Lunch with Dreamers, and Part Two: Chips and friends

Friday 8/31/2012

Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park

Lena, Il

“Part Two” of our weekly recap is next, but first a report on today’s (Friday, 8/31) lunch with some fellow RV-Dreamers, John and Bridget.

We met John and Bridget last year when they were staying near Gordonsville, VA.  Coincidently, our friends Jim and Dee were visiting us in the Richmond area at the same time John and Bridget were near Gordonsville.  Jim and Dee and John and Bridget met at the 2008 RV-Dreams Rally in Branson, MO.  The four of them met up again in March of 2009 and  have kept in touch ever since then.  When they realized we were all so close, we all got together for lunch.  Terri and I have continued to keep up with John and Bridget through their blog.

When I read that they were stopping in Sublette, IL, this weekend, I sent an email and the four of us decided on lunch today.  We met them at the White Pines Lodge Restaurant located in White Pines Forest State Park located between Polo and Mt. Morris, IL.

The food was excellent, and we were able to take advantage of an early-bird special for dinner.  Terri had the Vegetarian Stir Fry, and John, Bridget, and I each had the Herb Chicken and Wild Rice.  My sides were mashed potatoes and gravy and some very delicious onion rings.  It was really nice seeing John and Bridget again, and we hope to see them again sometime down the road.  It’s always so much fun tracking our friends and seeing our paths cross.

White Pines Forest State Park is another place my parents and sister and I used to go camping.  It’s unique in that you must cross the creek twice to get to the campground, but there’s only one bridge!  The other crossing actually  goes through the creek and is referred to as a ford.  There’s actually a second ford leading to a picnic area.  Here’s a picture of that crossing.  It looks nearly the same as the other crossing.

And a closer view.

Originally there was a total of four fords in the park that were accessible by vehicle, but two of them are no longer in use.  As a young boy, it was always “fun” to ride through the creek in the family car.  Terri and I drove up to the campground and quickly determined that it’s NOT big-rig friendly.  So unfortunately we won’t be staying here. 

  

“Part Two of this week’s recap”

Friday, 8/24, we drove over to Freeport, our hometown.  It’s been just over a year since we’ve been here in the area so we decided to drive around town and check things out.  One priority item was to go to the local potato chip factory called Mrs. Mike’s Potato Chips.  These chips are only available locally (and online),  and they’re the best darn chips ever!!!  They’re very addictive and very good for you (not so much).  They’re available in local stores by the bag, but that won’t do for us… we go straight to the source

and buy them bulk, five pounds at a time!  Our timing was very good, they had just finished a batch.  The young lady who sold them to us said that the box hadn’t been closed up yet because they were letting them cool.  So out the door we went with our “open box of cooling chips” and right to the car and into our watering mouths.

OOOOOOOh, these chips are sooooooo goooooood.  As of today, Friday, 8/31, we’ve gone through about four of the five pounds.  Looks like another trip to the factory is in our near future!!!

Saturday and Sunday (8/25-26) we just stayed close to home.  We watched a few campers come in for the weekend.  We did get some rain late Saturday night and Sunday morning.  Not too enjoyable for the weekenders, but it really didn’t bother us at all.

Monday, 8/27, was moving day.  I checked and saw online through Reserve America.com that our site, #130, had been reserved for this coming Saturday and Sunday.  I also checked and the site we stayed in last year, #115, was available.  We had to dump the tanks anyway, so we moved over to site #115 after dumping.  We really liked this site last year, so we were happy to move into it.

We’re right next to a water spigot, and the trees behind the rig shade us from the HOT afternoon sun.

Here are views up the street and down the street.

We should be able to stay in this site until we’re ready to head out next week!

Tuesday, 8/28, we made a Walmart run and then started getting ready for a visit with our friends Dick and Emily.  I didn’t get a picture of them this time, so here’s a picture of them from last year.

Terri and Emily worked together at a local bank in Freeport many, many years ago.  We had a nice meal of hamburgers, brats, Watergate salad, baked beans, and of course, MRS. MIKE’S POTATO CHIPS!!!  We moved inside later and talked and reminisced for a few hours.  We’re hoping to see them again before we leave.

This post is already getting too long and I need a potato chip break, so I’ve decided there will now be a “Part Three” of our recap of the past week!  Stay tuned……