Friday - Bloomington, IL - last night

We have found over the years that our guardian angels are looking out for us. Night before last, when we were debating whether to travel on Thursday or not, all the weather forecasts for any potential route were forecasting bad weather, so we stayed put. When I looked at the news this a.m., many of the areas we might have been yesterday had large hail and/or tornados! By staying put, we avoided going in harm’s way (at least). Thanks.

Yesterday we watched a couple of movies, read, played on the computer, and napped. Although we had some strong breezes, our campsite is located in a grove of trees behind a hedge-row of large bushes (planted along the Interstate). So while the tops of the trees around us were blowing, it was actually quite calm at ground level.

Today, it is cool and still breezy but with a blue sky and a few puffy clouds. Tomorrow, the pundits are forecasting for the breeziness to abate. So we’ll back on the road north.

Today was another cleaning / maintenance day. Without boring you to much, we had the power inverter replaced (takes 120 VAC and converts it to 12 Volt DC – to run lights and REFRIGERATOR). Talking with the service guy (he came to campground to do the repair!), he said when the refrigerator “quit” last week, it was probably the inverter dying. Also in the process, I learned that the two 6 volt batteries (wired in series to get 12 volts for the RV lights, et.al.) needed WATER! How quaint! I thought filling batteries with water disappeared 30 years ago. Turns out almost all 12 volt batteries are sealed these days, but the deep-discharge 6 volt batteries still need topping off. Who knew? This also could have been some of our problem. That’s all fixed now.

Next on the maintenance agenda was to get some new windshield wiper blades. I took the old ones to Advance Auto parts store. The old blades were 27 inches long; they didn’t have 27 inch blades so they sold me 28 inch blades. These were way too long, so back they went. Their next size down was 22 inch. So now what? They recommended a truck store around the corner. It was closed due to a death in the family (small town). A friendly truck driver (also at the store) recommended a place across town. So I got to see some more of Bloomington, IL. The next place had 26 inch blades which I bought and installed. So now I can drive in rain (maybe slumped down in the seat to see through the smaller arc?).

Today’s two photos are representative of the middle Illinois country-side. In addition to the “BIG” businesses, like Caterpillar, Mitsubishi, and State Farm, there is also the agriculture business. We came across this row of grain elevators in Congerville, IL, just down the road from us. There were also workers out building new grain elevators next to these. Most of the houses in town were new or extremely well cared for. The town was only about 3 blocks wide and maybe 6 blocks long. But as Margaret noted as we drove through, here was an obviously prosperous town with not one single retail store – no gas station, no grocery, no Wal-Mart!

The other photo is another picturesque small(?) farm down the road.

We like the feel of the area. Folks we have met are friendly. The rolling hills covered with corn and other crops are colorful. Even the back roads through woods are verdant and healthy. But they do have their weather to contend with – four seasons of the year!

Regards to all
Wayne