Mom took some time and added our 2011 cross country trip to my travel map. It is show in little blue markers, while our current trip is all in red. Mom says her plan is to have the current year’s markers larger and assign a new color every year. This should keep the map easy to explore, so I approve.
Meanwhile, as she was doing so, she reminded me of some of the adventures from that trip. Early in the trip we had to stay an extra day in the little town of Waverly, IL. We arrived there late in the day on June 26, 2011. Mom had asked at the last gas station where the closest campground was and was informed that there were none close-by but that there was a park just outside of Waverly that allowed public camping. Increasingly more wary of this plan, we nevertheless followed their directions down a little country road, through a cornfield and across a set of railroad tracks. As we entered what appeared to be a cute little city park, the local sheriff was driving out and told us that we were welcome to camp in the park for up to three nights and to just pick a spot. Thanking him, we proceeded to drive into the park and were blown away.
The park was BEAUTIFUL. I helped check for leftovers patrol the perimeter of the little bluff (overlooking the local lake) mom had picked out while set up camp. After checking the next day’s weather and seeing a massive storm was forecasted for our planned path, mom decided we would stay for two nights instead of one and set up the hammock for my comfort.
The first night we were there it rained REALLY HARD, but the tent did it’s job and we stayed nice and dry. We spent the day wandering the park we were camped out in as well as the little town of Waverly. Mom spent some time playing with her camera (she seems to think it is far more entertaining then a tennis ball, but I disagree) while I napped in the hammock.
The second night I slept through the night fairly well, although I do remember grumbling at mom around midnight when she opened the tent to yell at something to get off the bike. In the morning I got a lecture about being a lousy watch dog, as apparently a young raccoon had come to visit while I was sleeping. I unabashedly let my mom know that it isn’t MY job to chase off furry critters, just two legged intruders. Plus, it was her fault for leaving my dog food in the saddle bags. I have to admit, I wasn’t really mad though – with the dog food gone, I knew mom would share her Clif bars with me and they are SO MUCH BETTER then dog food.