It's been raining for several days here and the two rivers in the area, Rock River and Kishwaukee, were over their banks. Since our campground, Blackhawk Valley Campground, sits along the Kishwaukee river, we were all keeping a close eye on the flood status. Luckily, there was only minor flooding in our campground and no campers had to be evacuated.
We tried to walk our garbage up to the dumpster a short distance away four times Saturday. Each time we would get about half way there and the rain would start chasing us back to the camper. Finally, Kitty put the bag in the car and drove it to the dumpster. Naturally, it didn't rain then!
We did venture out into the rain to eat some of our favorite BBQ in Belvidere, Illinois. We ate there several times last year and were anxious to try it again. Excuse me, I just drooled on the keyboard just thinking about their BBQ! Ha!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Having spent several rain soaked days holed up in the camper, we decided to take a drive along the Rock River to Oregon, Illinois. We followed US 2 all the way to Oregon, Illinois, about 25 miles from here. It was a near perfect day with lots of sun and NO RAIN!!
Our first stop was in Byron. As we drove through this small Illinois town, we saw dozens of teepees around town. Each teepee was given a name and a sponsor. Either this was to raise money for the Oregon Trail Festival, or, the people in Byron drank too much tea and there was teepees everywhere! Ha! Sorry, I couldn't stop myself.
Next, we stopped at a scenic overlook at Castle Rock State Park in Oregon, Illinois, and took the next three shots. This looks like an interesting state park and we will try to get back here when we can spend more time exploring their trails and bluffs and the water is down to normal levels.
This was taken along US Highway 2 north of Oregon.
The Blackhawk Statue
We saw the Blackhawk statue a couple of years ago, but from the other side of the river. The statue was completed in 1911 and stands 125 feet above the Rock River. Blackhawk lived along the Rock River and dearly loved this area. But, his people were pushed out of this area at the conclusion of the Blackhawk War in 1832. It was the last Indian war east of the Mississippi River.
We took this picture when we visited Blackhawk in June of 2011.
We are planning a couple more trips around this area while I wait my turn for cataract surgery. Can't wait to see what happens next.
No comments:
Post a Comment