The weather had finally cooperated so we could head out on a nice sunny Saturday morning - September 12, 2009. Since we would be seeing Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace and his childhood home during our Kentucky stopover, we wanted to learn a little more about his pre-Presidency adult life. Again, we got a slightly later start than planned so we made our way to southbound I-39 & westbound I-44 for a stop in Springfield IL. Both of us had fought off our afflictions and were more in the mood to absorb the scenery along the route. On the way to Springfield, we saw cornfields that were ready to be picked, cornfields that were being picked and cornfields that had been picked. There is a severe shortage of optical adrenaline rushes in Central Illinois as well as most ... read more

The Trip to Illinois Ahhhhhhh - August 14, 2009 was another spectacular day in Silver City NM with beautiful blue skies, puffy white clouds and brilliant sunshine. Everything (I hoped) had been loaded into my 2005 Pilgrim 28’ travel trailer when I set out for Illinois with my friend, Kay Baker, a few hours later than planned - of course! We had decided to avoid the Interstates and the major cities as much as was practical on this trip and focus our journey on the scenic routes - as proclaimed by Rand McNally. The first leg of our expedition would be to Rockford IL to complete some business with two of my nieces, Robyn and Cindy, and was planned to be a direct 4-day drive with one relaxation day dropped into the middle of the trek. ... read more