Friends, Family, Food, Cruise, Demo...and Lena, IL to Davenport, IA

8/23/11

Davenport, IA

We've had a nice relaxing time at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park near Lena, IL, the last week and a half.  We visited with friends and family, went out to eat, attended a couple of events, relaxed, and took care of some routine stuff.

On Friday, the 12th, we ventured out to our first "public" laundromat in about 27 years.  We went in to Lena and did the laundry early Friday morning.

Later in the day, we went back in to Lena for a Friday night fish fry at a local restaurant called Mammalena's.  The food was okay, but it wasn't exactly what I wanted.  This fish was broasted, and I actually wanted deep fried beer battered fish.  I guess we'll have to go to Wisconsin for that.

Saturday night, the 13th, we attended the 33rd annual Freeport Cruise Night in downtown Freeport, IL.  Way back in the seventies, before Terri and I were married, we attended the annual Cruise Night event.  However, back then, every Saturday night in the summer was cruise night.  There were all sorts of cars and trucks there this year.  They were expecting at least 500 vehicles for the cruise.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, and it started raining with just over an hour left to go.  I think quite a few cars didn't show up because of the weather.  There was still a lot of vehicles, though, and we enjoyed seeing what was there.  Here are a few examples of what we saw.

Sunday, the 14th, we met our friends Dick and Emily.  Terri and Emily have been best buddies for about thirty years,  ever since they worked together in Freeport.  We always visit with them and usually go out to eat whenever we're in the Freeport area.

We met them at the Lena Drive Inn and had lunch.  Emily had a brat and the rest of us had the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich.  The food was great, and the visit was even better.  After we finished lunch, they came out to the park and we sat and visited for a few hours.  It was real nice seeing them again.  We usually get back here yearly, but we didn't make it out here in 2010, so we hadn't seen them for a couple of years.

Monday, the 15th, we went out for brunch with Terri's brother Tracy.  Again, because we didn't come out here in 2010, we also hadn't seen him for a couple of years.  We had a real nice breakfast and visit.  Later, Terri and I ran some errands which included picking up my certified birth certificate and our marriage certificate, and then we just relaxed.

The highlight of the day for Tuesday, the 16th, was another visit with Dick and Emily.  They came out for dinner, and we had hamburgers, hotdogs, and brats that I grilled up.  Terri fixed a real good peach jello salad and heated up a couple of cans of beans.  We also ate some delicious cookie bars that Terri baked.  More good eatin' and visitin'.

Wednesday, the 17th, we made a run in to Terri's brother's house with a cedar chest and dishes.  These were some things that used to belong to Terri's Grandmother.  We couldn't keep them any longer, and her brother wanted them.  Believe it not, we brought that cedar chest out here from Richmond in the basement of our fifth wheel.  All you fulltimers know how jam packed your basements can be.  Imagine how much room we have in there now that the cedar chest is gone.

Thursday, the 18th, we went over to Loves Park, IL, to take care of some business and have lunch.  We also stopped at Rock Cut State Park and a couple of forest preserve campgrounds just to check them out to see if we would want to stay at any of them. 

Friday, the 19th, it was back to the laundromat for more fun.  We saw an interesting sign that said "Don't put your clothes in a washer or dryer that's already being used."  That just seems like common sense to us, but maybe we're missing something... Later, we went over to Terri's brother's house for dinner.  He fixed a delicious lasagna dinner with homemade lemon ice cream for desert.  It was a great meal and a nice time with Tracy.

Saturday's big highlight was grilled burgers for dinner.  Otherwise, just a nice quiet relaxing day. 

During the week, I saw a store with a very amusing name...

Also, this sign is interesting.  I guess it doesn't really apply in the middle of August.  If you can't figure it out, it's a warning sign for a snowmobile crossing.

(click to enlarge image)

Sunday, the 21st, was a fun day for us.  We headed east to the Winnebago County Fair in Pecatonica, IL.  It's been a looooong time since we attended a good county fair demolition derby.  They had over 70 cars participate, and the action was excellent.

This is the "Best Appearing Car" winner

Monday, the 22nd, we had to take our dog Katie to the vet for a blood test.  Emily was a great help in getting all this set up so that her vet and our vet could get this all worked out.  She even came to the vet Monday and helped us out.  Thanks Emily!  Now we have an east coast vet and a midwest vet.  By the way, all is well with Katie.  We just needed to check her levels for her seizure control medication.

A very popular local product is something I always look forward to when returning to the Freeport area.  Mrs. Mike's Potato Chips is a local favorite, and we just love them.  They're a variation of a kettle cooked chip but better.  Earlier in the week, we stopped by the factory and purchased a five pound box of chips.  By Saturday there was only about a third of a box left.  We stopped in on Saturday and bought another five pounds.  They're delicious and very addictive.

After we got back from the vet, we packed up and headed about two hours southwest to Davenport, IA.  We're staying at a county park in Scott County.  Summit Campground at West Lake Park is a nice little park with water and 30 amp electric available, and it's only $18 per night.  Thanks Jim and Linda for another great campground tip.

Site 112,  West Lake Park

A view down our street

View out back

 We only planned on staying one night, but it was rainy and windy this morning so we decided to stay another night.  Wednesday we're headed off to Osceola to get Terri's certified birth certificate.  Later in the week we'll be "landing" at Tower Campground in Sioux Falls, SD, for a couple of weeks.  Then after that, who knows...