The journey began, part 4

On Sept. 6 , after leaving Ottumwa, IA, we arrived at Illiniwek Park in Hampton, IL.  Our first stop was to visit my brother Mark and his wife Mary in Davenport.  We don't see them often, so it was great to spend some time with them.  In need of information on personal finance, or calculators for just about anything?  Visit my brother's site https://www.yourmoneypage.com/!  Mary is an award winning author.  Her first published novel took place in the town they lived, and is titled "Clouds over Bishop Hill."  For more information on Mary visit her blog at https://marydavidsaver.blogspot.com/.

Watching a barge go through the locks from our campground in Illiniwek

The picture of us on the park bench on our blog site was taken at the Artsy Fartsy house in Hampton, IL. Their lawn features a variety of eclectic yard ornaments.  The red brick, Samuel Twining house, was built in 1844 and is across from the Mississippi River.  They share their various art pieces, including glass globes hanging from the trees, lawn mowers, and antique farm equipment with all who wander by.  Everyone's idea of art is different.

We took a taxi ride on the Mississippi river seeing the sights of the quad cities.  Lunch at Lagomarcino's, a confectionery store, deli and ice cream parlor, well-known for it's ice cream was yummy!  The Lagomarcino family started their business in Moline in 1908 and it is still run by them today.  I bought some chocolates to go, but they didn't last very long!

My brother Mark and his wife Mary on our taxi ride.

On Sept. 8 we left Hamilton and stopped at Indiana Dunes National Park.   This was a new National Park, so I actually had to add a sticker to my scratch-off map.

Now we were off to Paul's RV Service and Interiors in Wakarusa, IN for warranty work on our RV.  We weren't able to get into Thor's service center until Dec. , and neither one of us wanted to be in Indiana at that time of the year!  Thor suggested we go to Paul's, who often helps with their warranty work. Paul's did what they could and on the 12th sent us to Thor Service to figure out our cab heater problem.  After months of various places trying to fix it, Thor had it working in probably an hour.  During our time in Wakarusa we had time to visit the towns nearby.  One day I wanted to walk across the field from Thor and just down "a little ways" to a store.  We didn't take the stroller and someone didn't make it!  As usual, just lays down and looks at you like "I'm done!"

Pat to the rescue!

Great little taco place in Goshen, IN

An Amish restaurant we repeated this spring.

A nice fall stand.  We bought some apples.

Wakarusa's Dime Store, claiming giant jelly beans

My favorite, Main Street Roasters in Nappanee, IN.  Another place we went back to this spring.

An old factory in Nappanee that they turned part of into shops.

On Sept. 15th we were off and on our way to the KOA in Streetsboro, Ohio.  On to see my eldest brother John and his wife, Theresa and Sammy.  They came to visit us that night, and on the following day we went into Cuyahoga Falls for dinner at their house.  It was great to spend time with them, as we don't get to see them any more often than my other brother.

My brother John, his wife Theresa, and Sammy

We also visited Cuyahoga National Park while we were in Streetsboro.  Yes, I got to scratch off another National Park on my map! We hiked on the Towpath trail where the mules pulled the barges up and down the Ohio/Erie canal and through the locks in the olden days.  Between Cleveland and Portsmouth there were around 146 locks made out of rock with wooden gates on each end.  It was very interesting.  Lots of people walking and riding bikes on the trail.  Krikkit needed a ride on the way back!

One of the locks

Krikkit walked in, but needed a lift coming out!

Next week we look back at our Niagara Falls visit!