ILLINOIS

In late September, I arrived at the home of friends Nancy and Rick in Rossville, Illinois. We first met in 2014 on a lighthouse photography workshop in Maine. Since then, we’ve attended several more workshops and become good friends. They recently built a new home on 11 acres in the heart of the corn belt of the Midwest and had their electrician install a 30 amp electric hookup just so I could come park in their yard from time-to-time. That’s what I call friends!

Rick and Nancy’s beautiful new home in Rossville, IL.

My parking spot next to their auxiliary garage that includes an efficiency apartment they used while building the house. This was convenient for using the bathroom and shower since I didn’t have a sewer connection here.

They have a small orchard in the front yard and Rick made a delicious apple pie using freshly picked apples.

Nancy’s Aunt Gudrun from Munich, Germany was visiting at the same time. She’s a delightful woman with whom I enjoyed many long talks.

Me and Gudrun, Nancy’s aunt from Germany.

Illinois corn fields.

Here I am with Nancy, Rick and their dogs Mason and Marlowe.

One day we all went to a local winery (Sleepy Creek Vineyards) that was having a craft fair and on our way home, we passed a cornfield being harvested by Nancy’s cousins. We stopped so Gudrun could say “Hello” and I was treated to a ride in the combine as we cut some corn. This was another of those opportunities—like my filming the road construction explosives in Nova Scotia in 2017—that offer me unique experiences not had by the average tourist. My life is enriched by the seemingly mundane.

The craft fair at Sleepy Creek Vineyards in Fairmount, IL.

I got to ride in this combine with one of Nancy’s cousins who was glad to have someone along for the ride to break up the monotony.

Click on the image for a short video of the view from inside the cockpit of a combine.

Just over the border to the east is Parke County, Indiana, the “Covered Bridge Capitol of the World.” At one time, there were as many as 53 covered bridges in this one county in West-Central Indiana. I spent an entire day traveling 65 miles of back roads to see 16 of the 31 remaining covered bridges, some dating back to the mid-1800s.

Roseville Bridge built 1910.

Zacke Cox Bridge built 1908.

Mecca Bridge built 1873.

West Union Bridge built 1876.

Jackson Bridge built 1861.

I also visited Springfield, the Capitol of Illinois and the hometown of Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln Presidential Library is here, as well as a wonderful museum dedicated to the 16th President. Walking through town, I saw the location of Lincoln’s law practice and a residential area that has been cordoned off and preserved by the National Park Service where Abe and Mary lived. It was like stepping back in time to walk the neighborhood of period homes and get a real feel for what Springfield looked like in the mid-1800s.

Museum replica of the log cabin where Lincoln grew up.

Abe and Mary Lincoln’s home in Springfield, IL.

The preserved neighborhood where Lincoln lived in Springfield, IL.

Lincoln’s law office on 6th Street in Springfield, IL.

Lincoln’s tomb is located beneath the monument at Oak Ridge Cemetery and is open to the public.

Lincoln’s tomb.

There is also a Frank Lloyd Wright house in Springfield that was a truly amazing place. Every piece of glass—windows, lamps, decor items—was priceless art glass.

The Dana-Thomas House designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1902.

MISSOURI

From eastern Illinois I traveled to St. Louis, Missouri and stayed in my first-ever urban location: St. Louis RV Park, located right in the city. The most striking thing about this city (aside from that big arch) was the lack of traffic and the easy availability of parking. I think coming from New Jersey, my concept of traffic is skewed.

My first stay in an urban RV park in St. Louis.

Downtown traffic in St. Louis can’t compare with what I’m used to in New Jersey.

The Gateway Arch is breathtaking both in its design and the view from the top, which is not for the faint of heart. Beneath the arch is a wonderful exhibit about the westward expansion of the nation and a must-see movie about the construction of the arch using film footage taken throughout the project. I also took a riverboat ride for photos from another perspective. The ride didn’t go very far and didn’t see much other than to see the arch from the water.

View from a riverboat on the Mississippi River. At times, the river has flooded high enough to reach halfway up the stairs seen above the cars in the foreground.

It’s hard to take a bad picture of the Arch; every angle is a good one.

This shot was taken from an observation deck on the Illinois side of the river.

Click on image to view a time-lapse video of clouds passing over the city of St. Louis as seen from the top of Gateway Arch.

The museum on Westward Expansion below the Gateway Arch.

Driving down Washington Avenue, I happened upon the National Blues Museum that proved to be a great stop. Its a small venue filled with some of the best music ever recorded.

The National Blues Museum in St. Louis.

From St. Louis, I moved to the southern part of the state and spent several days at Mark Twain National Forest.

My campsite at Mark Twain National Forest in Southern Missouri. Although it rained while I was here, it never got this bad.

The Saint Francis River in Mark Twain National Forest.

ARKANSAS

At this point, I was heading to an RV rally in Hot Springs but I stopped in Northern Arkansas for a week at Jacksonport State Park on the banks of the White River. I chose this location because I’d read in a book about an old steamboat they had. Unfortunately, it sank in a storm several years ago and was scrapped. However, the park also has a historic building that had been the County Courthouse, built in 1872. It’s a free museum about Jackson County’s history and even had an exhibit dedicated to the local newspapers, which I found fascinating, having worked for a newspaper for twenty years.

The campground at Jacksonport State Park, Jacksonport, AR.

The view of the White River from my campsite.

The old County Courthouse houses a free museum of local history.

Exhibit of local newspaper printing history.

In nearby Newport, I found the “Rock ’n’ Roll Highway 67” exhibit on the second floor of the Chamber of Commerce building. Another free exhibit, this one dedicated to the stretch of US-67 that runs through Jackson County, Arkansas where numerous nightclubs and roadhouses featured up-and-coming artists like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison in the 1950s and 60s.

“Rock ‘n’ Roll Highway 67” museum in Newport, AR.

Map of nightclubs and roadhouses that helped launch the careers of many artists of the 50s and 60s.

Newport, Arkansas is also the home of Walmart. Its the town where Sam Walton ran his first department store, a Ben Franklin franchise store that provided the foundation for his future empire. Inside the local Walmart is a little display about Sam Walton’s history as a merchant and community leader.

Sam Walton display inside the Walmart in Newport, AR.

By mid-October, I arrived in Hot Springs for the RV rally at Cloud 9 RV Park. We are all members of RVillage.com and within the site are numerous special interest groups to join. This group is for singles. We’ve all been chatting online for years but this was our first opportunity to meet in person. It rained the entire week and I never got to visit Hot Springs but there was plenty of drinking and a lot of stories and laughter and I made friends with a coupe more people I hadn’t talked to before. You’ll hear more about Pat and Jeff in future posts because we’ve met up in Texas a couple times.

Some of the RV club members at the rally in Arkansas.

Everyone was asked to bring beer or wine from their home state. I brought a bottle of Cabernet-Merlot from Valenzano Winery in South Jersey that everyone loved. I also brought a bottle of Jersey Devil white wine that was positively terrible.

By late October it was time to move on to Texas and meet Mark’s family for the first time.

My four-week route from Indiana to Arkansas.

Next post:
Wintering in Texas.

My name is Lindsay Reed and I’m a photographer and retired graphic artist with a passion for both lighthouses and road trips. I am living as a full-time solo RVer in my 31 foot Coachmen motorhome and plan to spend the next few years traveling the U.S. and Canada photographing not only lighthouses, but everything else there is to see in this wonderful land. I hope you enjoy my blog and will follow my adventures in the months and years ahead.