IL: Old Friends & New Friends-Living & Camping

One Sunday we moved over to Hudson IL, it was a 235 mile trip that took a little longer than expected. Shortly after entering IL I radioed Dave he needed to pull over, looked like we had a tire issue with the tire he was unsure of. Last winter we had a tire getting soft but Dave thought it was the valve cap thingy that came with the system causing our tire to go soft, it wasn't. I've been following him for the most part and thought something didn't look quite right. We caught the tire before it caused any real damage, a quick stop in a gas station parking lot and with the auto levelers we soon had the tire changed and were back on the road.

Taking into consideration the time change we arrived at the beautiful Comlara County Park in Hudson IL. The park reminds us of lots of the state parks and COE parks we've been in, it is situated right on Evergreen Lake and has electric only sites with water spigots scattered sporadically around.When we got to our site (39) we decided with the evidence provided to us that we were going in truck first, the power pedestal, fireplace and picnic table would all have been on the wrong sides if we'd of backed in. Comlara County Park is located just a few miles off of I39 just north of the Bloomington\Normal area, the campground is on the shores of Evergreen Lake, rate for a week (30amp) is $124.60, sure can't beat that. Our friends Mark & Nancy arrived on Monday and they have also chosen to drive in their back in site, Mark did good in choosing our sites and we all look forward to exploring the park.

Tuesday we headed to Pontiac IL, Mark knew of an rv dealer there, we went in search of tire info which we got. While there Nancy and I started looking through the 5th wheels and motorhomes, just like when I owned a home where I always enjoyed going through new home models. I enjoyed going through the rv's but found nothing I'd trade mine in on. Afterwards we headed into to Pontiac to a Route 66 museum we'd seen advertised.

The Route 66 Museum was a lot of fun, we've seen lots of similar museums during our travels on Route 66. A great collection of 50's stuff, we all had seen lots of these things in our homes or our grandparents homes.

 

The War Museum was also in the same building, this museum focused on IL men and women who have served our country through the years. I asked if they had anything of Robert Overmyer's a cousin of mine who was a casualty of the Vietnam War, unfortunately they didn't. Since this museum focused on IL soldiers there were lots of personal things, they have a large collection of uniforms.

The rest of our time with Mark & Nancy was spent at the campground, though we did run into to town to get a replacement tire. Since last year we've gone round and round with Mark about whether we were camping or living, to us they go hand in hand and we can do both many times in one day. When Mark and Nancy go out in their rv they are camping, on our one rainy day they did enjoy living in an rv while we played games. Nancy and I spent the guys fishing/bonding time talking and reconnecting, while we saw them last year we didn't get much chance to sit and talk, this time we did. A few nights around a campfire

with talks covering old friends, where our lives are now and where we are all headed in the upcoming years. We've know Mark a long time, I met Mark in high school and Dave met him once we got together, since Nancy and Mark got together we've all been good friends, there were the weekend gatherings, the guys fishing trips and family vacations together later on. So glad as this new chapter in our lives unfolds we are able to reconnect with friends we haven't seen since forever.

While at Comlara we also had the pleasure of spending time with Curt and Glenda of Illinois Campers, I've been following their blog for the last year or so, as they went through the massive transition to the full time life.  Early in our stay they stopped by our site, we set up plans to meet later in the week. Curt and Glenda have been staying at Comlara for awhile as Curt's dad hasn't been well, all signs point to them taking off on their adventure this week. Curt and Glenda are like all the full timers we've met, ready for an adventure and willing to share of themselves and their lives, we spent a wonderful evening talking and getting to know this great couple, looking forward to the day our trails cross again.

At Comlara that weekend an Oktoberfest was being held, not your typical kind but one for the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society. As David "Talion" Pai told us, they are a bunch of geeks out playing. Their characters are loosely based on characters from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

This young lady reminded us of our son Tom's significant other, she participates in Amtgard. Krystal's character is named Blue Wolf, maybe someday we'll get to see her in action.





Until next time...