 We are back home! And, what a trip we have had! Now, we must unload the RV and put everything away......What a job! 
We left Tim and Emily's and drove about a half hour to a Walmart where we waited for our friends David and Elizabeth to arrive in Dallas. They were in the process of moving from San Antonio to Dallas, and this was their first night to permanently be in Dallas. Although they would have no furniture until the next day, we had a wonderful evening at their fabulous new house enjoying wine and a take-out dinner.
We returned to our RV about 1:30 a.m., at which point I went to bed and Roger started driving. (He drank a lot of water instead of so much wine!) Roger's plan was to get just south of Dallas and stay in a rest stop so we would not have to deal with Dallas traffic when we woke up. But, as luck would have it, the rest stop was too full and we could not stop. So, he drove until 4:00 a.m. and parked in a Walmart in Waco, TX.
Again, we forgot to take our camera--so we have no photos. We left Osage Beach and drove to a rest stop just past Springfield, MO where we spent the night. We got up on Wednesday morning and drove to Fairview, TX to visit Tim and Emily Bailey--friends from San Antonio who moved a couple of years ago. We parked our RV in a Walmart near their house and they picked us up. We spent the night with them in their gorgeous new home--it was the first night we have not slept in the RV since July 28th!
We left our camera in the RV, so we have no photos.   We left Ft. Madison, IA shortly after noon on Tuesday and drove to Osage Beach, MO, to Mike and Judy Pickford's house. (Mike and Roger wrestled together in high school.) Mike and Judy are retired teachers who relocated from Pekin, IL, to the Ozarks. They have a huge house with a huge deck right on a huge lake. The whole set-up is vacation-perfect. I guess they are on permanent vacation! They made a delicious lasagna dinner and we spend a warm, relaxed evening.
     After we left Iowa City, we drove a little over an hour to the Ft. Madison area where Roger grew up. We parked our RV at a farm owned by Roger's friend Johnny Bonar. At the Bonar Campground, John and DeAnne Bonar treated us to free camping, free rental car, free breakfast, free dinner, a complimentary tour of beautiful Lake Wilderness, and a fruit basket upon departure. The Bonar Campground wins our blue ribbon award for the best campground on our whole trip! We really appreciated their hospitality!
The picture with the golf cart and the one with the building outlined in lights are both at Lake Wilderness where John and DeAnne have bought a wonderful camper/cabin combination on the lake. The last picture shows Roger and the bean field beside our camper.
 On Monday, we picked Roger's mother Kathrine up at the assisted living facility, got some food at a deli, and had lunch in our RV. Kathrine has always enjoyed camping, so the RV was fun for her.
     On our way to our campground in the Ft. Madison, IA area, we stopped to load some family heirlooms into our RV. Since Roger's mother recently moved from her senior apartment into an assisted-living facility, Roger's sisters had cleaned out her apartment and divided things up amongst the siblings. Roger's things were put into storage waiting for us to arrive with the RV. His sister Juanita and her husband Andy helped us load.
     Scott and Dianne's daughter Katie and Jim and Becky's sons Grant and Derek joined us for tailgating. Note that Derek is wearing a t-shirt with a stunning photo of himself on the front. The second photo of his shirt shows how Derek will look as an old man.
     Tailgating was fun both before and after the game--even though Iowa lost the game. After being ahead for three quarters, they had some turnovers in the 4th quarter and Northwest ended up winning 23-17.
     We left Lena, IL, and drove to Iowa City to meet up with Scott & Dianne Pickford and Jimmy & Becky Buxton for the weekend and to go to a Univ. of IA football game. Since Jimmy and Becky live in Iowa City, they had arranged for us to park our RV in a university parking lot so we could tailgate before and after the game.
Although we forgot to take pictures, we had a fun last few days in Lena.
On Tuesday, Roger golfed with Stan Bruegger, and I went to Galena with Jackie Bruegger. (friends from McNess in Freeport where Roger used to work) In Galena, we shopped, had lunch, and found C.C. Dithers where my friend Cathy Boldt (wife of a friend of Ellen's from high school) works. I bought a very unique pair of capris in Cathy's store.
Tuesday night, we went out to Coaches in Lena for pizza with Jeff and Cathy Boldt. We bumped into Kathy Aurand Diaz and her husband Dan and son Zachary (Kathy is a high school friend of Ellen's sister)
Wednesday, Roger got up early and golfed with Steve Smith (friend from Freeport) in Freeport. I slept in and had a lazy morning. Then Roger came back for a few minutes and then left to golf with Jim Graham (friend from Freeport) in Lena. While Roger was gone, I prepared a guest lecture I am giving for a Univ of Nebraska professor. When Roger got back, we went into Stockton to see my Aunt Glenda and get ice cream.
Wednesday night, we had dinner at Rafters with Jim and Deb Graham. Before we left to meet Jim and Deb, we learned that a San Antonio neighbor, Bernetta Haden, was at Apple Canyon Lake, which is about 20 miles from our campground. She invited us to come out for a visit, but since it was our last night and we already had plans, we were unable to meet up with her. Nevertheless, it was quite a coincidence that we almost met up with our San Antonio neighbor while we were in Illinois!
Right now, it is about 12:30 on Thursday afternoon. Check out time is noon, and we are a little late, but will leave in a few minutes and head to Iowa City. Hopefully we'll get back in our picture-taking mode there!  On Sunday, Sept. 21, we watched the Bears lose in overtime at my Ellen's brother Ryan's house. Then we went to a couple of parks in Freeport and out for ice cream with our friend Sue Fredel and her boyfriend, Greg.
    On Saturday night after the Alumni Breakfast, we had a family cookout at our RV. Four of my brothers and their wives were there plus my one brother's five-year-old stepson. The weather was absolutely perfect and we had fun roasting hotdogs and marshmallows with sticks--just like when we were kids!
   Since Ellen is the chairman of the Alumni Breakfast Committee, she was interviewed by both the local newspaper and the local radio station. The picture shows her being interviewed by the radio station.
After we left the Breakfast, we stopped by the Stockton Museum, which was quite fun and interesting. The large Kraft sign is in the museum because Kraft Foods was started in Stockton, IL....Ellen's little hometown that has only recently reached the 2000 census count.
Ellen was quite pleased to discover that her high school year is too "current" to have her yearbook included in the museum. It is nice not to be considered museum-worthy just yet!
     On Friday, Sept. 19th, we went to the Stockton Homecoming game. The team is not having a good year, so even though we did not win, we were able to celebrate the first score of the season!
On Saturday morning, we were at the high school at 7:00 a.m. to set up for the 4th annual Stockton Alumni Breakfast, which was held in the school gym. The first picture shows Ellen talking to Mary Stayner who helped Ellen gather the door prizes and pull the event together. The second picture shows Ellen with the door prizes table. The third picture shows a general shot at the event. The fourth picture shows Ellen calling door prize numbers. The fifth picture shows Mary taking pictures of the alumni attendees' names from the graduation year timeline.
   On Thursday, after we left Karl's place, we went to the Stockton homecoming parade with our friends Jeff and Cathy Boldt.
After the parade, we went to the pep rally in the gymnasium, and watched Jeff and Cathy's son in the junior class skit.
After the pep rally, we went out to Jeff and Cathy's house for a weiner roast under a beautiful sky full of stars.
     Karl's collection of antique tractors is amazing. He has several barns full of them. Parker loves climbing into the seats and "driving" all of them!
     On Thursday, Sept. 18th, we visited Ellen's brother Karl's cabin and pond. The pictures show his grandson Parker letting two turtles loose into the pond and sitting on the porch.
After we left the cabin and pond, we visited one of Karl's barns full of antique John Deere tractors. The last picture shows Parker and Ellen in the middle of the barn.
  On Monday, Sept. 15th, we were planning to have two of Ellen's classmates, Lynette and Janet, and their husbands for a cookout at our campsite. But, the ongoing rain put an end to that plan. We switched the dinner from outside to inside and from our campsite to Lynette and Dick's lovely new home.
A day or two later, Roger snapped this picture of the camper next to us. If you look closely, you will see that the driver isn't exactly human. It doesn't take a special license to drive an RV, but having your dog drive might be taking it a little too far!
This week, we spent a lot of time collecting door prizes for the Alumni Breakfast that is coming up on Sept. 20th. I (Ellen) did the initial canvassing with Mary Stayner, another person on the Alumni Breakfast Committee. The, Roger and I did a lot of going back to recheck and/or collect.
    On Wednesday, Sept. 10th, we ate at Cannova's Italian restaurant (our favorite Freeport restaurant) with Steve Erin, Steve Smith and Janaan Smith (friends from Freeport), and Louanne Vedra Glisan (friend from Freeport and also our sister-in-law)      On the way home from Ryan and Lana's house, we stopped at the Blackhawk Monument--an Indian war marker near where Ellen grew up.
On Tuesday, Sept. 10th, we went into Freeport and checked out a couple of changes since we lived in Freeport: Little Cubs Field and the Lincoln/Douglas debate site. Although the debate site was marked with this statue when we lived in Freeport, the area has been changed into a nice little park.
On Tuesday night, Jim Graham (friend from Freeport), stopped by our RV. On Wednesday afternoon, Steve Erin (friend formerly from Freeport, now from California) arrived in the area. |
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