Church of Christ

We left Wisconsin midmorning on the 14th of April with a plan to drive down the Mississippi some 250 miles to Peoria, Illinois. The drive was beautiful, rolling hills indicative of the Driftless region on this stretch of the river. The undulations are a remnant of what was once the norm on the northern half of the continent. The glaciers of several ice ages have scraped the topography of this part of the world flat. This Driftless region was spared.

We stopped at our favorite thrift store in Lansing, Iowa to pick up a talisman for the journey. This being holy week (that's the week between Palm Sunday and Easter for Sophie's benefit) we decided that a Solar Jiggling Jesus would fit the bill. We also made a stop at MacGregor, one of my favorite little river towns. They have some quirky shops and a good diner that serves up cappuccino and chocolate cake. Along the way we passed an old barn that had served as a music venue and was up for sale. We made it into Peoria just before dark.

There next day was remarkably flat and repetitive. The glaciers, the settler's penchant for laying out gridlines, and modern farmer's penchant for planting the same crops mile after mile saw to that. Check out our driving timeline in the photos below. Thats 300 miles of same.

We did catch a break with a lunch stop at Joe and Lee's ecological oasis near Logansport, Indiana. They are the parents of Sophie's companion Jacob. They've been working the same 40 acres for 35 years in an effort to bring back wilderness. The beavers get an assist with this. There are lakes and wetlands and countless birds. Lee mentioned that they have 5 species of woodpecker and that blue grosbeak have been sighted. At migration time they go through 2 lbs of grape jelly a day feeding the orioles. We were fed well too with a hearty potato soup and some of Joe's homemade rye bread. A perfect stop.

We passed the Indiana/Ohio border by late afternoon. An hour later we pulled into our hotel in downtown Lima. Lima is filled with old time businesses, partly because many of the national chains have passed them by. There are no Starbucks within 30 miles of the town. Kewpie Burger was just around the corner from our hotel so we stopped in for a burger, a bowl of chili, and a photo op.

Tomorrow it's on to Mansfield to visit with Grace's oldest sister Bea and her family.Read more