Indianapolis, St Louis & Chicago

28 May – We drove south thru Kentucky along the “Blue Grass Parkway” to the Mammoth National Park where we have booked in for 2 nights. It was a short walk to the visitor’s centre where we watched a video on the caves and booked the Historic Underground tour for tomorrow.

 

29 May – Down to the visitors centre for our 10:00am tour. The name of the caves becomes obvious when you enter them. The first part of the tour is thru huge tunnels and rooms. The rotunda cavern was used as a saltpetre mine until recently. The route soon narrows into a squeeze at “Fat Mans Misery” and opens out again at a high dome which we climbed out of on a stair system. The tour lasted 1 ¾ hours with a guide’s commentary. This cave system and an adjacent system joined into one in 1962 when some cavers found the linking passageways making it the world’s longest cave. They are still exploring this cave and to date they have mapped 400 miles of tunnels. In the afternoon we biked an old rail trail originally to bring visitors to the caves. As we are enjoying this National Park we have booked in for another night.

With a nice camp fire going we started to cook tea but the skies opened and we rushed inside to eat it. The weather is very changeable, fine one minute and raining the next.

30 May – I spent the morning cleaning the floors etc while Val did the laundry. After lunch we set off for a 2 mile walk along some great trails and saw this pair of owls. About ½ a mile from home we got a torrential downpour and were soaked to the skin.

31 May – After a dump, “Ernie”, not us, we drove north passed many full church car parks (Sunday) and over the Ohio River again and into Indiana at the historic town of Canneltown before heading north again to a camp in the Hoosier Forest. It was cold and raining most of the day. We went for a short walk down to a lake which would be nice in better weather.

1 June – It was still raining and cold this morning - porridge for breakfast. We followed the minor roads north thru some great small towns and even some Amish country. Saw another horse and carriage but they are very hard to get a photo of. We will see more later in the trip. We overnighted near Bloomington at a county camp but did not stir out of the camper.

2 June – It was a short drive, in the sun, out of the hills and onto the plains, to the suburbs of Indianapolis and our goal of the speedway where the Indy 500 is run. (10 days ago) After a small parking hassle we walked under the track to the museum where we decided to do the grand tour. The museum was great with many of the winner’s cars including the first winner in 1911. We boarded a bus for our Ground Tour and drove around the oval circuit, stopping at the start/finish line where a small strip of the original bricks has been preserved. The Indy Speedway is still nicknamed the brickyard. Our tour continued into the media centre (huge for 300 journalists), a corporate suite and the winner’s podium. Back on the bus and we went down “Gasoline Alley” into the pits. The circuit is much bigger than it appears on TV, 2 ½ miles long which the cars lap in around 38 seconds at well over 230 mph. There are 220,000 seats which are full for the great race.

Our bravery award still goes out to the early drivers doing 70 mph in their primitive cars on the rough old brick surface though. It was a great tour which we thoroughly enjoyed. Our overnight stop was at the Indianapolis Fair Grounds, a bit like a huge A & P showground.  

3 June – Our trip today was westward along the old main road known as the Birth of the Nation highway, the original east/west road. This road runs parallel to the interstate now. We crossed the Indiana/Illinois border (yet another time change, talk about jet lag on the ground!) and on to a large state park at Lincoln Trail. In the afternoon we cycled around the Lincoln Trail Lake over the dam, through wooded shoreline stopping at a restaurant for an expensive ice-cream, a distance of six miles.

During our drinks and scrabble session a great couple from Connecticut introduced themselves, Sue and Don, and we had a great chat. They had been to Utah to the 5 great National Parks and were heading home. They invited us to stay with them when we are in their area as they are only a bus ride from New York. We will take them up on that!

4 June – We used two interstate highways today to get us 150 miles SW. These are not our favourite routes as there a large number of trucks passing and then pulling straight in front. Everyone travels at around 70mph and very close. No wonder there are huge accidents on these roads. No room for error! We are camped in a large State Park on the shores of Lake Rend, a huge reservoir. There are a few family groups in, as some kids are off school already. Another very nice camp. We went for a short bike ride after lunch. The weather is nice and warm again - around 28C. After dinner we sat outside watching the display put on by the fireflies.

5 June – Back on the country roads again and we enjoyed a great drive thru the rolling agricultural areas travelling west thru Illinois until we reached the Mississippi, the Illinois/Missouri border. Across the muddy river and to the small French colonial town of Ste Genevieve. After a stroll around the very French feeling buildings we continued further west into Missouri countryside to the small Hawn State Park. We were lucky to get the last available camp site.

6 June – It was a short drive to our booked RV Park near the downtown area of St Louis. After lunch we walked to the bus stop which took us into the downtown centre. St Louis was regarded as the gateway to the west and the main reason we have come here is so see the huge stainless steel arch which was constructed in 1965 and is called the Jefferson Expansion Memorial. Most people just call it the Gateway Arch. We bought tickets to go to the top of the arch and waited our turn in the visitors centre. There are 8 cramped capsules each holding 5 people which take 4 minutes to ascend each side of the arch. Claustrophobic people are warned not to go!

At the top, 630ft, there is a low ceilinged observation gallery with slotted windows giving spectular views west across St Louis city and east into Illinois. Back in the RV Park and after a great swim in the pool, we managed to skype most of the family.

7 June – On our way out of St Louis we decided to bike the ‘Old Chain of Rocks Bridge’ across the Mississippi, part of the old “Route 66” now a cycleway. Unfortunately there had been recent road works in the area of north St Louis and we got lost finding the park for the ride. We did see a few of the less salubrious suburbs however. Eventually we found our way and enjoyed the ride across the bridge (and the border) before returning to “Ernie” and a fast 100 mile trip up on the flat I-55 towards Chicago, a three day trip. We are overnighting at yet another State Park at Lake Sangchris. It is very hot today (32C) and we sat in the shade on the shores of the lake. We sat out side until the skies darkened. Battened down the hatches just in time as the heavens opened with torrential rain and strong winds.

8 June – It rained heavily most of the night and we heard on the radio there were flash flooding warnings and 2 small tornadoes touched down about 100 miles away. Our luck is still holding!! It was a short drive to Springfield, the state capital. There are over 30 towns called Springfield in the US. At Oak Ridge we visited Abraham Lincoln’s tomb, an impressive granite structure with an obelisk and bronze statues on the outside and a beautiful marble interior with small sculptures of Lincoln with the large marble sarcophagus. After we left the I-55 it was a great drive thru the farming land of Illinois to a State Park at Starved Rock. The camp was 3 miles from the visitor’s centre and we will check it out tomorrow. The sun disappeared and the thunder rolled around us but it all cleared for us to have dinner outside. Wine in plastic mugs again – alcohol prohibited!!

 

9 June – The day is clear so we drove back to the visitor’s centre to explore the trails in this park. It is on the banks on the Illinois River in a limestone area. The name, Starved Rock, refers to a large rocky outcrop where one Indian tribe lay siege to their enemy tribe and starved them to death. There were a variety of short trails leading to some great view points, canyons and waterfalls. Looking out over the Illinois River we could see a dam and some locks. There are 8 locks on the Illinois River allowing barges to navigate from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi. You can sail a large vessel from the

Atlantic Ocean, down the St Laurence seaway, into the Great Lakes, down the Illinois River, down the Mississippi River and out into the Gulf of Mexico at New Orleans. Quite amazing! After lunch it was a short pleasant drive to friends we had meet in Phoenix, Arizona when we first arrived 2 ½ years ago. Vern and Marty Strausberger live in Elburn about 50 miles west of Chicago and we easily found their rural home where we will stay for 3 nights. After dinner they took us for a drive thru the farming area where they had lived all their lives and we ended up having a great ice-cream sitting outside the shop with many other families.

10 June – Marty and Vern dropped us off at the local railway station and we caught the train into Chicago, a 1 ½ hour trip costing $8. Out of the railway station and into the huge towering skyscrapers all around. Our first port of call was the Willis Tower (the old Sears Tower) for an elevator ride up 103 stories and a huge viewing gallery giving 360 degree views of the city and Lake Michigan.

The day was the hottest since July last year (33C) but it was a great walk in the shade of the buildings down to the lake shore where you get spectacular views looking back to the city. Lunch was Subways eaten in a lovely shaded area outside the Art Museum. On passed the Buckingham Fountain and thru Millennium Park, passed a huge outdoor theatre to the “Bean”, a stainless steel sculpture giving weird reflections of the city and ourselves. We then got slightly lost trying to walk to Navy Pier and had to go back to the lake shore to cross the Illinois River and

to Navy Pier, an entertainment area with a huge ferris wheel. After a beer overlooking the lake and the city we caught a water taxi up the Illinois River, passed the huge skyscrapers including the new Trump Tower to our railway station and the trip home. Marty and Vern met us at the Elburn station and after freshening up we went out to a great restaurant where we had the best ribs I have ever had. What a day!!

11 June – We are staying with Marty and Vern for another day just relaxing with Val doing a huge wash and me fixing some minor things on our bikes.  In the afternoon it rained off and on so we sat inside reading and talking to Vern while Marty was away playing cards with some mates. When he came home we had a drink before driving to a sports bar where we all had delicious hamburgers. We then went for a drive thru some of the neighbouring towns and also the Fermilab where there is a collider accelerator, a smaller version of the Hadrons Accelerators between Switzerland and France.

12 June – We said goodbye and thanks to Vern and Marty - what a great couple and an enjoyable stay. It was very cool and drizzled all day and only a short drive (70 miles) to our booked State park at Illinois Beach but it took us quite a while. We stopped for a shop and also found a Jiffy Lube so gave “Ernie” a well deserved oil change and filters. It was also a stop/start drive as we followed around the small towns on the outskirts of Chicago. This beach is on Lake Michigan and between Chicago and the Illinois/Wisconsin border. The temperature never got over 12C today. It was hard to imagine that it was 33C two days ago!

13 June – The rain had cleared this morning so we followed a great bike path for a 25km ride north following the coast but going inland around a nuclear power station. At the far end of the ride was a huge marina and we were very close to the state border. After lunch the sun came out and we went sat on the beach and read. The water is warm enough for a swim but the air is still chilly. The forecast is for it to warm up again next week. Rain and thunder set in after dinner.

14 June – It rained most of the night. We drove west across the top of Illinois before turning north and into Wisconsin. It rained off and on (some heavy) with a very threatening sky. Our camp was at Ottawa Lake where we were given a huge site. We also bought a Wisconsin State Pass which will save us quite a bit in camping fees. The sun broke thru and we walked down to the lake shore and a lovely swimming beach. There were lots of families enjoying the water. Back to “Ernie” for a read in the sun and a warm evening spent outside.

15 June – We left Ottawa Lake and drove further west in drizzle. The country is very nice with small towns and cities including the capital, Madison and many fields of corn, beans and wheat. This diversion inland is to avoid Milwaukee and we have stopped at a private camp to get some internet and for laundry. We will head back out to the coast (Lake Michigan) tomorrow and hopefully publish this blog tonight.