IL: Family time

Our next stop was central IL near where my folks live, we arrived at Bo Woods COE (Lake Shelbyville) in Sullivan IL mid afternoon on Sunday of Columbus Day weekend. This time of the year it's walkin only, we scored one of the best sites in the park, site 133 electric only, sometimes referred to as Windy Point. Our friends Mark & Nancy had stayed on this same site early in the season, I asked a few friends on FB for site recommendations and 133 was top of the list. We tried to stay at Bo Woods last fall while we were in the area, government put a kabash on that idea,  this year we got in but the weather didn't cooperate. We never did get the chance to have a fire or sit outside as it was cold and rainy while there, we'll be back to Bo Woods in the spring sure hope the weather is better.

Laundry at the folks house was a priority, 2 1/2 weeks with out a laundry was pushing our limit but we managed, thanks Mom & Dad for the free laundry use. Once the laundry was started we decided to take a ride up to Arthur IL and pick up a few Amish treats, don't know when we'll find a good farmers market again. An afternoon job of changing out storm doors kept Dave busy until time to head for dinner.

1964 with my grandparents, my dad & my little brother

A weekday trip was planned to Rockville IN in Parke County was planned, Parke County is home to a number of covered bridges and a county wide festival was running while we were there. Again the weather didn't cooperate and it rained so walking the streets through the booths was out. We did get a map of the bridges and took a ride through a number of them. I think a longer visit to the area is in order one of these days, have to think about our route next fall through this area. Our scenic ride through the county on old back roads was reminiscent of years ago in VT when we'd take weekend trips doing the same thing.

2000 with my dad & us

 

Our last day in town my dad had a doctors appointment so we headed took a ride in the morning around Lake Shelbyville to see what other camping options were nearby. We drove through 2 IL state parks and another COE park, if we were smaller they'd be fine but at almost 40' we clearly made the right choice, they open mid April just in time for a visit on the way north. We spent the afternoon visiting with my folks and then dinner with them and some of my cousins, one of whom I hadn't seen in over 30 years. Of course forgot to get the phone out much less the camera.

We had a nice visit with my folks and it was good to see Dad doing much better, he's lost 70 pounds since we saw them last April and has made some major diet changes. Way to go Dad keep up the good work, see you in the spring.

On Thursday we headed south to MO, a new state since we've started rv'ing, we don't have anymore reservations till we get to the Houston area in mid November so for now we are winging it. We stopped at Redman Creek COE on Lake Wappepello, we found a nice FHU site so we paid for 3 nights to get us through the weekend. We enjoyed a quiet weekend at the campground, took a ride around the lake looking at other campgrounds, again we made another good choice based on "our" requirements. The one thing we didn't like at Redman Creek was that unlike many COE campgrounds this one did not have sites on the water or any type of water views. 

On Sunday we moved to Conway AR and are staying at Toad Suck COE on the Arkansas River. Temps are suppose to be good so we paid for a week and we'll see what we can find to do around here.

Until next time...