Trippin' with Susan Straley

July 6, 2020 Still I am still in Goodfield, Illinois and just finished a great ride with Peggy and Denny T. and their bike buddy Dirk.  We went over rolling hills and past corn and soybean fields. Dirk said the corn is starting to curl, they are experiencing a drought here.  Wow, seven inches of rain and flooding in Vienna, Illinois and a drought here.  He said if it doesn't rain in the next week or so the farmers would have to cut the corn for silage .  We entered the cute town of Eureka.  We roamed some streets and ended up at this memorial on the campus of the college.  Denny said his dad attended this college too.  We saw one building that was marked 1894.  I think the old iron peice in the picture below which is built right into the brick wall, was holding on a downspout.  Now a new downspout sits right next to it. We went by the corner where Denny and Peggy had their big tandem accident.  She broke her hip and her back and her collar bone.  Den

Morning - July 6, 2020 It is quiet and peaceful here this morning.  The birds are singing.  Most of the guests here are still sleeping or soaking in their morning coffee. If I just look in front of me I see trees and grass.  I am fortunate to have an end of the aisle site at the very busy, sardine can lay-out of the Timberline Campground in Goodfield, Illinois. When I entered the campground yesterday around noon I was a bit shocked.  This place was buzzing with golf carts and dirt buggies zipping around at high speed sending up dust clouds that hovered over the air.  The pool area was packed, groups of people were gathered at campsites. I got here so early because I packed up all I could and hooked up last night for an early departure.  I must have left the campground in Vienna, IL around 6:15 a.m. The drive here was uneventful except for a few miles on a flat but wavey pavement very straight country road.  I had to drive it at 40 mph.  Mostly I was on the interstates.

July 4, 2020 Hey!   I just remembered that I forgot to tell you something. When I was driving from Florida (visiting Joan G.) to Mississippi (to visit Jean H.), I was starting to look for a gas station.   It wasn’t time yet, but if I found a nice one that looked clean and big enough to maneuver my rig, I might pull over.   I am heading up Hwy 84 in Alabama.   It is hilly and lined with forests mostly.   I don’t know I am on Hwy 84, I am not paying attention.   The Googlemap App tells me to turn and I turn, I trust it (most the time) to take me where I want to go.    I am listening to a delightful audiobook, How the Penguins Saved Veronica . Coming up is a smallish-but-nice gas station on the left at an intersection.   As I zoom by it hits me.   I wonder if I should turn around.   It was ho w the side road angles, how there is a long incline in front of me.   Could it be? I look at the shoulder.   There is probably a two-foot shoulder with 1/3 of it taken u