Time with Friends

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2014

Atwater, Illinois

Home of Bill & Veta Swires

We met Bill and Veta last winter in Mission, TX during our stay at the Bentsen Palms RV Park.  They invited us to come visit when ever traveling in Illinois so we put them into our plans.  They met us at the county gravel pile so they could guide us to their house.  They live on a 58 acre farm with plenty of room to park our motorhome complete with 50 amp service! 

The view out our front window was fabulous.  Oreo was in heaven with all the trees.

The back yard came complete with a pond full of catfish and bass.  They can catch dinner whenever they feel like fish.  The fish also eat all the organic garbage.  Talk about recycling.

We could not have found a more peaceful spot to spend a few days.

Sunday-Monday, Sept. 7-8, 2014

We spent Sunday catching up laundry, watching football and Becky taught Veta how to make a beaded bracelet.  Normally she gives bracelets to friends but decided Veta would enjoy making her own and learn how to do bead weaving.

Monday was a beautiful day so we got out the 4-wheelers for a tour around the countryside.

Since Lonnie and Becky have never rode a 4-wheeler we needed some instructions.

Veta lead Becky around the yard until she was able to handle the 4-wheeler.

Away we went around the farm and country roads.

 

Bill led us to the Sulfur Springs Cemetery established in 1830

There were many interesting memorials including this one for a WWI soldier.

It was interesting to see "May 15, 1851 lived for 22 yrs 2 m 19 d" on the marker

Since Twin Falls was established in 1900 it is interesting to see a 19th century marker. 

The entrance to Bill & Veta's house goes through a cow pasture from the county road.  This is why they had to meet us and guide us to the house.

Tuesday, Sept 9, 2014

The blue skies disappeared so we headed out to find some wineries in the area and get a driving tour of southern Illinois. 

Our travels West from Carlinville took us to the Illinois River where we took a ferry across.

The tug boat pivoted to push the ferry across.

We were allowed to stay on the deck for the crossing.

We had a great time tasting and found some Missouri and Illinois wines to take home.

Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014

It started raining heavily during the night and into the morning.  It let up enough for us to pull in the slides and head to Bloomington, Indiana by 10:00.  The storm was headed east and so were we, as a result we drove right back into it.  We did manage to get past it eventually.  We made plans to meet Clancy Clements (High School Classmate) for dinner in Bloomington at 6:00.  It was only a 4 hour drive but we didn't take into account the loss of an hour to EST or the 25 mile detour we encountered on the way.  We got checked into the campground and just had time to change clothes before heading downtown to meet Clancy.  We spent a lovely evening over dinner and drinks reminiscing the good old days of High School.

Thursday & Friday, Sept. 11-12, 2014

We left Bloomington, IN for Decatur, IN to see where the Fleetwood Discovery Motorhomes are built.  They have 70 electric only hookups at the service area that we could stay in for free. The next morning we headed over to the factory for the 2 1/2 hour tour.  No photos were allowed.  It was interesting to see all the stuff that is hidden in the frame and how everything fits together.  In 2005-2008 they employed 2800 employees and manufactured about 100 Fleetwood RV's a week.  In 2009 they filed bankruptcy and was purchased by Allied Recreation Group.  Today they employ 1300 and still put out 100 rigs a week of Fleetwood, American Coach, Holiday Rambler, and Monaco.  What amazed us was the paint processes.  It cost $200 a gallon to cover 1 foot of an RV.  They have at least 4 different colors that must be taped and covered between each of the 4 steps and then clear coat added.  It takes almost as long to paint a motorhome as it does to build them.

Tomorrow we are headed to Cleveland, OH to visit the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and possibly the NFL Hall of Fame in Akron.  We'll see how much we can squeeze into the time we have.

Becky and Lonnie