October 3-6, 2018 - Condit's Ranch, Putnam, IL

October 3-6, 2018 - Condit's Ranch, Putnam, IL

October 3, 2018 - Picking up our New Chairs, Condit's Ranch

Both of Dean and I woke up feeling a little off this morning - we might be getting what the grandkids had in New York.  We'll see how today goes.

When we ordered the chairs they told us our delivery date would be October 3, and told us we should be there at 8:00 am (which was also noted on our invoice).  We arrived at 8:01am at Lambright Chairs - to find a sign on the door that said they were closed, although when you Google them, it says they open at 8am.  I could see there was a light on and people inside, so I went to the front door.  It was open.  I stuck my head in and said we are the Peine's, here to pickup our chairs.  It appeared they were in a meeting and one of them said they would be right with us - 30 minutes later (where we learned it was indeed a morning meeting) the young man that helped us when we ordered the chairs came out to measure the opening of our door before bringing them out.  It was well past 9:00 by the time we were able to settle up.   

While we were not happy with the wait, it was worth it to finally have our new chairs and we love that we now have something comfortable to sit in.  Lambright makes a wonderful product and we would recommend them to anyone looking for furniture for their RV, or sticks and bricks home for that matter.  We have looked at these chairs for the past three years when we've passed through Shipshewana, before finally making the plunge, and we are very happy we chose their product.  

We first learned about Lambright's furniture several years ago after I started following Howard and Linda Payne's blog, RV-Dreams.com.  We are very appreciative of their blog and what it has meant to us in not only in making our RV purchase (selecting Bentley), and other RV products, but most importantly, learning so much about the RV life.  Within a week or so after we retired, we traveled to Seiverville, TN to attend an RV Show where Howard and Linda led a number of seminars on RV life.  One of the seminars was about selecting an RV, where they went over details of what to look for and consider when buying an RV.  From the information they provided I made a list of Must Haves, and Things We'd Life To Have (that wouldn't be deal breakers if they were not included).  When we began our search for the perfect RV, I had my trusty list with me and we stuck to it, getting all of our must haves and most of the things we'd like to have.  We still love the floor plan and size of Bentley better than anything else we've looked at to date.  

The file cabinet in the picture below, between the chairs, is one I've had for years.  It works but isn't very pretty so eventually Dean will build us a new one.  I plan to scan all of our paperwork and eliminate most of our files, so we should be able to minimize the size of the new table, but I definitely want to maintain some storage area. I've got a plan for hiding all of the wires behind the chairs and hope to get that accomplished while we are in Oswego, before heading to Texas the end of the year.  

After leaving Lambright's we headed north to Shipshewana, turning west on Highway 20, beginning our trek to Putnam, IL where we will spend the next four days.  We are ready to be in the same spot for a few days - and with full hookups!  With both of us feeling puny, all the more reason to settle in for a few days, and on our last full day we are there, Dean's sister Ruthann and her husband Dennis, who live near Rockford, IL, will be visiting us at our campground.  We are both looking forward to seeing them again. 

We left Twin Hills at 7:37am Eastern Time and arrived at Pundit's Ranch at 2:12pm Eastern Time/1:12pm Central Standard Time, almost seven hours later, with both of us feeling worse as the day has gone by.  We both took Daytime this morning before we left and Dean took Nighttime last night.  We'll continue to take it and hope we can knock this before Saturday.

 

This pictures is of a very large quarry - that spanned the interstate.  I could only get a picture of the one on my side of the interstate - the other side was even larger and ran much further to the south 

Not much later as we neared one of the Interstate exchanges heading north to Chicago we could see traffic backed up in the eastbound lanes.  By the time we reached what appeared to be accident of some type, there were two or three wreckers on site.  While we did not actually see any vehicles, the wreckers were blocking the traffic lanes.  Traffic was backed up farther than I've ever seen it on a highway/interstate - we estimated at least 10 miles, maybe more.  It seemed like it went on forever and most of it seemed to be semi's.   I included several pictures I took of the traffic below:

Later, while still on the road, Dean asked me to find a place we could get the front end aligned while we are here, since we didn't have time to do that after the new tires were installed.  Internet is such a wonderful tool for things like this.  I called one place that wasn't available to do it this week, but they recommended Big Boys in LaSalle, IL.  We were fortunate to get an appointment for Thursday morning at 8.  We prefer early morning appointments so we can get in and out of there quickly.  Knowing it would probably take about an hour, we did some research on places to eat breakfast that might be within walking distance of Big Boys.  We only found one place, "Lock 16 Cafe & Visitor Center".  It was a 7 block walk from  Big Boys so we have the opportunity for some exercise as well.  Hopefully, we'll feel like it tomorrow.

We were both thankful to see finally see the sign for Pundit's Ranch, our campground for the next 4 nights.  It took a bit more time than normal to get set up as we had to put 3 boards on the door side of the RV to get it level.  I sure was glad we had leftover lasagna to heat up for dinner tonight.   All we wanted to do after we arrived was rest.




And after resting for a few hours and having our dinner, Dean felt a little better and wanted to go for a walk.  More exercise for today - and, we really need it as we've not had much lately.  We discovered this is a huge campground.  It is another Passport America Campground (at $20 per night ($40 without it) + a one time $1 service fee for 50 amp service).  As with many Passport America parks, it is mostly for seasonal owners.  There is a nice area as you enter set aside for short term stays and we are the only one here for tonight.  The sites for seasonal stays are quite large with lots of open space around each site.  So different than the areas we have stayed when we owned a seasonal RV, where sites were pretty close together. 

I thought these old tire "ornaments" were really cute.

A really neat totem pole.  

There were only a handful of people here - we only saw 5 or 6 people tops, so we pretty much have the place to ourselves.

Once we returned we rested for awhile before heading to bed at 9 - it seems like 10 to us with the time change.  We were both worn out from the long day.





October 4, 2018 - Breakfast Out and Tire Alignment

Both of us were feeling pretty rough when we got up this morning.  We took our Day Time and hoped for the best.

Since we needed to be in LaSalle by 8, we left the campground at 7am, to be sure we allowed sufficient time.  If we arrive early we'll have time to check out the restaurant we plan to eat at - or any others that might be in the downtown area.  

The sunrise as we head to LaSalle, IL.

"The Heartland"

We had enough time to drive through the downtown area and it appears we picked the only restaurant within walking distance, so our decision was made.  We arrived at Big Boys about 10 minutes before 8.  The alignment portion of the shop was open, so Dean walked down to talk to them.  He was back in a few minutes and said it would take about an hour to complete the alignment.  We had a nice walk to the restaurant.

Betty, I finally saw my first tree almost complete with its fall colors.  What a beauty!

I failed to get a picture of the outside of the restaurant.  It was in a gorgeous old building and it was a combination restaurant, gift shop and visitor center for Lock 14.  We both had our regular 2 eggs, meat and toast.  Dean had herb potatoes with his.  Breakfast was great - and again, I forgot to take pictures.  I tell you, once they set my food in front of me, I'm ready to eat!!!  Lol!

Gift shop portion immediately adjacent to a dining area at the front of the building.  An additional dining area was in the back.

This sign was set up at the back of the building near the restrooms.  Another canal, where boats can travel as part of the Great Loop.  

Right before we left, Big Boys called to let us know they had completed the alignment on the truck.  After our walk back, we paid for the work, then drove around a bit before heading to nearby Peru where we stopped at a Walmart to pick up a few grocery items and some automotive supplies.  

We didn't waste anytime getting what we needed and heading back to the campground.  I wanted to get some laundry done today,  and I also want to do some cleaning and moving a few things around to accommodate the addition of the new chairs.

That's about the extent of today.  Dean slept on and off most of the day.  He feels worse than I do.  Fortunately I was feeling much better by evening.  I made some smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes and green beans for dinner.  

We'll see what tomorrow brings.




October 5, 2018 - Taking it Easy, Getting Some More "Work" Done.

I woke up this morning to Dean coughing.  It was only 3:30 or so.  I tried to go back to sleep to no avail, so at 4:00 I finally got up.  Realize, I am still adjusting to the time change and this would be my normal 5:00 wake up time.  I turned on the coffee and was still enjoying my first cup when Dean got up about thirty minutes later.  

I feel almost like my "normal" self this morning and Dean said he actually feels much better himself, so maybe things are looking up.  In fact I feel so much better I made us breakfast burritoes (this time with hash browns added - I finally remembered to buy some).  They were really good!

Around 10, Dean and I drove to the office here in the campground to show them our Passport America card  (I forgot and left it at Bentley when we paid yesterday), and while I was taking care of that, he dropped our trash off at the nearby dumpster.  I have a feeling that will be the extent of our "getting out" today.  It started raining around 5:30 or so this morning and continued all morning.  It is supposed to start again later today and rain through the night and most of tomorrow.

At noon, I stopped long enough to fix us some lunch.  Dean has regressed a bit and does not feel as well as when he got up this morning.  I'm trying to get him to lay down and take a nap hoping he will feel better later, and I guess I finally convinced him because he just headed that way.

Unfortunately that didn't last too long.  Neither one of us are very good at laying down to take a nap - but leave us in our chairs and we can nod off pretty easy - and that's exactly what happened once he returned to his chair.  Lol!

After he woke up, he surprised me as he wanted to drive to Putnam, IL - our campground is located a few miles away from the city, but it has a Putnam address.  There wasn't much in Putnam, so we drove on down the road to Henry, IL.  

Henry City Offices on the Illinois River

Beautiful old bridge over the Illinois River

Under the Bridge

Taken from the parking lot near the boat slips and harbor

See the two boats in the far back - they are tied up on the Illinois River at Henry's Harbor.

Boat slips at Henry Harbor with Bridge in the background

We are not sure but wonder if these two boats are traveling part of "The Great Loop"

Betty - my second almost full color fall tree.  

What a nice ending to our day.


October 6 2018 - Family Visits us Today

I woke up this morning a little later than yesterday, still unable to go back to sleep, so I was up well before 5 again.  I don't seem to get tired during the day so I guess it's alright, but I'll be glad when we get readjusted to the time change.  We both are struggling with it this time, maybe due to not feeling up to par.  It rained as predicted last night and was still raining when I got up.

Later when Dean got up, I got busy getting things done in preparation for our company coming today.  I feel really good this morning and think I may have made it through this a little better than Dean has.  Dean was coughing this morning but it was not as bad as yesterday so we are hopeful it's all uphill from here.

I wanted to do a little cleaning and at the same time put some things away in preparation for leaving tomorrow at the same time.  It's been nice to have some extra time this week to get a few things out of the way.  

Dennis and Ruthann arrived around 11.  We visited here at Bentley for a couple of hours before we drove in to nearby Henry, IL for lunch at "Landings - At Henry Harbor".  We had a nice  booth overlooking the Illinois River.  We discovered that Henry, IL is indeed part of the Great Loop.  Dean said we seem to be doing the Great Loop too - we're just on land.  Lol!  However, we'll depart from it tomorrow as we move toward Jefferson City, MO for a one night stopover.

We had a good visit at lunch with all of choosing a sandwich of some sort. I seem to be on a Reuben kick lately since this is my third one in the last few weeks.  I do love them.  I think everyone enjoyed their meal.  We had a nice visit here before returning to the RV where we visited for another hour or two.  We are so glad Dennis and Ruthann took the time to drive down and spend the day with us.  We really enjoyed their visit.  Unfortunately, I did not think to get pictures.  I should make sure I set my camera out ahead of time as a reminder!!    

After they left, we put a few things away outside, then Dean emptied our waste tanks and partly filled our fresh water tank in preparation for leaving tomorrow.  A little later he told me we were going to need some fuel, so we drove to another nearby community, Spring Valley, IL.  We enjoy driving around in these small communities. 

Next time I post, we'll be in Missouri.