Enroute to Peoria

So Bigfoot and Elkhorn departed Spencer Indiana before 9 AM which that “early” is really good for Annmarie. She doesn’t rise and adam too early. We stopped and got fuel about 10 miles away at $4.89. The Big foot and Elkhorn are communicating with a pair of handheld gmrs radios that Lane had recommended. Had to call him on the road to help with them and he got us squared away. A short time after that, apparently I hit a tree branch and broke the whip antenna off that I was using for the radio. Which of course I just installed four days ago. Oh well shit happens.

Virgil had picked a good route of only secondary roads, as we wound our way through the corn fields into Illinois. We stopped at a train depot museum in Wabash, but it was closed, so we just walked around, got cold, and took a few pictures.

So, when YOU think of Peoria, Il, what DO YOU think of? I had no clue, I though maybe corn of something. Well, I have expanded my horizons yet again, (of course I will forget tomorrow). We stopped at the Caterpillar Museum and Visitor in downtown Peoria. For nearly 110 years, workers have been manufacturing Caterpillar tractors in East Peoria, Illinois. They manufacture those big 4000hp engines in Lafayette, In, and the drivetrain in other local cities. Much like John Deere is king in Moline, “Cat” is king in Peoria. So now I know… A very good museum, and we had two awesome docents (Suzie and Howard), they kinda of adopted us and guided us around while providing their stories of the 4 generations of families that work at Cat. It seemed like I had known them for years. Very impressive and informative.

After saying goodbye to Suzie and Howard we corralled Bigfoot and Elkhorn from the riverside parking lot where we had them tied up to, and drove to the Bass Pro Shop where we dry camped for the night.

Just a reference, “dry camped” is parking in an area without electric, water, or sewer. We can “dry camp” anywhere (that is allowed) because both Bigfoot and Elkhorn have 30gal of fresh water, can hold 30gal of gray (dish) water, and 30gal of crap water… PLUS, both solar and generators so we can survive a pandemic if one should ever occur… OH wait, never mind…

I will upload a bunch of photos later. I’m still relearning how to use this format, but I will get it.