Welcome to Illinois!

We are way behind in getting travel posts published this summer because we're having too much fun traveling! So we won't be confused about when each "wandering" happened, we'll start each blog with its actual date.

October 5, 2022

We stayed in our Boondockers Welcome site in Terra Haute until noon, because the check-in time at our next campground isn't until a very late 4:00. Once we were finally on the road, we soon crossed the Illinois state line--the land of Lincoln. We have noticed that every state wants to claim Abraham Lincoln. Kentucky claims his birthplace, Indiana claims his childhood home, and now Illinois claims his adult years and his final resting place. Once we crossed that state line, we also entered the Central Time zone for the first time since May.

The fall harvest is in full swing in Illinois in October. We see combines on the roads and in the fields harvesting corn and soy beans. We also see long lines of trucks waiting to unload at the grain elevators. We love to see agriculture in action!

We arrived at our camp site at Lithia Springs Campground Corp of Engineer campground. We really prefer these Corp of Engineer parks that are usually situated right on a lake. Our camp site was a little unlevel, but it had great views of the lake.

It also had well-spaced trees for hanging up the hammock.

Mark climbed on top of the motor home to get a bird's eye view of Denisa resting this afternoon.

We'll love these Corp of Engineer parks even more in April when Mark turns 62 and we will get the half-price senior citizen rate! Our campsite was surrounded by the shade of the tall trees all around us.

We usually love the trees, but these happen to have seed pods on them that are just right for harvesting right now. When they drop from those tall branches, it sounds like a bomb exploding on the roof of the motor home.

We took a 2.5-mile walk around some of the trails close to our campground. We counted over 20 deer on our walk this lovely evening.

On another day, we ventured out into the surrounding country-side. It was interesting to see the large tractors at work on the same road used by horses and buggies. We met a local at the lake, riding his Amish-made-two-seat-surrey-bicycle. He told us about the nearby town of Arthur, with the largest Amish community in the state. Since we are trying to clean out our refrigerator, we are trying not to buy too many baked goods. But we took his advice to eat a meal at Yoder's Kitchen in Arthur, Illinois. We had a tasty plate of braised chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans. But the crowning touch was the fresh yeast bread, served with a sweetened peanut butter or special apple butter jam. We topped off the meal with fresh-made coconut cream pie. That was some great dinner advice!

Our surrey-bicycle rider also told us about the town of Shelbyville. So we decided to make a trip to this town that also lays claim to Lincoln. It was in the court house in Shelbyville that Abraham Lincoln debated Anthony Thorton in 1856. Our new friend played the part of Lincoln in the fundraiser to make money for this sculpture in front of the court house.

He also told us that the woman that patented the first automatic dishwasher was from Shelbyville. Her famous quote was, "If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine I'll do it myself." In 1893 she unveiled her invention at the World's Fair, where she won the highest award. Likewise, the inventor of the first successful mechanical hay baler was from Shelbyville. Who knew that such a little town in Illinois would have so many famous people!?! Our new friend also encouraged us to visit the Shelbyville Chautauqua. In the early 1900's, Chautauquas hosted speakers, musicians, and troupes of actors that brought traveling entertainment to small communities. This large circular building was built in 1903, and has hosted countless events through the years.

Built with no support poles, the information sign out front says that it's the largest structure in the world with this building technique. It has recently been refurbished and strengthened and looks ready for another century of events here in Shelbyville.

Back at our campground, we can see the lake from the motor home. We watched as one of the resident deer walked along the lake shore.

The water looked like glass as we watched the sunset turn the sky to pink. We feel very welcomed to Illinois!