Catching up....stops in Georgia, Mississippi, Kentucky and into Illinois

We left the Valdosta, Ga area after the graduation and headed north to a COE park in northern Ga. We had a great site with a lake view. The park is very large so we were able to get our steps in every day. 

Our view under the awning

Wildlife as we walked in the morning

We had a short stop in northern Mississippi at Piney Grove COE. We've been here before but it was the off season and we had the  loop to ourselves. Not this time. Kids are out of school and it was a weekend. We only stayed 2 nights so we did our walks and got some laundry done at the laundry they have in the park. We couldn't get level in the site we reserved but got to the park early enough to change sites. Much more level and a little longer. There's hardly any internet in most areas of the park so we didn't communicate too much while there. Glad we weren't there longer.

Then we moved on into Kentucky and another COE park. Canal COE is in an area called Land between the Lakes. It's near Paducah, Ky. This area is huge for fishing but I don't fish. There are folks pulling boats everywhere. The area has seen better days. There are remnants of days gone by where tourism was big. Many roadside motels and places to eat. However things look run down.

We did come across a fairly new brew pub. The Dam Brewhaus is in an old home that was remodeled with tables, bar and of course beer taps. They have several different beers so I had a flight....a couple IPA's, a Porter and a Stout. It was early afternoon so we were the only people in the brewpub. However after about 30 minutes a few other guys came in and we started some conversation. It was nice to mingle with the locals.

Again the site we reserved would not accommodate us so Glenda quickly went back to the gate house and got our site changed. We were closer to the gate house and for some reason a family of deer would come walking or running by in the mornings and the afternoons. They were very tame and would only move along when someone got a little too close.

The deer really liked the grass on the other side of the road

We continued to get our walks in everyday and noticed some sites that only a van or very small camper get into. The driveway into the sites were very steep and angled.

Then on one of our walks we came across an area near a boat dock. Turns out it was a group camping area. There were a few other Class A's and trailers in the group area since there was no group occupying the sites. We wish we would have known this because we found a site we would have loved to have.

Site 106....We would be facing the water with no one in front of us. 

Looking back from the dock at #106

We had a nice stay there but probably would not return in the future. Then it was on to Illinois.

We had a reservation at Bo Wood COE about 3 miles south of Sullivan, IL. We have been here numerous times in the past and it's one of our favorite parks in IL. We would come here on weekends when we still worked in Bloomington, IL. It's only about 80 south of where we lived so a long weekend was always great. We didn't have to be off the site until 3 pm on departure days.

This trip we snagged #106....I think we like that number. IT was FHU and only $12/night with the Senior Pass for the NP's .

This was a perfect base for visiting family and friends in Bloomington/Normal. I was able to share some time with my brother at Destihl Brewpub and Catch up on his travels and ours. My brother has been very busy this winter with a trip to the British Virgin Islands to go sailing, a trip to the Netherlands and a sailing adventure from the BVI's to Bermuda and then on to Norfolk,VA and the Chesapeake Bay. He hooked up with some guys bringing their sailboats back to the states in what is called...a rally. There were about 30 boats in the rally. Not a race just everyone sailing together as they traveled back. He told me it was boring and exciting. Think about it....you're surrounded by open seas for several days. I get it. The next day we had lunch at he and his girlfriends house. Nancy prepared some wonderful cheese and crackers, veggies and dip. For lunch we had a delicious salad.

Then we got together with our friends Richard and Brenda. We've known them for many years and we always make time to see them. They tried to get some other folks together however Betsy was the only one that could make it on short notice. Brenda served us some delicious cake and we had a wonderful conversation as we caught up. On a sad note...our friend Betsy had lost her husband recently and we hadn't had a chance to pay our respects. It was a bittersweet reunion.

Brenda, Richard, Glenda, Betsy and Me

After a week at Bo Wood COE we moved on to Indiana to see our daughter, Sommer, Todd and some of the grandkids. WE stopped for 3 nights at the Elkhart Campground and then moved over to the Elkhart Fairgrounds in Goshen, IN. We're making this our base for the next 3 weeks.

We had a graduation party for Brooklyne  but I didn't get photos. We went bowling and I didn't get photos. So I will give more of an update soon as I try to get some photos of the family to share. In a couple days we'll be driving to our daughter, Heather's home in Bartlett, IL for a few days to visit.

Again I'll share more soon as we continue our visiting here in the Midwest. Sorry for the brief synopsis but like I said.....I'm trying to catch up. Thanks for following along.