Home Again! Part 2

 I forgot to tell you something funny that happened when we were geocashing.  The geocash was supposed to be by a business.  Grandpa went down some steps and yelled "I found it!"  Mom looked and he was holding up a rat bait station.  Mom yelled that it was a rat bait station but he is hard of hearing, so he couldn't hear her.  He started trying to open it up.  Mom kept yelling "NO, NO!"  She then started laughing really hard.  When she got back in the car, Grandma asked if we found the geocash.  She started laughing again as she told Grandma about Grandpa holding the rat bait station over his head thinking it was his prize.  😂

We drove to Louisiana, MO with Grandma and Grandpa the Thursday before we left.  We put flowers on Dad's Grandparents graves.  Grandma and Grandpa also showed the folks where they want their ashes spread when they die.  They thought they had a spot picked out but they said there were too many trees and they wouldn't be able to see the river. They chose another spot that is really pretty and actually where Grandma's sister's ashes were spread.  We ate lunch in that location. The weather was beautiful.

We left Grandma's on Monday and headed to Bennett Springs State Park. Grandpa came along because he likes to trout fish too.  We had a great site our first night.  It had a lot of grass around it.  We had to move the second night because someone else had alread booked the site.  The weather was great!  The evenings and mornings were cool.  Mom and I enjoyed walking around while Dad and Grandpa fished.  

Mom opened up our door because the weather was so nice.

Camping is exhausting.

A view at the river.

Mom always has to take this photo.

We love spending time at Bennett Springs State Park.  It is such a peaceful place.

More to come on our trip in our next post.

Jaxson,

The Greyhound Who Is Happy To Be Back At The Beach

Another Visit To Starved Rock State Park

We awoke to a rainy, chilly and windy morning on Saturday.  We have been turning on the heat in the RV at night because it has been in the upper 30's and low 40's. During the day, we open all the blinds and if it is sunny out, the RV heats up nicely and then we have to run the AC.  LOL  Mama is wearing sweatshirts and in the morning and at night she adds her flannel jacket for our walks. The cold doesn't bother us. Scout loves cold weather.

The folks decided to go back to Starved Rock State Park. We stayed behind. Mama didn't know they were going there until that morning and didn't have enough time to research the trails to see which ones had steps.  The ones they chose on Saturday had steps, so it must be the ones on the far end of the park without steps.  The next time we are in this area, we will go and walk those trails.

The folks decided to eat at the lodge again since Mama wanted to try the pork tenderloin sandwich.  She said many years ago, McDonalds had them for a short time and she loved them.

Jumbo Pork Tenderloin Sandwich with fries

Mama said the sandwich was really good and it solved her craving.

The Chief Pontiac - Shaved prime rib and smoked Cheddar on herbed Focaccia bread with BBQ
Cilantro sauce.

Dad said The Chief Pontiac was good.  That's all he said.

The fireplace had a fire in it and Mama said the warmth of it felt nice.

The outside of the restaurant is now decorated for fall.

 After lunch the folks started hiking.  Mama said the walking wasn't bad, but there were a lot of steps.  She heard a lot of people complaining. Several people asked her for directions which she thought was funny because reading a map is not something she does well. 

View from Starved Rock. It is much higher up than this photo indicates.

 

Another view from Starved Rock.

Some of the steps going up to Starved Rock.  Yep, Scout wouldn't like this.

French Canyon

French Canyon - too bad there wasn't a waterfall.

Kids climbing on tree to get to next level.

Mama is not a climber, but this was a scout troop with lots of wild kids.  They were climbing on everything.

Looking down Wildcat Canyon.  Those are people at the bottom.

Looking across Wildcat Canyon

Yep, that is a long fall.  More people at the bottom.

More of Wildcat Canyon

 Mama said it was a fun day.  She said her back started hurting from all the steps, but it seems to be okay.  She has had a few twinges in it lately which worries her because it does act up from time to time, but maybe all the walking we are doing is helping it. 

Does anyone do Geocaching? Geocaching is a is a treasure hunting game where you use a GPS to hide and seek containers with other participants in the activity.  Mama is thinking about trying it soon.    

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks Geocaching Sounds Fun