Cross-Country Vacation 2023

Holliwell Covered Bridge We started with a good breakfast at The Big Apple Restaurant . After spending a questionable night in the Super 8 we needed a good lift. The food was delicious and the waitresses talkative and friendly.  (Click on any photo to enlarge) Hearty Skillet Hashstack Today's plan is to drive 6 hours and 15 minutes, 333 miles, with several stops along the way, including a state park, museum and several covered bridges. First, we headed to Starved Rock State Park, only a short distance away.  We hiked for 2 hours taking in the landscape, wildlife and views. The Legend of Starved Rock Starved Rock State Park is another one of those special places that deserves its own page. Go here  https://travelingvtjs.blogspot.com/p/starved-rock-state-park.html to see more photos and learn more. We stopped in Princeton, IL to search out a couple covered bridges. Captain Swift Covered Bridge Red Covered Bridge Illinois River Road We continued on ...

Day 51 - Today's plan is to drive 311 miles in 6.5 hours. (Click on any photo to enlarge) We started our day at Country Side Family Diner which was right across the street from the Big Horse Inn & Suites. It was a nice country style diner with the normal breakfast choices. After, we headed towards Funks Grove Nature Preserve. Along the way we found Emiquon National Wildlife Refuge on the Illinois River. This was an unplanned stop so we only spent 40 minutes here. This was a special place and a separate page will be created . To see more go to https://travelingvtjs.blogspot.com/p/emiquon-national-wildlife-refuge.html The next stop turned into a joke. I was searching for an nature preserve on Rte 66 when we drove past Funks Grove Maple Sirup . I have a way of sniffing out maple, so the joke was that this was my original destination. It wasn't, but we did turn around at the nature preserve and head back. They had never heard of Maple Creemee's so I showed ...