Finishing the Midwest visit...Comlara County Park, Bo Wood with friends and Kamp Komfort

As I said at the end of the last post we got a nice site at Comlara County Park for the first week back in Bloomington/Normal, IL. Again the gnats were as bad as the last 2 years we've been back and the humidity has been draining. We've did get in a couple of bike rides around the park and tried to walk each morning before it got too hot. Of course we survived. After spending so much time in the west with low humidity we've really become wimps with this weather.

We did get the kayak out one morning for a while and had a nice paddle. There was some breeze to help with the heat and a few clouds helped too.

Smooth water in a cove

Beautiful reflections

It's been a while since we used the kayak and we were a little stiff the next day but the views on the lake were wonderful and we needed the exercise. Well worth the effort.

We spent as much time as we could visiting my dad and brother, Kent, and took dad out for dinner at a local Thai restaurant. Glenda spent one day with her friend, Diana. They, of course, did some shopping.

After a week there we had plans to meet our friends Todd and Corinne at Bo Wood campground at Lake Shelbyville near Sullivan, IL. We reserved a Buddy site so we could be close but still have privacy. Todd and his daughter, Lindsay, were there with us the first 3 days and then Corinne came for the weekend. Lindsay had some time off from her job at the local hospital and Corinne had to work during the week. They swapped out staying with us.

Our site

What a Buddy site looks like

Lots of space and easy to back into. We love this park with the lake and plenty of space to ride bikes and walk. This is our preferred type of campground.

I've been getting more into geocaching this past year and was talking to Todd about it. I told him there were a few caches in the park so we checked the coordinates on Geocaching.com and headed toward them. It was fun getting a new person started in this activity. Something that can be done by anyone anywhere. All you need is an account at Geocaching.com and a GPS or smartphone and you're set.

We found 5 caches in the park and 3 caches outside the park about a mile or so away. One of the caches was dedicated to a daughter that is serving our country in the military. The person that hid the cache also put a trackable travel bug for someone to retrieve and move around the country. Well I was able to retrieve it and I plan to move it to as many states as I can to honor this person's daughter.

The cache was full of Americana related swag. Everything was Red, White and Blue.

In Honor of a Soldier

Red, white and blue

We had an incredible time looking for caches and enjoying our finds. Todd got very excited about geocaching so he signed up for an account and started logging finds. He already has 8 finds from over the weekend.

We also we took a drive to an Amish market near Arthur, IL. Lots of buggies around on the road. IT was fun watching the families as the horses trotted along the road.

Amish farm

Amish market

Lots of produce and goodies

In the evening we took bike rides or a walk around the park. We had Todd and Corinne over one evening for dinner and then they had us over the next. Just what we needed after such hectic visits with grandkids and family. Unfortunately the humidity and heat has continued but we had the best of our time with friends. They plan to go full time in a few years and we would travel with them anytime, anywhere. Just a couple of crazy kids like us.

Corinne and Todd

The gang

Sunday it was time for them to head home and us to head back to Bloomington/Normal for our last visit with family and friends there before heading south and west after Labor Day.

We got our site at Kamp Komfort near Carlock, IL and the owner, Cliff, accommodated us with a nice pull through where the traffic noise from the Interstate is less. We'll be here until Sept. 6 and then make our way down to Rend Lake near Marion, IL.

Looking forward to our visit with long time friends, Dad and Kent.

Details of our final time here will be soon.

Thanks for following along.