16. Illinois – The First Night

We loved driving through Illinois because of the beautiful countryside. I’ve flown into Chicago Midway a couple times, but never had a chance to tour the rest of the state. Get off rt70 and drive the County roads, they’re terrific!


All of Illinois looked like this…

Our first night in Illinois was a Wednesday, and we lucked into an empty campground. We could only stay one night because a big reunion was taking over the whole park the next day.

It was graduation weekend at the local high school and I guess it is a tradition for the visiting grandparents to take over this particular campground for the event. We spoke to some of these folks as they were coming in Thursday morning. They were so excited! Talking to strangers in RV parks is a new favorite past-time…


We were going to move on from?Illinois?the next morning, but travel had to wait for a series of tornadoes moving North from Texas and Oklahoma through Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska.

So we rolled down the road to a spot where we could wait out the weather.


Meanwhile, it seems Illinois is carpeted by these beautiful yellow wildflowers. I understand they can be a nuisance to farms, but the?butterweed?sure was pretty.