Monday, September 30, was our last day in Cerro Gordo, IL. We took a 50-mile round
trip by motorcycle to Arthur, IL, a little town in central Illinois and home to
an Amish community.
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| Dick had to take a picture of "his" pharmacy. |
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| This photo and the ones following are of downtown Arthur. Quaint. |
On the way we passed field after field of corn ready to be
harvested, many belonging to the Amish, whose farm homes were close by.
Following traditional Amish customs they do not use electricity or operate
automobiles or modern farm machinery, using teams of horses instead. They travel by horse-drawn buggy, use propane to fuel their light fixtures and
heat their ovens; they do not use any modern conveniences, such as radios or
TVs, but will use telephones located outside their homes for business or in
cases of emergency. In Arthur, we saw quite a few horse-drawn buggies, and many Amish on bicycles.
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| We passed this house on the way to Arthur; they had painted the American Flag on the siding. Clever. |
A dialect of German (Pennsylvania Dutch) is spoken in the
homes and is learned before the kids learn English in school. Although many
attend public schools, most children study in Amish parochial schools. The
Amish children do not go to school past the 8th grade because the
Amish believe anything learned past that time is "worldly" knowledge and not
required for the simple Amish lifestyle. They study math, social studies,
spelling, writing and health. They do not study science as the Amish don't
believe it's a necessary course of study.
Amish children begin working, at the age of 5, in family
businesses and farms; as they grow, their responsibilities increase. Farms vary
in size, but are usually about 100 acres. Each farm has approximately 12
Belgian horses which are used in the fields, as well as 2 or 3 horses used for
pulling the buggies. Each family usually raises one kind of farm animal
(chickens, pigs, turkeys, cattle or goats), sharing meats during “butcher day”
when families purchase meat and divide it among themselves. Crops of wheat,
oats, clover and corn are grown; Amish women often plant large gardens, and
many also have orchards and berry patches.
We visited quite a few shops in downtown Arthur, many
selling the beautiful handmade furniture and quilts for which the Amish are so
well-known. Their workmanship is unbelievable. We purchased cheeses and corn
salsa at one of the stores, which was also a bakery. Oh, the fragrances
emanating from the kitchen!
One of the most popular restaurants in the area is Yoder's
Kitchen, so we had to have lunch there. Featuring traditional home-cooked Amish
fare, they serve locally raised chicken, fish and smoked meats, as well as
thick and hearty soups and freshly baked breads. Then…there are the desserts.
If you leave their restaurant hungry, it's your own fault! On each table are
jars of Amish peanut butter (made with marshmallow crème) and home-made apple
butter, that they invite you to spread on the complementary home-made wheat and
white breads. YUM! All bakery items and condiments are available for purchase
in their gift shop, or on line at www.amishbakedgoods.net.
Tuesday we pack up and head further south to Carterville,
IL, to spend a few days with friends Marvin and Shirley, who own and operate
Kamper's Supply, with their 2 sons John and Curtis. Temps were in the 70s, and
the sun was shining…a perfect day for travel. We left Cerro Gordo a little
after 9 a.m., arriving in Carterville by 1 p.m. Dinner that night, with Marvin
and Shirley, was at Bob Evans. Good food, good company—what more could one
want…
One of our reasons for stopping at Kamper’s Supply was to
have 2 more slide toppers put on the trailer: the bedroom slide and the
kitchen/living room slide. These help keep leaves and branches off the top of
the slides, and helps keep water from accumulating atop the slides. John
installed them Wednesday morning. That afternoon, the slide toppers were put to the
test when a torrential rain storm hit dumping an inch or more of water in the
area.
These guys are pros!
You can find no better place to have your RV work done. I don’t think there is any service item they
cannot handle. Kamper's Supply is a
full-line StarCraft dealer with complete RV parts, accessories, supplies for
any RV need. You can view their web site
at www.kamperssupply.com. They are located in Carterville, IL west of
highway 57, just off route 13 at 400 Plaza Drive.
Thursday Dick took a solo motorcycle ride, 50 miles round
trip, south of Carbondale, IL (home of Southern Illinois University and the
Salukis) to Giant City State Park with incredible rock formations, historic
sites, and both hiking and horseback riding trails. Dick hiked ½ hour up the "Stone Fort" trail to the site
of a 285 foot prehistoric rock wall thought to have been inhabited by people
around 400-900 A.D. As he left the park he toured the historic town of Makanda
before returning. I stayed in the camper preparing dinner for Marvin and
Shirley: wild rice casserole, corn on the cob, salad and brownies with ice
cream. (Yup, I still cook and love to entertain!) After dinner, friends Randy and Jeri joined us for a rousing game of
Pegs and Jokers. Although they were close games, the men came out ahead: 3:2.
The week wasn't over yet, so the women were bound and determined to overcome.
Friday as Dick was checking air pressure in the trailer tires,
when he found very low pressure in one of the tires. John checked it out and
found a nail at the edge of the tire. Yuk! He removed the nail, plugged the
hole, and added air. Thankfully we discovered the problem when we were parked
in the Kamper’s Supply RV lot, rather than driving down the road and having problems.
We had dinner that evening at La Fiesta, a local Mexican
restaurant. Jeri and Randy joined Marvin, Shirley, Dick and me, as well as other
friends Ron and Marguerite, after which we went to Jeri's and Randy's for a
game of "Marbles," a variation of the game Pegs and Jokers. Men and women tied
that evening at 1:1.
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| LtoR: Randy, Jeri, Marguerite, Ron, Marvin, Shirley, me and Dick |
Saturday dawned warm and humid, with rain forecasted
throughout the day. We began cursory packing, getting ready to head out Sunday
morning. After closing shop at 2 p.m.,
Marvin and Shirley took us on a driving tour of Southern Illinois, through the
hill country. We stopped at “The Chocolate Factory,” located in Dixon Springs,
IL, for ice cream cones. YUM-MY!
Although tempted, we did not
buy any chocolate. Even though it rained for the entire tour, we discovered
beautiful country.
The rain did not let up until late that evening. When we
were returning to Carterville for dinner, we were hit with torrential rains,
pretty much obscuring our ability to see beyond the windshield wipers. Just
prior to the rain these gnarly clouds came scudding in.
The rain let up just enough to allow us to get indoors to
Pizza & Pasta for their pizza/pasta/salad buffet. We were rather hungry, as
we hadn't eaten since breakfast other than the ice cream cone. Afterwards, Jeri
and Randy joined us at Marvin and Shirley's for yet another evening of Pegs and
Jokers. I’m sorry to say that men won 3 of the 5 games we played. Dang! Tornado
warnings were issued that evening around 8:30 p.m. until 2 a.m. Sunday morning.
Rain continued to come down all evening, but thankfully, no tornadoes.
Sunday morning we finished packing up, and said our goodbyes
to Marvin and Shirley. They have become such treasured friends; feels like home
being with them. We hope to see them in Texas early in 2014.
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| Crossing the Mississippi from Illinois to Missouri |
What a beautiful day to travel. We needed to drive 222 miles
to our next destination: Ozarks Mountain Springs RV Park in Mountain View, MO. Weather was perfect:
temps in the high 60s, bright sunshine and clear skies with no rain forecasted
until next weekend. We left Carterville around 10:15 a.m. and arrived at the
park around 2:30 p.m. We’ll be here for 4 nights before heading to Branson, MO,
where we’ll spend about a week.
This park is beautifully located in the Ozarks, atop a rise,
with shaded pull-throughs and full hook-ups. Every Friday night there is a "Gospel and Bluegrass Jamboree" in the park, but unfortunately we won't be here to
experience it. There's a “Kountry Camp Store” offering fresh Missouri grown
produce onsite, as well. We're still waiting for leaves to turn; they're just
starting to turn here. The peak color season has usually been the 3rd
week of October—as you can see from this photo it'll be later
than that this year!
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| Our site at Mountain Springs RV Park. |
We will look forward to hearing from you, to know what's
going on in your lives. Please stay in touch.
We miss you, and would love to have you join us! Here's a map of our travels so far.
A. Cloquet, MN
B. Blackhawk Corps of Engineers Park, DeSoto, WI
C. Cerro Gordo, IL
D. Carterville, IL
E. Mountain Springs RV Park, Mountain View, MO
Hugs,
Dick and Gail
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