Following Fall South in October

We are relocated to Lake Carlyle, Illinois.

The Valley Orchard was fun

15 Oct:  And another day dawned bright and cold.  Temperatures are finally where they should be this time of year.  We survived our hike on the "haunted trail" despite the slithering ghoul we had to pass in the cemetery.  Cynthia didn't like the coffee provided by the hotel machine, especially after she added cornbread mix to it from a bag of mine she found lying on the counter.  She usually knows not to mess with my stuff but apparently needed a reminder.

14 Oct:  We thought it was going to be extremely windy and cold for our ride to Carlyle, but the ride was actually quite pleasant although not warm.  Pam greeted us warmly when we arived at the Mariner's Village, another hotel where the managers treat us like family.  We shopped at the nearby Walmart for groceries and walked halfway across the dam to the spillways.  I was quite surprised to see that they are releasing quite a flow of water from the lake into the Kaskaskia River.   Cynthia is washing all traces of poison ivy out of her clothes.  We have no idea how and where she got it.  We remembered to send Ron's pacemaker data off to Medtronic using Cynthia's smartphone and a pacemaker device reader (aka magic).

13 Oct, Sunday:  We enjoyed a second day with sister Carol & Bill in their woods.  Ron walked to mud slide hill and saw Eric's new deer blind next to the ashes signifying an earlier burn pile and stack of firewood chopped from the tree on the neighboring property.  (Carol says the tree was on her property, walked a few steps over onto the neighbor's property and fell backward onto hers.)

12 Oct:  Carol & Bill will pick us up at 10 am, God willing, and take us out to the country to enjoy an 83 degree day.  We were all worn out, Ron from overeating oatmeal first thing, Cynthia from days on end of travel, Carol from her early morning schedule.  But Carol did fix us a great lunch of salmon, sweet potatoes and colorful mixed veggies.   Bill took Ron on a quick tour of the property, to the splitter shed to see the new firewood racks all dado jointed and sturdy, down mud slide hill to see the new bridge, and on the new path: "Carol's Lakeside view" with a magnificent view of the Mt. Olive Lake, now drained down to a swamp full of weeds.  Apparently it would cost the city over a million dollars to bring the deteriorating dam up to modern standards, so the lake is now drained.  No doubt someone on the city council will have a plan to enrich himself by selling development rights to someone, and then the city will repair the dam.

11 Oct:  We managed to get on the road at 10:30 and only stopped once to arrive in Litchfield at 2:30 in the afternoon and have Carol and Bill join us at Ruby Tuesday.  Much fun was had by all.  The fall colors were less frequent and less striking but were still very nice.  The most amazing part of today's ride was that the pavement was very smooth from start to finish.  That is so very unusual in Illinois, a state known far and wide for poor pavement.  US 218 into Keokuk, US 136 crossing the Mississippi on a bridge undergoing repair, 3 miles to a R on IL 96 S 28 mi (missed turn #1) to a L on US 24 (missed turn #2) for 3 mi to a R on I-172 for 20 miles continuing onto I-72 for 55 miles to a R on US 67 S just west of Jacksonville, about 4 miles to a left on Woodson-Winchester road 4 miles to a R on IL 267 S (which i recognize as Lawrence''s favorite) 22 mi to Greenville for gasoline and a L onto IL 108 which was surprisingly nice and newly repaved, 22 mi to a R in I-55 S in increasing winds 7 miles to Litchfield.

10 Oct:  We visited with cousins Ken and Marvin (& Doris) at noon at the Great Day Cafe in Keosauqua.  Unfortunately, we missed both Rex and Scott in the afternoon and left at 4:30.  We are spending the night in Keokuk and bought blueberries, raspberries and bananas to go with our oatmeal dinners.  Route wasn't great: US 63 S -> US 34 E, R on V43/ IA 16 E to R on IA 1 S which is much improved by grinding and replacing pavement joints.  Continuing IA 1 S from Keosauqua was again rough and lumpy to IA 2 which is not as smooth as previously to US 218 S to the Quality Inn in Keokuk.

9 Oct:  Our visit to Northwood was a success; we managed to spend two hours apiece with loved friends and family there.  We are heading south before snowfall and hope to see a few relatives in Keosauqua.  No worries about being too cold this year.  Fortunately the fall colors are beginning in each place we stay, and the colors were gorgeous as we rode south on I-35.  Route: I-35 S to I-80 E skirting Des Moines, R on US 65 S briefly to L on IA 163 S for miles to join US 63 S to Otumwa and IA 149 to the Quality Inn there.

8 Oct:  Breakfast with Dick & Jane at the Holiday Inn was again delightful.  It is nice to talk with people who share convictions and observations.  Ron rode into Northwood to pick up Annie's leftovers at Susan's Corner Cafe.  (We were lucky that no one else ate them.)  At 1:30 we rode to Kensett to see Danny, Deanna and Julie for delightful conversation and snacks (lefse !!).  At 3:30pm, we set off the exit alarms first and then visited Ann-n-Dale and their grandkids Cole and Bria.  They guided us into the nursing home next door to visit Cynthia's cousin Nelda.  Next stop was the cemetery to pay our respects to Cynthia's parents.  After parking within twenty feet of their graves, we wandered around for ten minutes looking for them.  Before leaving Northwood, we shared a foot-long veggie sub at Subway.  Next year we hope to visit Ray and Mary

All the kids at the playground in Wayzata, MN

7 Oct:  Ron called his cousins in Iowa and was lucky to talk to three of the four in Keosauqua.  Lunch with Annie and Dave, Ann-n-Dale was delightful and delicious as always.  Everyone actually looks better than a year ago, better health is such a blessing at our ages.  Annie is such a good cook that Ron was still too full to eat dinner with Dave and Pat in the evening.  We have to thank Ann-n-Dale for the ride to Annies so that Cynthia could enjoy seeing her friends without the embarrassment of hairdo by helmet.  Ron was quite disappointed to discover that no one had remembered to bring the leftovers that Annie had packed for us.  Pat is having back pain and nerve problems, Dave is older too, but we all enjoyed good conversation despite discomforts.  The biggest surprise is that Dave and Pat sold all their "rendevous" gear and are planning to do their camping in a tin can.

6 Oct, Sunday:  We had great fun visiting with Brett & Holden at breakfast before driving to Northwood.  We really missed Jen and Hudson, but they had to attend a birthday party.  Holden has a smile a mile deep.  Both of the boys were sad to see us go.  Hudson gave us huge hugs last night, and Holden hugged tight this morning.  Precious boys.  The wind was horrendous whipping us around for 2 and a half hours.  There aren't good restaurants in Northwood, so we ate popcorn for warmth and crunch, then shared a Subway filled with veggies.  We've seen lots of fall color in Minnesnowda.

5 Oct:  We relocated as early as possible (11:30) to another Country Inn closer to Brett, Jen, Hudson & Holden and then joined them at the Birches on the Lake for lunch, a Wayzata playground on a lake (see photo) for an hour and again at Gianni's for dinner.  We are now way too much overfull, but it was delicious.

4 Oct:  We enjoyed a nice 45-minute walk in the neighborhood around Neil Armstrong Elementary School.  Then, suddenly, it was time to shower and pack in order to check out and relocate to the Hampton Inn in Eagan, near the airport.  The ride N on US 10 to I-494 W to I-35E South one exit onto Lone Pine Road and the Hampton Inn was easy in light traffic.  We had great fun at dinner tonight (starting at 4:30) talking with Lance & Shelley, and Carolyn at Jensen's in Eagan, Minnesota.  We sat at a booth next to Shelley and across from Carolyn and Lance, so were able to converse in separate conversations: Ron & Carolyn versus Cynthia & Lance & Shelly.  Then we used the restroom and switched seats to switch conversational partners.  Now, at 8:33, Ron can get back to work on Cynthia's James Lea index, but he worked far too late, past midnight. 

3 Oct:  More indexing, more walking, more raspberries and almonds at ALDI.  Cynthia went walking the halls of the hotel without me, so I started ten minutes later and could not find her.  She left her phone in the room and hid in the fitness center on the treadmill. Cynthia treaded on the mill for thirty minutes, but the Apple Watch only recorded nine minutes as exercise because she only walked 2.5 MPH…not pushing fast enough to be considered exercise.  Sadly, Axel’s Restaurant closed permanently on 30 Sep, so Ron was forced to find an alternative and located a Jensen’s Restaurant that might be very good.  Donna is still suffering from a bad cold.  We walked outdoors twice totaling 5.38 miles, and we split a Subway whole wheat bun filled with veggies.   (15,101 steps) 

2 Oct:  More indexing, more walking (twice for 45 minutes each).  Donna didn't call today, so we assume that her cold is worser.  Let's hope she feels better tomorrow.  We baked our huge sweet potato in the microwave in the potato pocket that Elauth gave us, and it turned out perfectly.  This time we bought blueberries and raspberries at ALDI (again).

1 Oct:  We spent the day at the hotel since Donna's cold has gotten worse.  Her doctor prescribed medication, so we will see how she is tomorrow.  In between times, we did walk once to ALDI for a sweet potato and continued for a mile or two, and repeated the walk around the Neil Armstrong school before dark.  Ron spent the day working on the James Lea index and is ready to redo the text file to find more needed index entries.

14 Oct:  relocate to Mariner's Inn

15-25 Oct:  - see if we can finish index

20 Oct, Sunday:  Morning offering is due, Thanks be to God.

25 Oct:  SmoochSmooch departs for baby shower, wedding shower and/or Houston showers.