Broken Record

We finally got some good warm weather here in Central IL and Glenda and I decided to make a reservation at Bo Wood COE(again). The third time this year. Hence the "broken record" title. This is our favorite campground(as I have mentioned before) and we had not been out camping for about 5 weeks since the last time we were at Bo Wood. This is the fewest times, coming into the summer, that we have been camping since we started 3 years ago. The natives were restless. Also we wanted to get out as we prepare for our vacation in 2 weeks at Rend Lake. We reserved site #99 which was where we were five weeks ago. It's a nice pull through with full hook ups.(Glenda likes full hook ups) and it's on the end of a row so you only have folks on one side. Plus with my Senior Pass the fee is only $12/night. Who said getting older was bad? :-)

#99

 

  Just so happens the awning side is where our neighbors are.

I got a new camera a few weeks ago and was trying out the fish eye setting

 

 

I think it looks pretty good. We got to talking with the neighbor on Saturday about the weather and how happy we are that it is finally warming up. I found out his name is Don and he and his wife(Twyla) are from Effingham, about 35 miles south of Bo Wood. They had just traded their "bumper pull" trailer and were testing out the new 5th wheel. It's a 2011.Pinnacle 36 RETS and they got it used from a dealer that took it in on trade. They invited us in to take a look and it still had the new RV smell. We found out Twyla just retired from teaching and Don is going to retire in December this year from an Auto Parts company. We were licking out chops so to speak just wishing we were that close to retiring. We're getting there. We had a good time getting to know them. They even invited us over to their campfire that evening for some additional chatting. They don't plan to go full time like we do but they wanted to have something bigger for those opportunities for some extended stays. Anyway we had a great time and I hope we get to see them again.

 

We didn't take our bikes with us because we weren't 100% sure of what the weather would be over the weekend. The weatherman thought there would be a chance of rain on Saturday and again on Sunday afternoon. Well after we got set up on Friday afternoon there was a small rain cell that went though the area. It was actually quite pleasant with just a soft rain off and on for a couple of hours. We just sat under the awning and enjoyed the sound of the rain. Saturday was a nice sunny day with calm winds. We took a morning walk around the campground and the place was almost full. I need to get a picture some time of one of the sites that is right near the lake. It's site #133. It's nicely shaded and the awning side faces the lake perfectly. If it's a little windy from the south it could be a rough as the wind comes right off the lake. But what a beautiful place to be. Too bad Reserve America doesn't have photos of this campground and the sites or I would post one just to give you an idea. Next time we are there I promise to get that picture.

 

We didn't have any rain on Saturday and the skies actually were pretty clear in the morning on Sunday and then started to cloud up closer to the afternoon. I had told my boss on Thursday that if the weather was windy or there were storms on Sunday I would be staying put and taking a vacation day on Monday to travel home. Well the weather held off and we were able to get packed up and left the campground around 2:30 pm. We had a nice tailwind and saved a little gas(have you seen gas prices lately?) Good Golly. Safe trip home, camper in in the storage facility and we are getting ready for our adventure at Rend Lake. Looking forward to riding the bike trails and we are even planning on driving a little further south and ride on the Tunnel Hill State Trail. As I was researching the bike trail at Rend Lake I came across a website called Trail Link.com. It's free to sign up and you can access all kinds of information on trails throughout the US. We plan to access the trailhead at Harrisburg, IL. I plan to get many photos and will post an accounting of our adventure on Rend Lake Bike Trail and Tunnel Hill Trail. So until then, we continue to work to retirement and full timing and it won't be long. Wish us luck for good weather.