Catching Up On The Trip To Kankakee

Rantoul, IL.

66 deg. clear, no wind.
Forecast = High temp. 91 deg. clear, S. wind @ 10 to 15 mph.

We're back from our little jaunt up to Kankakee. We didn't have an Internet signal that was unusable at the State Park up there, so today, I'll try to get you caught up.

Monday, after dumping the tanks and getting a few last minute things done, we pulled out of the Prairie Pines CG about 10:20 and headed North on US 45. 45 parallels I-57 and was a major highway back before Interstate Highways. We followed 45 up to Ashkum where detour signs directed us over to I-57. 57 then brought us up and around Kankakee and to IL Rt. 50. Rt. 50 took us South to Armor Rd, which took us west to IL Rt. 102, which took us along the Kankakee River and to the Kankakee River State Park.

It was 12:05 and we had traveled 76 miles when we pulled into the Potawatomi Campground section. Then, after registering, we drove to the Oak loop section where Jim backed Bobbie T into site #6.

Site #6 was nice and level, had 50 amp electric, some shade, and like all the sites, a picnic table and a fire ring.

To be honest, neither Jim or Linda really cared too much what the site was like because they knew that they weren't going to be spending much time there, as this trip was to take care of some business and to visit with  family and friends. 

Tuesday morning, Jim and Linda took CLT and headed to Wilmington, IL, where they had a meeting with their financial advisor. After discussing some options and making a few small changes to their investments, they drove over to the Chick A Dee Restaurant and had breakfast for lunch. 

After lunch, they drove to Peotone, Il, (the town where Jim and Linda used to live), and went to the cemetery, East of town, where Jim's parents are buried as well as many of his ancestors. 

After spending almost 2 hours, driving/walking around in the cemetery and finding and taking photos of almost all of the graves, they headed over to Denny and Bev's house in town. 

As many of you know, Denny and Bev are 1/3 of the "Illinois Bunch" that Jim and Linda usually go to visit in Tampa, FL every winter, and, who usually come here to the Prairie Pines CG in Rantoul, when we're here in the summer. 

Jim and Denny lived about a block apart when they were kids, so have been friends for many, many years. They always seem to enjoy each other's company and always enjoy visiting. 

Bev ordered a Pizza for dinner and after eating, visiting some more and h and h, (hugs and handshakes), Jim and Linda returned to the State Park. 

Wednesday Jim and Linda took CLT and headed to Monee, IL to see Jim's cousin, Adeline. She lost her husband a couple years ago, and really enjoys seeing, "Jimmy" and Linda. ; ) After having lunch with Adeline and visiting for awhile, they headed over to Momence, IL. to visit with Barb. 

Barb is a long time friend of both Jim and Linda's. She lived down in Florida for awhile, and some of you long time readers may remember Jim and Linda going to visit her at her house down there. After visiting for awhile, they all took Barb's car and headed to a family style restaurant in Momence and enjoyed a nice dinner and more visiting. 

After eating, there were more hugs and then Jim and Linda came back to the State Park. 

Yesterday morning, we left the Kankakee State Park about 10:00, retraced our route to I-57 and then brought 57 all the way down here to Rantoul. When we got into Rantoul, Jim pulled Bobbie T into a Casey's Gas Station and filled her up with 87 octane before returning here to Prairie Pines. 

It was 11:55 when we pulled back into site #7 and we had traveled 77 miles. and stopped for gas. 

All in all, it was a very good trip. Everything was accomplished that Jim and Linda wanted to do, and they got to see and visit with some very good friends and family. 

Did you know that Martha Washington was born on this date in 1731?

Woof!!!

A Treasure Hunt and A Cookout

Rantoul, IL.

54 deg. clear, no wind.

Forecast = Clear in the morning, then partly cloudy. High of 77F. Winds less than 5 mph.

I've decided try to cut back on that forecast section above. It was so long that even I didn't want to read it  when I went back to review the bogs. Besides, depending on what part of the country you're in, the forecast for the night may very likely change anyway. : O

Thursday, neither Linda nor Jim felt like doing too much, so it was decided that they would just take a ride somewhere. Since Linda had said something about it the other day, Jim suggested that they head west of Rantoul and see if they could find that little cemetery out in the country where a few of Linda's ancestors are buried. They had found it once, quite a few years ago, but had forgotten exactly where it's located.

So, ,  ,  ,  ,  ,  they took CLT and headed in the general direction.

CLT said that it was like being on a Treasure Hunt!!!! Both Jim and Linda had an idea of where the cemetery was located, so they started looking for familiar roads and landscapes that would help them. When they got about 4 or 5 miles West of Rantoul, Jim turned South on a blacktop road that he was pretty sure headed the right way. After 3 or so miles on that road, they turned West on a small blacktop road, but after following it for a short distance, decided that that was not the road they wanted.

About this time, they came upon a couple of farmers who had stopped along the road to talk to each other, so Jim stopped and asked them if they happened to know where the Jersey cemetery might be located. He described it to them and told them what he and Linda could remember about it, such as it being located at the crossroads of 2 small blacktop roads and being on the SE corner of the intersection.

After some thought, one said that there was one like they described, just about 2 miles from where they were and gave Jim and Linda directions to get to it. (Gotta love these friendly farm folks).  ; )

So, following the instructions given, Jim and Linda found the cemetery, and it was just like they had remembered.

As you can see, someone still takes care of the cemetery and cuts the grass regularly, even though there is no longer a church here. There's also evidence of some of the remaining markers being re-set.

This is the marker that Linda and Jim were looking for. You probably can't see it in the photo, but there are names and dates on both of the sides that you can see. One side gives the information about Linda's Great Grandmother, and the other side is for her Great Great Grandmother, both from Linda's father's side.

Evidently times were hard in those days, so they used the same marker for both women.

After Linda got the information that she needed for her Family Tree program, she and Jim enjoyed a leisurely drive through the country, back here to the Campground.

Oh, and they now have the GPS location and the road sign numbers from the intersection where the cemetery is located. ; )

Yesterday, not much happened. Jim went to the Rural King store and picked up a few things and then later, got some weed killer from Louise and sprayed the weeds that are growing up through the gravel in our site.

Today, Paul and Louise, (the campground hosts), are going to have a cookout!! Don't know what they're going to be cooking out on the grill, but knowing Louise, I'm sure it'll be really good. : )  Linda is going to make a desert to take over there and I'm sure that some of the others from the park that Louise invited will also bring food.

Sounds like a P A R T Y !!!!!!!!!

Did you know that on this date in 1786 - In New York City, commercial ice cream was manufactured for the first time?