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We hated leaving Cottonwoods, but we had decided that we weren't going to be able to drive west, and it was time to go home. The motor home was just too big. Paul was not comfortable driving the hills of Missouri, and Mary had no guts at all, so never tried. Edwardsville was relatively dull, relatively empty, and really calm. But we were off the road again, and we loved it. It also had the best restroom of the trip! Paul relaxed with photography, as usual.

Red Barn Rendezvous RV Park

Chatham seemed to be a lovely RV park with a field full of corn. We did notice that the manager mentioned that there was a shelter in the main building, but paid the thought little heed. They were going to put us in the third from last site on the row, but we got them to move us to the last site, then one in, to avoid the big tree interferring with our reception.

And then the wind started.

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We heard the storm was moving 84 mph on Paul's new weather radio. The motor home began to rock side to side till we thought it was going to fall off its jacks. But it didn't and, eventually, the rain and thunder and lightning stopped. Ilya, our black Cairn, is terrified of storms. While the rain was still hard, the neighbor who had taken the space we didn't could be seen climbing on the roof of his motor home. Turns out one of the many branches that fell around his RV fell onto his bedroom a/c and broke it. On the other side of us, the first place they'd wanted to put us, a huge branch fell just behind a short RV - and just where our car would have been if we'd parked there! Not a single branch landed on us.

We wandered around the rain-soaked roads and helped pull branches away. The managers were around immediately and, in no time, you would have been hard pressed to know there'd been a storm. Except for the huge tree that fell into a space where a pop-up was going to be, but had moved - luckily for the gentleman and wife and four little boys! And except for the tree in the windshield of one motor home. It was in for RV repairs. I wouldn't have wanted to be the one making THAT phone call!

Paul decided one night in Chatham was quite long enough. Mary loved it and wanted to stay.

Double J Campground and RV Park

We would have loved to have stayed at Carlock longer, but there were so many trees that we couldn't get Internet satellite reception. And our entire view was trees. This might have been exciting when we had just moved out of Chicago, but coming from the tree-covered east, the LAST thing we wanted to see were trees. Another wonderful thing about this RV park was the rabbits. They were everywhere!

We spent the next night near Champaign IL.

Kamp Komfort

It was clear that we were headed back east. Now we couldn't get Internet OR TV because of the trees! Much as we loved the day lilies, and Paul would have loved a day without driving, we left the next morning with memories of the orange sherbert push-ups in the office.

Crawfordsville KOA

We've tried to be neat in our packing so that the motor home is as usable packed to travel as it is open. Kitchen appliances and knick knacks go into clear plastic bins that are stored behind the driver. On top of the stack of bins is a throw and a dog bed so that Henry or Waverly can look out the window in comfort. Paul's computer table is folded up and separates the bins from the easy chair, and that gets covered with a small rug to protect it from scratches and the dogs from hard surfaces.

The kitchen sink is covered, and only wipes are left out. While traveling, we only cook on the stovetop and in the microwave. Lunch was usually grilled cheese.

Note that the door window is now covered with translucent contact paper for privacy. The window shade was a major pain.

The bathroom knick knacks are mostly put away, and the herbs are stored in the shower, under the skylight. Every three pots go into a clear plastic bag to keep the shower clean. The plants can be left for many days without being taken outside, when traveling day after day. This assumes, of course, that the restrooms at RV Parks are attractive for showering. We travel with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Also basil and dill. The two dishes we created on the trip were Herbed Hamburgers and Grilled Cheese with Dill

Music video editing equipment is put away in plastic bins beside the bed. Pillows on the bins create a bed extension for the dogs at night. The bedroom slider is in, so the dogs can jump onto the bedside hassock, and can now walk across the bed to the body pillow on the window counter, that acts as another dog bed while we're traveling. Since the bed is clear, we can nap at rest stops.

Basically, this is just another mobile doghouse.

After all the problems we'd had getting satellite reception, Grandpa's Farm was a delight. Although most of the large rig sites face other rvs, there was this wonderful site that was sideways to the others, right at the tip of the merging of two roads. And from that site, we looked out the front and dining room windows at - be still my heart - yet another field. By now, the crops were growing well. One of the joys of being out in this part of the country were the wonderfully humorous farm supply commercials. The RV park is mostly permanent sites from people who almost inherit them, this is such a tight-knit community.

Grandpa's Farm

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There was no view here since they point the RVs at one another, but at least we had satellite. The park was immense, with wandering roads filled with very stable communities that didn't have that parochial feel of Grandpa's. It was a good place to stop, but not one that made us want to spend any time. We need a view to settle down.

Cross Creek Camping Resort

There were so many ways in which this should have been a great RV park for us. There was open space in front of the RV. We had Internet and TV satellite access. The problem is probably endemic to being in a Jellystone park during the season. The only time we'd been in one previously had been as the trip started, before the camping season. Our dining room windows faced a line of cabins in which there were children. And children. And children. We don't have children. We have dogs. We left the next morning.

Jellystone Park

This was not a fancy park, but it felt friendly and safe, and we were quite content to spend a night there.

Hills Family Campground

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We weren't expecting much from this park, but were pleasantly surprised by its pleasant atmosphere, friendly managers, and fancy rvs. We were able to get satellite access, so we took out the herbs and stayed awhile.

Mary's interest in the area comes from her 2nd great grandparents having several homes nearby. So this was a fertile area for genealogy research. The first trip was to the Buffalo cemetery.

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Besides the Lansings, their daughter Sarah Lansing Burnett, Mary's great grandmother, is also buried here, as well as Mrs. Lansing's grandmother, Olivia Jillson Sherman, the wife of Watts Sherman.

The Lansing homes in Buffalo are long gone to urban renewal, but we discovered that Woodlawn, their country house in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, still exists. That turned out to be a wonderful trip.

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Mrs. Lansing was the daughter of one of the richest men in western New York, Henry B. Gibson. General Lansing was also a banker, and the secretary/treasurer of the Buffalo and Erie Railroad. Their homes in Canandaigua and Buffalo were mansions, as was their summer house. The house which the Lansings named Woodlawn was later renamed Randwood.

After leaving Niagara Falls, we traveled to the same Canadaigua KOA park where we had stayed on our way out. But, like the first time, we were just too tired for sightseeing.

Niagara Falls Campground & Lodging

We had wanted to stay at this park on our way out, but it wasn't yet open. Coming so close to 4th of July meant that the park was filled to capacity. The spot that we got was one of the better ones for a view, since it was on a circular deadend, but it had no satellite access, which was very frustrating. Since the park was connected to the Indian casino, we took the opportunity to try our hands at gambling, and came away 50 cents a winner. There was a no smoking area, but it was very smoky to get to it. This is a park to which we'd like to return if we were able to get a better site.

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Nearby was Fort Stanwix, in Rome NY, which is connected historically to both the Lansing and Schuyler families, though the fort recreation of the fort is relatively recent. The doorway shows a sign, Bleecker. Mary's 3rd great grandfather, Barent Bleecker Lansing, lived in Rome for awhile. In Oriskany we found the plaques for the home of his parents, Colonel Gerrit G. Lansing and Mary Antill Lansing, the plaque showing where they entertained LaFayette, and the plaque for the woolen mill which Col. Lansing founded. And in the Grand View Cemetery, Paul finally found their graves.

Villages at Turning Stone