Illinois to Florida – The Final Chapter 7/3 to
Left Illinois at 7 AM and the temp was 78 degrees. By
7:30, it was up to 79. We do need to come back this way when we have more time
and it is cooler. I was born in Galesburg, grew up in Wataga, and Mom was born
in Janesville, WI. I haven’t been back since I was 8 and, while I’m sure I
won’t recognize anything, I still feel the need to go back. Southern Illinois
is filled with state parks and lots of hiking trails and we’d like to explore
them as well.
It’s still very hot and dry – the corn looks so bad, with
its leaves folded up and grayish instead of lush, open, and bright green. Although there’s a part of me that feels a
kinship with this land, I’m glad we don’t have the heartache associated with
farming, even though we will all suffer the economic effects of the drought.
We began our drive through Kentucky farther west than on
out trip north and came across an interesting and large national recreation
area called “The Land Between the Lakes”. Can’t wait to spend some more time
here and see some of this 1,700 acre wilderness area.
We arrived at Cedar Creek in Mount Juliet, TN (same place
we stayed on the way up) with a heat index of 100-110 degrees. The thermometer
in the RV shows an ambient temp of 99. Got up early and headed out to
Montgomery, AL near where our next stop is located. Heat was brutal and we
headed out early on July 5th for Falling Waters State Park to visit
with Rick and Sam.
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| Heron in Cedar Creek |
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| Anyone know what kind of bird this is? It's about two feet high and waddles when it walks. |
Arrived at Falling Waters with no difficulties and got
the RV cooled off fairly quickly in spite of the heat (which was not as bad as
in the last week and a half). Rick and
Sam came out the next day and we had a good visit with them, and bored them
with our photos. The weather was still
hot so we stayed tucked in the cool RV all day and headed home the next
morning. Even after we got on the road, we didn’t have the anticipation of
“home” as we usually do and are eagerly awaiting our trip with Lizzie and
Charley at the end of this month.
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