Somewhere in the last day or two, we crossed a time zone. I thought Indiana was all on one time zone, apparently it is not. So this morning, when I got up, the clock by the bed read 5:50am. My phone read 4:50am. I was all slept out and my lower back was all kinked up so I had to get up. It just seemed wrong to get up that early in the morning so, for now, I will believe the 5:50 time.
Another word for the day is Rain. The rain started shortly after I got up and it poured rain on and off for most of the day. With the bleak forecast for the day, it was a good day to get some indoor chores done.
We drove west for an hour or so, ending up in Evansville, where we stopped at a Walmart to pick up such essentials as ice cream. Across the street from the Walmart was a laundromat where we spent some time laundering the clothes and the linens. Perfect task for a rainy day. We ran into a younger couple in the laundromat who remarked on our RV and that started a conversation about travel and destinations. The guy seemed quite restless and expressed a desire to go just about anywhere but Evansville, Indiana. We remarked that this particular area was quite lovely--rolling hills and the Ohio River Valley. But he was unconvinced. Wyoming sounded great to him. Dry, dusty Wyoming. Yeah, there’s the Tetons and Yellowstone, but Wyoming has a lot of nothing. Michigan even sounded good to him.
We did get a couple tips from him on where to go near here that we may check out.
After all the clothes were packed away we drove to a nearby Costco for a flu shot. Yep, it’s that time of year and we always seem to get our flu shots while on the road. We picked up a few more supplies here but Costco and small RVs are rather incompatible as Costco tends to sell stuff in large packages and we have very little storage. We also had lunch there. I haven’t had Costco pizza in quite a while. The pepperoni pieces are still large, still two bucks a piece, still greasy, and still good.
Another hour or more of driving brought us here, to Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois. Another unexpected treat. Flat, boring Illinois but there’s a little section in the Shawnee National Forest that is hilly, rugged, and quite beautiful. Even the colors, although they are mostly brown oak leaves lend a fall beauty to the area. I would imagine that, in a more typical fall without the draught, additional colors in this landscape would be absolutely stunning.
We tried to take a hike but got chased back by a thunderstorm but we managed to hike the Observation Trail after dinner, once the storm had passed. Another storm was in the area; we could hear thunder in the distance, but the rain held off and we had a nice hike around the rocks and cliffs in the area. Rocks with such names as Devil’s Smokestack, Chimney Rock, Camel Rock, and so forth, all clustered together and jutting out of the forest in fantastic shapes.
The hike was only about a quarter mile as this is a rather small area but we spent quite a bit of time clambering on the rocks and enjoying the view. And the rain held off. We’ll probably hike this again tomorrow, weather permitting.
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