Springfield, IL

The entrance to the Festival, old Capital Building and main stage.

Smaller stage with contestant performing and lunch.

We spent the day in Springfield again today. First thing we did was buy a new tire for the trailer. We put the spare on a while ago and had a bald one for a spare so today we bought a new one for a spare. Loved those highways in Alaska ;-0 From there we went to the Old Capitol Blues and BBQs. The city blocks off four blocks of roads in a cross (+). Two stages on the end of two streets. One was for "known" artists on the main stage and one for a contest. The winner is given a stipend to help them get to Nashville for a contest held there. There is also a BBQ contest and many vendors of BBQ. We walked a lot but probably not enough for all we ate. It was a beautiful day, low humidity and breezy. Lots of beer flowing and we left before it got too crazy. Just another little side note. This campground is on the old Route 66. We spent so much time "chasing" RTE 66 down and here we are right on it without trying. We'll be off in the morning.

Springfield, IL

Went into town today. Visited the Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum. Lots of one-way streets to deal with and trying to find a lot to "dump" the car. The museum was very nice with some really nice displays. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any pictures. Weather still very humid but not as warm today. Had a couple of sprinkles as well as some peeks of sunshine.

Springfield, IL

Well we arrived here at the Double J Campground yesterday only to find that the server for the place was down. It is finally up and running yippee! Here's some pics of the latest campground. We will be here until Sunday morning. The drive here was uneventful, same old boring roads with acres of corn.

Hannibal, MO

The is a name above this point, a woman researched the name found it was a relative and decided to get married at this spot. There has been 4 or 5 others including an employee. The Post Office is where Tom and Becky left notes to each other.

Story/legend of Lover's Leap, view from LL and the actual point where the "lovers' leaped.

Hannibal, MO

Owen, the riverboat pilot :-) Map of cave, we followed the yellow circle. Entrance to cave used today, to the left and up higher you can see the original entrance that has been blocked off.

This dark spot is caused by thousands of bats hanging together. Yes, there were bats in the cave. Our tour guide, Chris. Owen and I were the only people on the tour and this was the second tour that Chris had given alone.

This was taken in the "parlor".

New London, MO

This place has the worst WiFi access we have ever had! It took over an hour to get the last blog on and it would not do the second one. Today it will do nothing that involves pictures. It is like Nomad service, if you try to download something it gets slow then slower still and then will "kick" you off. This place just goes to "local only" whenever I try to download pictures. So, you will have to wait until we are in another town, probably in Illinois tomorrow and then I will do the last two days.

New London, MO

Mark Twain River Boat. Bridge between MO and IL.

Lover's leap ;-)

Picture from boat, major "farmer tan".
This is for Sara, a medical note from Grant's Drug Store

Spent the afternoon in Hannibal. Did a Mississippi River cruise on the Mark Twain River Boat. It was an hour and was very pleasant. A beautiful day, warm but a little bit humid, blue skies and a slight breeze. Nice to be on the river. From there we visited the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum. It is a complex of buildings all where MT grew up. It includes Huck Finn's house, Mark Twain's house, Becky Thatcher's house, J.M. Clemens justice of the peace office, Grant's Drug Store (MT lived with them for a while) and interpretive center and museum. The museum has 15 original Norman Rockwell paintings/illustrations for Tom Sawyer. It was nice to talk to Carl this afternoon, can't wait to see Vivian in about a month.

New London, MO

Making a Boston Cream Pie, good thing I'm used to a small kitchen:-)

We have a couple of extra days before we are due at Sara & T's so decided to head South. We are in New London, Missouri. It is just outside of Hannibal. We will spend three days here. The drive was still the endless farmland. I have a picture to try and convey the acres of corn that is grown here. As far as the eye can see, it is corn. A few more trees and hills along this stretch of road. The rest areas in Iowa all have WiFi/Internet access and are smoke free! We are staying at Injun Joe Campground. Think Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn and you will get the connection. We are in Mark Twain territory and very close to the Mississippi River. Weather is warmer, upper 70's and quite nice. Campground is OK; shaded sites, pool, picnic tables and very slow Internet service. Peepers and crickets are making all sorts of noise, haven't heard them in a long time.

Newton, Iowa

Can you find us among the huge arks?

Headed to Iowa this morning. Stopped at Camping World on the way, had to get the lock for the trailer/hitch so we can park it in MI without somebody hauling it off. The scenery today was acres and acres of corn, I just don't understand that :-) There were also hundreds of windmills, all in the farm and pasture land. We are staying at Rolling Acres RV Park tonight and will continue on our way in the morning.