Western States 2012 - Day 32

July 6, 2012

Today was a travel day with about 320 miles to cover. Leaving the KOA just east of Des Moines, Iowa, our destination was the KOA southeast of Springfield, Illinois where we would spend the evening and then go to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum.

We made our way across Iowa and into Illinois in a sweltering heat wave with temperatures at 100+. This was a day to keep the generator running so the rooftop air conditioners could be kept running. There is no was the dash-mounted system could keep up with a cavernous motorhome interior.

In the portion of the drive from Council Bluffs to Newton it seems the road is either rising a few hundred feet of falling about the same amount. There is no flat ground until getting closer to the center of the state. From Newton on to Davenport the hills begin to become less frequent, the ascent and descent less radical, and the opportunity of driving on level ground more typical. The roadside even changes from short, prairie grass to the typical grasses and weeds found throughout Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee (hoping we didn’t leave any state out).

Crops were abundant across this section of the country, especially corn planted in huge fields. Whereas the typical field in our area of the country may be 40 to 80 acres, in central Iowa and westward it seems to take up a whole 160 acres or more. This is such a contrast to what we normally see. As we traveled east we also began to see more soybean fields as well as some wheat.

The big milestone was crossing back over the Mississippi River at Davenport, Iowa. Once we did this we felt like we were almost “home.” When crossing the Illinois river at Peoria Byron began recalling the state song he first learned in junior high school:


By thy rivers gently flowing, Illinois, Illinois,
 O’er thy prairies verdant growing, Illinois, Illinois,
Comes an echo on the breeze.
 Rustling through the leafy trees, and its mellow tones are these, Illinois, Illinois,
 And its mellow tones are these, Illinois.

Not without thy wondrous story, Illinois, Illinois,
 Can be writ the nation's glory, Illinois, Illinois,
On the record of thy years,
 Abraham Lincoln’s name appears, Grant and Logan, and our tears, Illinois, Illinois,
  Grant and Logan, and our tears, Illinois.

For those of you that don’t know, the Logan mentioned in the song served, as did U. S. Grant, in the Civil War. He later became a senator for Illinois and was instrumental in the establishment of Memorial Day and an official holiday in the United States.