NICE SUNNY DAY, CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI & CRACKER BARRELED OURSELVES:))

 

CROSSING THE MIGHTY MISSISSIPPI FROM MISSOURI INTO ILLINOIS

Despite traffic noise from I-40 not too far away & the coming & goings of fellow travelers in the parking lot I did manage to sleep OK but the noise did bother Kelly.

DEFINITELY LOOKING LIKE EARLY SPRING HERE IN ILLINOIS

So nice first thing this morning to see all the stormy gray clouds of yesterday replaced with big bright sunny skies.  Birds singing in the budding trees & early wild Spring flowers in the grass.  Aw yes, a healthy dose of good old early Spring tonic is always a great way to start another RV traveling day.

I THINK THE GANG IS GOING TO BE GLAD TO GET HOME

Rolled out of the Rest Area & 8:20 & one hour later we swung off eastbound I-40 west of Memphis onto I-55 heading North.  This is always a pivotal point in our travels either coming or going to the Southwest.  It’s about half way & divides the northeast part of our journey from the southwest part.  At Sikeston we picked up I-57 East & crossed the mighty Mississippi about 12:20.  With Effingham Illinois in our sites we blew through there about 4:30 heading in the general direction of that Chicago town.  Usually at Effingham we head east to Indianapolis but figured we would try a new route this time.  Indianapolis has been known to chew us up & spit us out a few times.

 

SEEMED TO BE A LOT OF FLOODING IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AREA

We prefer to travel without the pressures of destinations or time frames at the end of each day.  We stop where & whenever we wish & no 2 days are the same.  If the driving is good we just go with that & keep on rolling.  Some days we are off the road by 2 in the afternoon & some days it could be 5 or 6.  This kind of traveling probably doesn’t work for most folks but it sure is an adventurous way to do things & it works great for us. 

CANYON DE CHELLY

Heading north on I-57 towards Chicago we had no idea where we were going to spend the night.  Kelly had spotted another Rest Area in the book but then she spotted something out the window even better…… a big Cracker Barrel billboard.  Well, that sealed it because Cracker Barrel allows RV parking overnight.  Rolled into the town of Mattoon Illinois right alongside I-57 & right into a designated RV spot.  Twenty minutes later we were seated for supper.  Kelly had beef stew which was loaded with way to much pepper & I had a totally yummy open face roast sandwich on Sourdough bread heaped with mashed potatoes & gravy.  Usually on our winter trips we hit Cracker Barrel maybe 5 or 6 times through the winter.  We think this was only our third time to CB this trip.  Probably will not be in another one until we hit the road again sometimes in the Fall.  I like Cracker Barrel:))

OUR COZY LITTLE OVERNIGHTER SPOT BEHIND CRACKER BARREL IN MATTOON ILLINOIS…..(And where will we end up tomorrow night…….who knows, every day’s an adventure:))

I still think this is one of the cutest blog header photos I have ever seen…..SCOOTER & SKITTLEZ.

A problem I have with laptops is the varying position of the screen.  Not a big deal normally unless your editing photos & are as picky about that as I am that is!!  Depending whether the screen is tipped forward or back a bit the photos can appear lighter or darker.   If the screen is tipped too far back the photos appear darker or too contrasty looking.  I constantly have a problem with getting the contrast correct using my laptop.  I do use my laptop on my lap so that always makes for a varying screen position.   Kind of wished they had a little locking device or indicator to show the correct position of the screen in relation to the keyboard.  On the desktop at home the screen is stationery & this problem doesn’t exist.

GROANER’S CORNER:(( 

There's no such thing as a stupid question. Right? Not if you ask the National Park rangers who compiled this list of actual questions asked by park visitors.

At Grand Canyon National Park:
"Was this man-made?"
"Is there an elevator to the bottom?"
"Do you light it up at night?"
"Is the mule train air-conditioned?"
"Where are the faces of the presidents?"

At Carlsbad Caverns National Park:
"How much of the caves is underground?"
"So what's in the unexplored part of the cave?"
"Does it ever rain in here?"
"So what is this, just a hole in the ground?"
"How many ping pong balls would it take to fill it up?"

At Everglades National Park:
"Are the alligators real?"
"Are the baby alligators for sale?"
"When does the two o'clock bus leave?"

At Yosemite National Park:
"What time of year do you turn on Yosemite Falls?"
"What happened to the other half of Half Dome?"

At Alaska's Denali National Park:
"What time do you feed the bears?"
"How often do you mow the tundra?"
"How much does Mount McKinley weigh?"

At Mesa Verde National Park:
"Did people build this, or did Indians?"
"Do you know of any undiscovered ruins?"
"Why did they build the ruins so close to the road?"

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