Between the Bookends

This week's blog will be shorter than last week. Last week covered an eight day week and ran longer than usual. This week, our wandering has been bookended by rain, so it will cover a scant five days. Ah, there is nothing like life between the bookends! 

We began our week in Rochester, IL, south of Springfield with all things Lincoln. Our stay in Rochester was a first for us. We completed every restaurant and attraction on our wish list for the area. This was even more remarkable considering we had a couple days of rain during our five days in town. We spent our second rainy day, Monday, with our books and computers. (I am very grateful for Kindle.) Rainy days and Mondays do not always get me down!

New Salem Village Reconstruction

On Tuesday, the sun came out, and we headed to Lincoln’s New Salem Village Historic Site, just north of Springfield. This is a recreation of an abandoned village where the young Lincoln explored the possibilities for his life. He met a businessman who hired him to take a flatboat downriver to pick up supplies for his store in New Salem. This first trip opened his eyes to a world beyond the woodlands of Indiana and Illinois. After returning, he was ready for a second trip when circumstances changed, and he was hired to work in the man’s store in New Salem.

 

The next six years offered Lincoln the opportunity to try his hand at running a General Store (two actually), surveying, serving as postmaster, a stint in the Illinois Militia during the Blackhawk War, and discovering his love for the law by reading borrowed law books. He also discovered and honed his folksy speaking style and earned the respect of the other young men his age as a wrestler. There are also old rumors of a tragic love for a daughter of one of the town's founders.. These were indeed the formative years for  A. Lincoln as he emerged into adulthood and made his way, via the law and politics, to Springfield in 1837. Here are a few of the reconstructed buildings and furnishings in Lincoln's New Salem of 1837.

 

Lincoln: the Rail Splitter

Some of Lincoln's Surveying Tools

A Model of a Flatboat

The History Gallery at the Visitor Center.

Lincoln: Assistant Surveyor

One of the Nicer Houses

The Cooper's House is the only original building on the site.

Wool and Cardimg Mill

Oxen Treadwheel for the Mill.

Replica of Lincoln's First Store

Rutledge's Tavern

The Tavern

The Road to the Grain Mill

A Resident of the Village

Lincoln's Second Store

A Cabin

The Grain Mill with Millpond

 

Wednesday was our last day in Rochester, and we generally stay close by to pack up and be ready to move the next day. After a quick run to Pawnee, IL, to grab a burger and shake at Krekel's  (yes, it was worth the drive.), we headed to Lincoln’s Memorial Garden and Nature Center just down the road from the KOA. This nature center was developed in the last century along the south shore of Lake Springfield. The intent was to restore the farmland to the woodlands from the days when Lincoln lived in the area, roughly 1860. It is a beautiful botanical park, and we enjoyed our two-mile walk along beautifully designed trails. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Sleepy the Troll

Lake Springfield

Mushrooms after the rain were everywhere.

Our Old friend, Virginia Creeper.

A Red Admiral

Osprey in flight with fish in the claws.

Aster

Signs of Autumn a Sassafras Tree

The Woodlands

The Trail

ACO, the one who helps humanity

A park resident

 

St. Louis West/Historic Route 66 KOA

It was time to leave Rochester and turn toward Missouri. We made an easy drive to Eureka, MO, following I 55, the modern iteration of Historic Route 66. Southern Illinois is farmland with vast fields of corn and soybeans. The corn-pickers were out in force. The beans were drying and nearly ready for picking while the weather was good. But, as we neared the Mississippi Valley, the land started to change. And once we were across the river, we found ourselves on the edge of the Ozarks. (We will return to the Southern Edge of the Ozarks during our stay in Hot Springs next Month after a quick jaunt into Kentucky and Tennessee.) We will spend the 10 nights here in Eureka. The last time we were in St. Louis, we learned “Siyahamba” from Desmond Tutu. That will be hard to top.  \But we will do our best, exploring both sides of the Mississippi. (Marlene took these shots.)

Meramec River

Crossing the Mississippi

Ah, Time for lunch!

When we reached the other end of our short week, the rain, courtesy of Hurricane Helene, arrived. It was the perfect bookend for our week. Bookends are like periods in a sentence and Indentations in paragraphs. They help us to pause and look back, making sense of the stuff between the bookends. In libraries, bookends help us keep similar books together. In our wandering travels, these figurative bookends help us reflect on and redirect our attention as we travel. Yep, regardless of how many days we may travel, the bookends help us appreciate and celebrate our grand opportunities each week. Rainy days don't get me down. They let me pause, reflect, and relax along the way to our next adventure!

 

Travel well, my friends! Enjoy your rainy days!

 

Bob

Filling in our last New RVing State for this trip.