Tropic Depression Emily formerly known as Tropical Storm Emily

We've been getting a LOT of rain today from Tropical Storm Emily. The last time I checked the rain gauge it showed we had had 3" of rain today. We learned a few hours ago that Emily has been downgraded to a tropical depression and should pass over our area about midnight tonight. We've had some gusty winds today, but nothing too bad.

We went down to Vero Beach this morning to join our friends for breakfast at IHOP and the weather wasn't too bad then since Emily was still off the coast of Tampa.

My last post was on July 19 and it was our last night at St. Lucie Campground near Stuart, FL. We came home on the 20th and managed to miss most of the rain showers that were forecast for that day. 

On the 26th Mike made a reservation for the campground at Ft. Pickens for December 8 through December 12. Fort Pickens is on Santa Rosa Island near Pensacola, FL on the Gulf Islands National Seashore. It was one of four forts built in the 1800's to protect Pensacola.

We have a Bose radio that we've had for years and haven't been able to connect it to the TV in the travel trailer. We want to run the sound from the TV through the Bose radio, but the Bose radio was made before

Our Last Night at St. Lucie Campground

We have enjoyed staying here at St. Lucie South and this is our last night here. The campground hasn't been too busy this week, but I think it will be full for the coming weekend. We did have this trawler come in early Sunday evening and spend the night at the boat hookups.

Then Monday morning they left and went east going through the St. Lucie Locks.

We haven't seen all 5 of the alligators that are supposed to in the area, but we did have one come fairly close to the shore on Monday morning.

We've just spent our time here relaxing and watching the boats travel up and down the canal. I've seen the bald eagle a few times, but not close enough where I could a picture of him. We've also seen a blue heron that hangs out over on the opposite shore.

We did go to Publix just east of I-95 for some groceries on Tuesday. But that was our only outing. We've had nice sunny days here and Sebastian had 1½" of rain today with more rain forecast for tomorrow.

First Night at St. Lucie Campground

Mike went to get gas at the Speedway this morning before we hitched up the trailer to leave for the St. Lucie Campground. According to the towing instructions for the Honda Pilot, we need to use Premium grade gas in the Pilot, so it cost $2.529 a gallon this morning to fill the tank.

Since the St. Lucie Campground is only 60 miles away and check-in isn't until noon, we didn't need to have an early start this morning. We had an early lunch after hitching up the trailer and loading the last minute items in it. We left the house a little after noon and got on I-95 south down to Exit 101 and then west on SW Kanner Highway to SW Locks Road and then north to the campground.

We are in site RV1 which is right on the St. Lucie Canal just west of the St. Lucie Locks. There are 9 RV or tent campsites and 8 boat campsites with electric and water hookups for $30 a night. We are using our Senior Pass, so our nightly camping fee is $15.

We've learned from some of the other campers here that there are supposed to be 5 alligators in the canal and we saw 2 of them passing by this afternoon.

We've seen a bald eagle flying around the area, but haven't been able to get a photo of him yet. 

We will be here for 3 more nights. We've enjoyed watching boats travel on the St. Lucie Canal. The St. Lucie Canal is part of the Okeechobee Waterway. The canal is a busy waterway that runs between the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. We've seen several boats traveling the canal today.

Back Home From Illinois

We were up this morning a little after 7:30. Tinker slept on the couch last night and apparently wasn't ready to get up. 

By the time we were packed and the car was loaded, it was 8:30 when we checked out of La Quinta. We decided to pass on the free breakfast at La Quinta and stopped at the Dunkin' Donuts near the motel for breakfast. We bought 6 donuts and 2 cups of coffee and ate the donuts on the road.

We stopped at Cordele, GA at 10:00 to get gas and paid $1.979 a gallon. We continued south on I-75 to the Georgia - Florida state line and then south to I-10 East. At 1:00 we stopped at a Burger King near Macclenny, FL for lunch. We both ordered a bacon cheeseburger for lunch and used some of our Burger King coupons - love those coupons.

After lunch we continued on I-10 East to I-295 east of Jacksonville and took it south to

On The Way Home

This morning we are heading back home. We had planned on stopping somewhere for breakfast after we left Frances and Jack's, but Jack tempted us with his homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. Yes, Jack actually makes biscuits from scratch - so, we stayed for breakfast!

We left Frances and Jack's at 8:45 and decided to take a different route home. We took IL-34 east to Eldorado, IL then south on IL-142 to IL-1 south to Cave-in-Rock and arrived at the ferry landing at 9:45 in time to see the Ferry leaving and going to the Kentucky shore.

While we waited for the ferry to come back to the Illinois shore, we walked Tinker and it gave us a chance to stretch our legs.

After getting off of the ferry on the Kentucky side of the Ohio River, we took KY-91 south to Marion, KY and then on to US 641 south which took us to I-24 South and through Nashville and then to East Ridge, TN where we got on to I-75. We stopped to get gas at

Funeral for my Cousin Jim

This morning we got up and everyone just had a quick breakfast. The funeral for my cousin Jim is this morning. Frances, Jack and Eva left the house a little after 9 a.m. and headed down to the funeral home in West Frankfort. Mike and I left the house about a 9:30 to go to the funeral home.

We met Jim and Sally's 3 sons and their families this morning. Their son Ben is a minister and he conducted the funeral service. Their son Matt lives in Texas and Dan lives in West Frankfort and was a big help to his parents while Jim was ill. It has only been the last several years that we had gotten together with Jim and Sally and never got to meet their children. 

The funeral service was at 11:00 and then followed by the burial service at Boner Cemetery. Afterwards the family invited everyone to Jim and Sally's house for lunch which was provided by their church, First Baptist Church of West Frankfort.

We met Frances, Jack and Eva at Jim and Sally's house and had an opportunity to visit with

July 4 at Rend Lake

This morning Jack fixed breakfast for all of us. He made waffles and fried bacon - if that doesn't get your day started right, I don't know what will! 

We spent most of the day just relaxing and visiting with Frances and Jack. Frances made potato salad this morning after breakfast for supper tonight. Frances' sister Eva drove over from St. Louis this morning and will be staying with Frances and Jack for a couple of days.

This afternoon we all went out to Rend Lake to join Frances' daughter Karen and her fiance Brian for dinner. They are camping at Rend Lake in their 5th wheel for a few days and drove from their home in Colorado. Mike and Jack left before the rest of us so he could show Mike around Rend Lake and some of the camping facilities there. Frances, Eva and I drove out later to the campground.

The last time Mike and I had seen Karen was when she and Fletcher were little and had come down for a visit in Lake Worth. 

Some friends of Karen and Brian's were camping there also and came over for a visit.

It was really great to re-connect with Karen and to meet Brian. Dinner wasn't bad either - hamburgers,

Arrival in Illinois

We got up early this morning and checked out of the motel at 8:00. We slept pretty good last night - don't know if it was the bed or that we were just tired. We stopped for breakfast at the Burger King near the motel and then got gas at the Raceway ($1.969 a gallon) before getting on I-75 and heading north.

We stopped for lunch at 1:00 at a Wendy's in Adairsville, GA and then at a Pilot at Dalton, GA for gas ($1.839 a gallon). We got onto I-24 at Chattanooga and continued north through Tennessee. We stopped for gas at 6:00 (CDT) at a Shell station ($1.959 a gallon) at Oak Grove, KY which is on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee. 

I had called my cousin Frances and told her that it would probably be after 8:00 when we got to her house, so don't wait supper for us. We stopped at a Subway in Paducah, KY for supper at 6:30 and were back on the road by 7:00. 

We continued north on I-24 until it connected with I-57 and then north up to Benton. We arrived at Frances

Sudden Trip to Illinois

Last year my first cousin Jim was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and was going to begin chemo therapy. Mike and I drove up in April of last year for a visit with Jim. We stayed with his sister and her husband and their older sister drove over from St. Louis. We had a great time going through Jim's family photo albums and it was a great trip.

I got a call from Jim's sister Frances yesterday and she said that he wasn't doing well and that the hospice nurse said that he only had a day or two. Frances called me this morning just before 9:00 and said that Jim had died earlier this morning. She wasn't sure when the funeral would be - just sometime this week. I started mapping our trip up to Illinois and checking on motels on our route. I called Frances back at 10:00 and told her that we were going to leave this afternoon and would be up at her house sometime late tomorrow.

I went online and stopped our paper and mail delivery for this week. Mike called our next-door neighbor and he said he would pick up any papers or mail in case it was delivered. 

While I was packing Mike went to WalMart to get gas ($1.959 a gallon). We left that house at 2:00