Day 3 - 6/5 - Nolin Lake State Park to Effingham, IL

So today is the first day I'm not going to work.  It felt pretty good, can you tell?


 

After a quick sunrise tour of the lake, I walked back to start the pancakes and eggs in the camper.  The boys had talked the process up so we wanted to ensure that the grandparents got a chance to experience this.  


Since the day didn't seem to have too long a drive - especially compared with yesterday, I took off to hike in the woods.  There was supposed to be a waterfall, but since there hasn't been any rain in the area lately, there also wasn't a waterfall.  But it still looked pretty nice even if the waterfall wasn't there.


The drive to Effingham began much as the prior day ended - lots of twisty, turny, up and down country roads.  Good times, only not.  Finally we found our way to some highways.  We took a short break because our youngest was receiving an award at school.  Totally worth the stop - especially since it was at the Audubon park.  This papa is pretty proud.  It's a blurry picture, but here he is getting his award!

We carried on to Effingham and were just parking when our hosts pulled in.  They directed us where they wanted us to park and later explained in the most polite, Effingham-ish way that we were a day earlier than they expected us.  Both my parents and I got the day incorrect - oops.  It meant that we missed out cherry pie apparently, 

We ended up having a great evening, even if it was improptu at the time.  Aunt Debbie and Uncle Hank stopped by despite being extremely jet lagged from their recent European adventure.  Cousin Michael also made the trip down!  Unfortunately we forgot to take pictures while everybody was there so we missed an opportunity there.  Regardless, a special THANK YOU to our hosts Aunt Cathy and Uncle John!

Total miles travelled - 786 

# States (Provinces) - 6





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 8 - Fort Collins, CO to White River National Forest, CO - Family together again, and the trip goes sideways on us

Image
For those of you keeping score at home, you'll notice that the day didn't end in Medicine Bow as planned.  More on that, but let's just say there was a reason...... The day started out wonderfully, it was a clear, crisp morning and Jackie and I sat on their balcony to visit and stare at the mountains.  I am disappointed in myself for not having made time to visit with Jackie before, but it was amazing to find out all the things she is doing and what a successful academic she has become.  I really enjoyed the visit with her and am grateful for having had the opportunity to get to know her better.  After our visit, we took Pancake for a walk and then it was time to head to Denver to pick up my family.   I had checked in with Amy before they left Raleigh - apparently Terminal 2 at RDU was quite a hit.  They got lunch there which they ordered and then was delivered to a special locker where they could pick it up - fun!   Meanwhile back in Denver, it was my job to pick up food s
Read more

Day 10 - Dinsoaur National Monument, UT to Salt Lake City, UT - The end of the whale

Image
If you’re a negotiator, you know you want to be in a position with limited options and a hard deadline.  Oh wait, that’s the OPPOSITE of what you want to be in.  Regardless, that was the position we found ourselves in this morning. Neither Amy nor I got great sleep last night. Imagine that - embarking on a journey that starts with a potentially smoking engine knowing that you need to come back with a different vehicle.  Isn’t that the thing that dreams are made of?!!! Fortunately, the boys DID get a good night of sleep and we had them prepared for a long day in the car (well, cars really we hope!).  So, we fully emptied the van contents into the camper and started our journey. If you looked at yesterday’s flow chart, you’ll notice that one of HUGE questions of the day was whether or not the van would smoke, or potentially get worse.  So, all of us had our noses on full alert, but thankfully, the smell did not return - at least not strongly.  Amy was driving and Brian was frantically t
Read more

Day 9 - White River National Forest, CO to Dinosaur National Monument, UT - The trip really goes sideways

Image
What a amazing way to start the day.  I had woken up in the middle of the night and had seen the stars and the shadows of the mountain peaks in the distance.  That was breathtaking, but then when Amy woke up, opened the door and said “You need to see this”, the view of the snow-capped, purple mountain across the lake really made the impromptu stop in the National Forest SO worth it.  Just an amazing way to start the day. It turned out that the boys like the camp spot, but for very different reasons.  Robinson discovered that the area was crawling with chipmunk/prairie dog creatures.  While they tried to play “whack-a-mole” with him, he eventually became patient enough to get some great pictures of them as they came out of their dens. Sebastian went down by the lake and started a rock collection of his favorite rocks.  The water there was super clear and rocky - just magnificent to sit and stare at - possibly forever.  However, because of our impromptu stop, we had a long day of driving
Read more