A Day Trip, Getting Ready To Travel and Rantou, IL To Utica, IL

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!!!

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!!!

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!!!

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!!!

Yes, We Did Make It To Rantoul

Rantoul, IL.

65 deg. clear, N. wind @ 8 mph.

Forecast = Sun and clouds mixed. High 87F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.


Sorry it took so long for me to write this post, but it's been quite busy since the last time I've posted.

We left the Hilltop CG in Goreville Monday morning after a nice restful day on Sunday. It was about 8:30 when we pulled out of our site and headed North on I-57. 57 took us all the way up here to Rantoul where we turned off on US 136. 136 took us into town and to Rt. 45/Century Blvd. where we turned South. If you keep heading South on Century Blvd instead of following US 45 as it turns West, Century will take you to within a block of the Prairie Pines CG. All you have to do is turn East on the S. Perimeter Rd at the stop sign and take it 1 block to the CG. (You'll be able to see the CG as you drive South on Century.)

It was right at 12:15 when we pulled up in front of the office, so we traveled the  220 miles up here in 3 hours and 45 minutes.

Our site is right across from the office this year. I'm still trying to decide if I like as well as the site we've had previously. It has shade at many times of the day, but in the evening, (around dinner time), there's no shade at all on our awning side, and the sun is low enough that the awing doesn't help either. Now, later in the evening, the sun goes behind some trees to the west and shades our site nicely.

I guess it's like anything else, it'll just takes some time to get used to the new site.

Jim got Nora partially set up when we arrived Monday and then Monday night, we had a strong storm go through the Rantoul area. Just a few blocks North of here, there was quite a bit of damage at the airport and there were many trees and branches blown down in the area. We lucked out here at the CG though, only small branches and a few things blown around. There was one MH on the East side of the CG that lost it's awning though. As for us, the big thing was that Nora developed a leak where the front cap connects to the roof and water leaked into the cabinets over the bed and then down onto the bed!!! :-(

Needless to say, Jim and Linda spent much of the night, soaking up water and trying to prevent the bed from getting too wet.

Tuesday, Jim went over to ACE Hardware and bought some silicone sealer for the roof/cap joint. Then In the afternoon, Paul's son, David, (who was visiting Paul and Louise and lives in California), came over with a tall ladder and ran sealant all along the joint, while looking for any small cracks or places of possible leaks along the seam. David evidently did a good job because Tuesday night we had another heavy downpour, which lasted most of the night, and there were no leaks. Jim didn't get much sleep though because he was constantly checking inside the overhead cabinets for water.

Thanks so much, David!!!! Jim just doesn't feel safe getting up on a ladder at this time and he really appreciated the help.

Wednesday, Jim was very tired and really worn out, so he rested and napped most of the day.

By yesterday morning, (Thursday), he was feeling much better though and even felt good enough to re-organize some of the "basement" compartment. Then, for dinner, he and Linda took Big RED and headed over to Fisher, IL and to the Blue Start Restaurant where they both had very nice meals.


A Quote to Ponder ;  “The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.”
John E. Southard


Woof!!!

AL to TN to KY to IL and A Long, Long Day!!

Goreville, IL.

77 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Sunshine and clouds mixed. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 91F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph.


We left the Deer Run Campground near Troy, AL earlier than usual (8:30 am), on Friday morning. The reason being that Linda was up early and the weather forecast for later in the day was for thunderstorms with high winds and heavy rain.

From Troy, we continued NW on US 231 up to Montgomery, where we first  got on Westbound I-85 and then turned North on I-65. 65 took us up through Birmingham where the road is still very rough, but at least the construction that we encountered on our last trip through Birmingham was finished. Continuing North on I-65 took us up to Cullman, AL and the Cullman RV Park.

The Cullman RV Park is off the beaten path, but we've been there many times in the past and knew that they had some nice shady, level pull-through sites where we could stay for 1 night.

It was right at 12:00 when we pulled into the park so we had traveled 192 miles in about 3 1/2 hours.

Oh, and the weather that was forecasted? Well, it rained hard in Cullman after we arrived, but there were severe storms in Birmingham where there were trees down and some road flooding.

Yesterday was an eventful day. We left Cullman about 9:00 and continued North on I-65 to Nashville. On the North side of Nashville, just before we were to turn off on I-24, the traffic came to a screeching halt!!! The problem was that they had 2 of the 3 lanes of I-65 closed down for construction and everyone was trying to funnel down to the one lane. :-(

I think it took us the better part of 1/2 hour to get through that mess!!! :-(

Once on I-24, heading NW, traffic once again moved along nicely.

Following 24 took us up to Clarksville where we had planned to stay at the Clarksville RV Park. But, guess what? The park was full!!!!!

Now what to do? We had already traveled about 190 miles and those of you that are familiar with the area, know that there are not any other decent campgrounds in the area!!! We also learned that evidently, the Father's Day weekend is a popular weekend to go camping, it was a good chance that all state parks and COE parks would be full-up also!!!

Well, Jim decided that he would call our next planned stop, which was about another 2 hours farther away and see if they had sites available. They did not answer the phone, but Jim left a message on their machine and we took off continuing NW on I-24.

After awhile, the CG called back and said that they had sites available and they would be sure to save one for us.

So,  ,  ,  ,  ,  , here we are in Goreville, IL. at the Hilltop CG. It was 3:15 by the time we arrived and we had traveled  335 miles in 6  hours and 15 minutes!!!!

A long, long, long day for us!! In fact I can't remember the last time we traveled that many miles in a day!!!!

How did Jim hold up?? Well he was really beat by the time we arrived, but he took his time getting Nora set up and then took a nice long nap. By evening, he was feeling better and it seemed like he was pretty well rested.

We'll be here for  2 nights and then tomorrow, we'll head for Rantoul.  We'll get there a couple days earlier than planned, but I'm sure Louise, (The CG host), will have a site for us. 

Did you know that Davy Crockett was not born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, as the song says? He was born on the banks of Limestone Creek near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett's log cabin stands today.

Woof!!!

Chiefland FL. To Thomsaville GA. to Troy, AL.

Troy, AL.

77 deg. mostly cloudy, no wind.

Forecast tonight = Partly cloudy with late night showers or thunderstorms. Low 71F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.

Forecast tomorrow = Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High 94F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.


We left the Chiefland RV Park about 9:25 and headed Northwest on US 19. After traveling through places like Fannng Springs, Old Town, Perry and Capps, 19 turned North. It then crossed I-10 and the Georgia State Line and took us up to Thomasville, GA. and the City of Roses RV Park, which is another Passport America park.

It was 11:55 when we pulled up along side of the office, so we traveled the  130 miles up here in about 2 and 1/2 hours.

The City of Roses RV Park is an old park, but lately there have been some changes made. The same man is running the park but some of the permanent RVs that were there are gone. The grass was freshly cut and I think the place has been "cleaned up" a lot. There's still quite a few long term RVs around the outside of the park, but they seem like a friendly bunch of folks if you just say "Hi" to them and start up a short conversation.

We've been coming here for years and have never had a problem. And for $15 a night it's quite a deal for a full hook-up site.

This morning, about 9:25 ET, we left Thomasville and headed West on US 84. 84 took us to Cario and to Bainbridge where we drove into a reall "gully washer" which caused us to slow down to about 30 mph because of such poor visibility. After Bainbridge the weather cleared somewhat and we just had sprinkles the rest of the way to Dothan, AL. After taking 84 around the NE side of Dothan, we turned NW on US 231 and followed it up here to Troy, AL and the Deer Run RV Park.

It was 12:40 ET when we arrived, so we traveled  166 miles in about 3 hours and 15 minutes.

We crossed into the Central Time Zone as we crossed into Alabama, so it was actually 11:40 when we arrived here near Troy, AL.

We'll be staying here at Deer Run for 2 nights so that Jim can recoup a little. Besides that, they're forecasting a lot of rain for this area tomorrow.

Speaking of Jim. He's been able to do everything that needs to be done in the mornings and afternoons. He does get quite tired though and sometimes has to quit what he's doing and sit down for awhile. Then, he goes back at whatever he was doing and finishes it up.Not the way he likes to do things, but it's working. He also seems to get tired driving, so we probably don't want to travel more than 150 to 170 miles or so a day.

If everything goes according to plan, we should be getting up to Rantoul during the first half of next week. I should be able to be more precise in a couple days.

Did you know that Georgia was named for King George II of England?

Woof!!!