Once again Illinois was primarily a pass through state on the way to someplace else. On our way north to start the Great Train Adventure from St Louis, Missouri we detoured into Cairo trying to get photographs of the Mississippi-Ohio River confluence.
As I showed in California and again with a rather nasty picture as we dropped south through Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Chicago the train tends to pass through the backside of urban areas like this view of the tracks and cloud bank in the background. Passing the confluence of the north and south fork of the Chicago River we got a glimpse of downtown Chicago. Then I thought this ivy covered brick factory was a nice break.
At this point the train was over three hours late and we had missed our connection to St Louis, Missouri. Amtrak was nice enough to hold the later train so we could rush over and avoid staying overnight in Chicago. We made it but our bags did not so we had to return to the St Louis station the next day but that was tolerable.
This time through Illinois was again primarily a pass through state but we did stop in Decatur to see the Anna Bethel Fisher Rock Garden and the Scovill Garden before continuing on to additional attractions in Indiana.
In 2009 Illinois was back to just being a pass through state basically because it is the best way from Louisville, Kentucky to Columbus, Ohio if you plan to stop in St Louis, Missouri on the way. It is a promise that we will be back to spend some quality time in the Land of Lincoln.
At least on our way from St Louis to Columbus we had time to take the back roads and stop here in Carlyle, Illinois to see the General Dean Suspension Bridge originally built in 1859 but restored and renamed in the early 1950s after Carlyle native Korean War General Dean. In the middle picture you can see Lori memorizing the sign and our travel rig in the background on the right.
Finally in 2008 we actually took some time to stop in Illinois rather than just cross as quick as possible. One of our targets this year was visiting my sister in Bloomington where she sent us off to the Miller Park Zoo while she was at work.
Rock Island and Moline in Illinois along with Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa comprise the Quad Cities
area that with a few smaller towns is just one metropolis. Although we were camping on the west side of Davenport we also visited the Quad City Botanical Garden in Illinois. These split cities play havoc with my Year-State-City organization plan but I covered the Iowa side of the river on it's own page.
We did manage a short visit to the Black Hawk State Historic Site where they claimed this small section of Tall Grass Prairie
was one of the very few original parts that have never been cultivated. Just a bunch of grass until you consider I am six foot and looking straight into grass at eye level. Imagine stepping away from camp just a few feet and not being able to see even the wagons. In these conditions the Indians really could sneak up and catch the pioneers totally unaware. These seemingly endless grasslands were called the Great American Desert
although that term is more properly applied to the lands west of the Mississippi which is just a few miles away.
Again in 2007 Illinois was a pass through state on the way to someplace else. About this time we were looking at the possibilities of having an RV and stopped in Litchfield to look at several Forest River varieties. Then it was on to Indiana to look at some more choices but I find I never stopped to photograph our rapid transits.
Even more so than Indiana, Illinois has been a pass through state going between Ohio and points west. When we first started out it was relatively expensive. Gas was higher so we filled up just before entering Illinois. Motels were expensive, campgrounds were expensive, and food was higher. Most frustrating was US-36 we were trying to follow became I-72 between Decatur and Springfield with all the wonderful advantages of driving in a ditch while trucks tried to blow you off the road and vehicles with trailers were restricted to 55mph. I was still new enough to pulling the trailer that it was not a comfortable place to drive. On our return from the west in October we tried to get off the interstate and follow parts of old US-36 that exist, but there is no good way across Illinois without the interstate.