim and Linda were glad to get away from here for awhile. While they were there, Jim bought a some replacement light bulbs for Nora's ceiling lights, to replace a couple that had burned out. On the way back from Maroa, they stopped at the Urbana Gardens Restaurant in Urbana for lunch before returning here to the CG.
Wednesday, they again took Big RED and headed down to Champaign, IL to buy some groceries and a few other items at the huge Meijer's store. Meijer's is kind of like Wally World and has just about anything you could want to buy. They went mostly to buy groceries, but ended up buying a new blanket for the bed and and a few other items in the "health and beauty" section of the store too.
Needless to say, by the time they returned and got everything put away, they were both pretty well "wiped out"!!!
Not much else happened this week except the CG has been filling up for the 4th of July weekend. They started coming in Thursday already, and as of this morning, the CG is about 80% full. I'm sure the rest of the sites will be filled by this evening.
The weather forecast isn't too good for this weekend. The weather guessers are forecasting a 30% chance of rain today, a 100% chance of rain for tomorrow and a 50% chance of rain on the 4th. :-(
Rantoul's fireworks display is supposed to be tomorrow night, but the forecast looks better for Monday night, so they may have to reschedule.
Did you know that an estimated 150 million hot dogs will be consumed on July 4th?
Woof!!!
58 deg. overcast, no wind.
Forecast = Cloudy this morning. A few showers developing during the afternoon. High 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Not a whole lot happening around here since my last post about a week ago. Saturday, I think it was, Jim went over to visit with Ron and Marilyn, (friends who come to the Prairie Pines CG here in Rantoul just about every year). Ron had purchased a couple new lawn chairs and Jim remarked how comfortable they were when he sat in one while visiting, so, Sunday morning Jim took Big RED and headed over to Rural King where Ron had bought his chairs.
Did I mention that they were on sale?
Anyway, Jim ended up buying one of the new chairs, cause that's all they had left. It's a rocker lawn chair and Jim has been using it every day since.
He says that it's more comfortable than the other chairs we have and is really enjoying it.
Monday, Jim and Linda hopped into Big RED and took a ride over to the Fourwinds RV Dealer in Maroa, IL. It's quite a way over there, but they had a nice ride through the countryside and both Jim and Linda were glad to get away from here for awhile. While they were there, Jim bought a some replacement light bulbs for Nora's ceiling lights, to replace a couple that had burned out. On the way back from Maroa, they stopped at the Urbana Gardens Restaurant in Urbana for lunch before returning here to the CG.
Wednesday, they again took Big RED and headed down to Champaign, IL to buy some groceries and a few other items at the huge Meijer's store. Meijer's is kind of like Wally World and has just about anything you could want to buy. They went mostly to buy groceries, but ended up buying a new blanket for the bed and and a few other items in the "health and beauty" section of the store too.
Needless to say, by the time they returned and got everything put away, they were both pretty well "wiped out"!!!
Not much else happened this week except the CG has been filling up for the 4th of July weekend. They started coming in Thursday already, and as of this morning, the CG is about 80% full. I'm sure the rest of the sites will be filled by this evening.
The weather forecast isn't too good for this weekend. The weather guessers are forecasting a 30% chance of rain today, a 100% chance of rain for tomorrow and a 50% chance of rain on the 4th. :-(
Rantoul's fireworks display is supposed to be tomorrow night, but the forecast looks better for Monday night, so they may have to reschedule.
Did you know that an estimated 150 million hot dogs will be consumed on July 4th?
Woof!!!
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