Put on my blue suede shoes and boarded a train.

So what is that all about? More on that in a minute.

Lincoln's Tomb - Springfield, Illinois

We are currently at Indiana Dunes State Park visiting the second national park so far on this trip. Since we haven’t written in a while, you may be wondering just how we got here.

Prairie Pines Campground at Sunset

We left Melbourne a month ago on voyage 3.1. After a five-week hiatus, we decided to visit some of the Midwest states and are timing our stops to return to Michigan for my Dad’s interment on September 16.

Mango has been in charge of planning this trip and he’s done a great job. Our ideas of a good campground are very similar but a different set of eyes reading reviews has been interesting. I wouldn’t have thought to choose a fairgrounds but it worked out perfectly in Springfield, Illinois. We discovered Prattville, Alabama which was just outside Montgomery, a charming little town. We spent a couple of days in St. Louis to see Gateway Arch National Park and even took an afternoon riverboat cruise on the Mississippi.

 

You may recall in year one I had an emergency dental crisis and lost a crown. Well, I had a similar crisis this year and needed a root canal. You’d think I don’t take of my teeth but I really do but needed to fly home to visit my dentist to get that taken care of.

 

Mango spent 3.5 days on his own in Memphis (Partaaaaaayy. Actually, I had a honey-do list that was as long as my arm, so party’ing wasn’t an option) while I and my toothache flew home to Melbourne. 

The Mansion at Graceland

After my return and the antibiotics had kicked in, we did Memphis. We saw the ghost of Elvis on Union Avenue and followed him up to the gates of Graceland. Ok, so I borrowed the lyrics from this song.  But honestly, after visiting these places, this song really resonates with that whole experience. We walked 10 feet off of Beale (yup, more of the song reference) and enjoyed an afternoon of adult beverages and good music. And of course, we had to try some barbeque; Central BBQ was highly recommended on Yelp. It was so good we went back a second time.  

We loved the Lincoln Presidential Museum and spending some time in Springfield. The library was closed but the museum was open. Also saw Lincoln’s home of 17 years, also not currently open but it’s in an area with a dozen or so other period homes. The history here was well documented and we both found it interesting.

 

Shortly before we left Melbourne, we found a deal on Craigslist for a couple of Dahon foldable bikes. Wow, how great it is to have these along. We carry them in the back of the Jeep and in about 30 seconds can have them out and ready to go. Biking doesn't work at every campground but the times we’ve had them out have been great fun. Sure beats walking everywhere. 

 

The weather here lately has been in the low 70’s and dips down at night into the 50’s. The leaves are threatening to change color and I’m hopeful we’ll get to see some of that while in Michigan. Mango has never experienced the splendor of fall color so that will be a treat for sure.

The cold will chase us south after the 16^th but I’m hoping for an Indian summer. You northerners will understand that reference. We have a week booked at Rainbow Springs in Florida in mid October and a week in Key Largo at the end of the month. Edna has been busy this summer and fall.

 

Hope all is well in your world. We continue to be careful, social distance at all times, wear masks when we’re out and like everyone else, are hopeful for a return to something a little more comfortable soon.

Oh and in case you're wondering, we have visited 29 states in Edna with two more probable this trip.

 

-June