Wednesday, May 5, I'm up at 7:15 on moving day. We pack up and leave on this sunny, warm day by 10:35 a.m. We take I-55 south to exit 95 (Hwy 74) and go east across the Mighty Mississippi River to Hwy 3 and continue to 146 east through Jonesboro. As we drive along the River valley we see an eagle on the ground in a field between Hwy 3 and the Mississippi River. I don't think I've ever seen one on the ground. We maneuver the round-about at Jonesboro with no problem. At Anna on 146 we almost miss the right hand turn but Bob makes a last minute lane change. That jog to the right was not on our DeLorme mapping software. It is only five miles to I-57 north and Hilltop Campground, Inc., I-57 exit 40, Goreville, IL 62939, (618) 995-2189. Our trip was grand total of 50 miles. The office is closed when we arrive so we put $120 for a week in the slot and choose site #7. Next time we may want to wait to pay until we check the Internet connection. More on that later. We are set up by 12:30.
We head east to Goreville (what a name for your town!) The post office is closed from 12:30 to 1:30 (they only have one employee so they close for lunch.) It's 12:50 so we go on to Delaney's on Broadway, a cute cafe on the main drag. They have Polaroids of Trans America bikers under the glass table tops. I'm fascinated by the age and diversity of the cyclers. Each snapshot has a date and how far they cycled on the Tans America Trail. There are four or five older gents drinking coffee at a big table across the room. They seem like a local fixture.
I have the grilled pork tenderloin sandwich that is kind of skimpy and white bean soup with cornbread that is very good. Bob has Tuesday's special; two salmon patties with a mound of green beans and corn with corn bread.
After lunch I walk to the post office and mail my pictures to Mom and Dad. Then we go to Wolf creek Antique store next door to Delaney's. This turns out to be a great little three story shop. I find a pint carton of St. Charles Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream (my hometown dairy.) My maternal grandparents, Mamie and Pop, always had these small cartons in their freezer. Pop would slice them up with a big knife and we'd each eat a big hunk. Bob finds a book and a pineapple pillow for the truck. And I get 25-cent Goreville postcards. We go home via I-57 and drive three miles south to the RV Park without finding a gas station. The one at our exit is out of business so we return home with no paper.
We put the bikes outside under the carport. Then we move the picnic table so Bob can get on it to trim a branch by the bedroom slide. I clean the bugs off the lower front of the RV; and a little tar too. Bob can't get an Internet signal even though we are 20 feet off the Interstate. Not only that, we don't have a phone signal even though we can see three cell towers from here. Yikes! And we paid for a week.
It's 4:40 p.m. and hot. It is 92 inside the RV and 78 degrees outside, or somewhere around that. Bob is charging the batteries that go in the temperature pick-up device underneath the RV. I have a phone signal but no bars. We go outside on the picnic table and are able to dial out. Bob leaves a voice message for Rick and Debbie, our Ohio friends that we are supposed to meet the third week of May.
Our curbside neighbors, Doris and Jim, show up with their 13 year old black poodle, Chloe. We chat for a half an hour. They have a home in Edwardsville, IL. Their son, his wife and two grandkids live in Maryville nearby. They are looking at property down here as the taxes are out of site in Edwardsville now. They have a 55-foot 5th wheel trailer they haul a boat in. They are interested in RVing (he seems more so than her.)
Rick calls back as we're chatting with Doris and Jim. Bob takes the call since we don't know if the phone coverage will last. He suggests Elkhart, IN, to Rick. It seems they were thinking of coming as far west as St. Louis to meet us. But we're heading north to get to the Monat family reunion and we want to stop to see the RV Hall of Fame in Elkhart as the RV industry celebrates 100 years in 2010. Our phone is scratchy so Bob tells Rick we'll pick a spot and let them know where to meet us. They'll join us 5/14 through 5/20 in Rick's sister Lynne's small pop-up. How fun it will be to see them! Bob will have a hard time finding a campground if we can't get an Internet connection. How did people used to do this?
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