I only used one puppy for bait

 

…and I didn’t actually stick a hook in him.  I just rubbed a little peanut butter on his face, tied him on the line, and dropped him in.  I was ready to yank him out really quick if he was in any real danger.

 

It was a crazy dream and doesn’t really mean a thing.  I promise I never intend to actually fish with puppies for bait.  The nature of that dream, however, leads me to reconsider whether that late-night pancake and eggs dinner was all that great an idea in spite of the Amish dark maple syrup that was so yummy though.

 

Now we’re in Arkansas.  We stopped for the night at Tom Sawyer Mississippi River RV Park.

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=201563872774147443355.0004e02f0c80f1461c0bf&msa=0&ll=38.719805,-84.199219&spn=11.563316,26.784668

 

We can see barges out the windshield (and a river too).

 

 

First bird in the last state:  Mourning Dove.  Now we’ve recorded at least one bird in all 49 states!

 

Sikeston, Missouri

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=201563872774147443355.0004e02f0c80f1461c0bf&msa=0&ll=38.719805,-84.199219&spn=11.563316,26.784668

 

Lambert’s Café.  Home of Throwed Rolls.

 

 

Yes, they really do throw the freshly baked unlimited piping hot rolls.

 

 

They are *very* good rolls.

 

 

Effingham, IL

 

The name was so effing-funny we had to stop for here for the night.

 

We left Interstate 69, which could have taken us all the way to Edinburg in South Texas, and turned right on Interstate 70, which could take us all the way to Colorado.  We’re not heading for Edinburg or Colorado, but we *are* headed south.  Stopped for the night at Camp Lakewood, Effingham, IL.

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=201563872774147443355.0004e02f0c80f1461c0bf&msa=0&ll=38.719805,-84.199219&spn=11.563316,26.784668

 

It’s a nice camp.

 

 

 

When we started south, we had seen birds in all but 3 states (in the lower 48).  We knocked off one with Indiana; saw 12 birds.  Now we’re in Illinois; got 12 birds.  Only one state to go now.  Arkansas.

 

 

Auburn, Indiana

 

The Auburn, Cord, Deusenburg Museum.  Who could pass that up?

 

We didn’t.

 

 

There were Duesenbergs, like this 1926 touring car.

 

Cords, like this 1936 Coupe.

 

But for me, the highlight was this 1935 Boat-tail Speedster.  As I recall, Dad’s speedster was a 1936, but otherwise, it looked just like this (except it wasn’t finished).

 

 

 

A thing of beauty.  Supercharged, straight-eight Lycoming aircraft engine; the world record-holder fastest production car at 100 mph!

 

 

Stopped for the night at the Fort Wayne/Bluffton KOA.

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=201563872774147443355.0004e02f0c80f1461c0bf&msa=0&ll=42.964463,-76.937256&spn=5.426063,13.392334

 

At this park, it’s offseason now.

 

I remember

 

Brother Bill talking about a campground where he got put between two big rigs and felt like he was camping in a canyon.  He got them to move him to another site.

 

A similar thing happened to us today.  We’re at Waffle Farm Campground in Coldwater, Michigan.

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=201563872774147443355.0004e02f0c80f1461c0bf&msa=0&ll=42.964463,-76.937256&spn=5.426063,13.392334

 

They assigned us a nice full-hookup site in the trees, surrounded by a bunch of little rigs.

 

We got backed in okay, but the spaces were designed more for the smaller rigs than for us.  We felt claustrophobic.  Judy went back to the office and got us reassigned to an electric-only site.

 

Much better.

 

…and in today’s sports, the Exploding Green Ninja Leprechauns, Teigan’s soccer team, won their game 2-0.

 

Back in the USSA

 

Bye to Henry and Barb.  We left them at the Provincial Park.

 

An easy drive on slow scenic roads.  We left the west coast of Ontario, drove south, crossed back over into the U.S. into Michigan.  It was another easy border crossing.  15 minutes total.  5 minutes with the border agent.  We chatted about what we did and where we were going.  He didn’t want our fruits and vegetables.  Didn’t care whether we had guns or not.  Wanted to know if we bought anything to declare.

 

We drove on to the east coast of Michigan.  We’re still on Lake Huron, but now we’re at Lakeport State Park, Port Huron, MI.

 

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=201563872774147443355.0004e02f0c80f1461c0bf&msa=0&ll=42.964463,-76.937256&spn=5.426063,13.392334

 

It’s an urban park.

 

 

…but it’s warmer already.  We arrived here at 85 degrees.

 

See the smudge on the side of the coach starting at the middle window?

 

That’s an owl smudge.  While we were driving, we got attacked by an owl.  I don’t know if it saw a reflection or what.  Maybe he had his sights set on me, miscalculated our speed, and failed to lead me adequately.  Whatever, as we drove by, a great horned owl hit the side of the coach with a huge bang.  As we drove on, I looked in the left-side mirror and saw the owl flying back to his tree.  His bell must have been ringing.  Ours was.

 

It's like a song stuck in your head

 

We were driving through Tennessee earlier in the trip.  Various signs for Davy Crockett.  He was born on a mountaintop in Tennessee as I recall.  Raised in the woods till he knew every tree.  Kilt him a b’ar when he was only three…

 

I’d like to pause here and take a poll.  Is there anyone out there who does *not* have the Davy Crockett song running through their head now?

 

Not to worry.  I can make it stop.  Shift your attention to our plight a little later in our trip; driving New York and New Jersey tollways.  They collect the tolls *after* you’ve driven through a section.  Imagine poor Charlie and his experience with the MTA in Boston.  When he got there the conductor told him one more nickel, Charlie couldn’t get off of that train.  But did he ever return…..

 

You can thank me later.

 

So after we spend a few weeks in Maine, the conversations I hear in my head are all sounding like episodes of Murder She Wrote.  Pure Maine dialect.

 

Now that we’ve been hanging with Barb and Henry, our Germadian friends, for a week, the voices in my head are speaking to me with a heavy German accent.

 

When we left on this trip, it seemed funny to pack jackets, but we did.  Now we’ve been wearing them every day.  (Say that to yourself like Arnold Schwarzenegger; with his accent.)

 

It might be time to head south.