Travels of Steve and Cheryl Botts: June 2011

From Alabama, we continued our way north. A stop on the Natchez Trace was quite enjoyable. We stayed close to the site where Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame, died and was buried. Also drove the trace to Nashville with lots of stops to see waterfalls and historical sites. We were very lucky to be in Tennessee during the 13 year emergence of the cicada. The trails were covered with them and the noise was defeaning at times.

Meriwether Lewis memorial

Waterfall on the Trace

Cicada emerging from his shell

Double Arch Bridge on Natchez Trace

Beautiful views from the Trace

It was then on to the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. Stayed at Hillman Ferry, a beautiful campground on Lake Kentucky. We got a chance to visit with our friends Wren and Michael who we first met in Ft. Myers where they winter each year. They took us to Paducah where we got to see the murals on the flood walls. Had a wonderful dinner at their home too.

Cheryl and Wren relaxing at the campground

Beautiful murals on the Paducah floodwalls

Old Iron works furnace in LBL

We had a great three days in Rockford, IL. We rode the Rock River Recreation Trail and did some hiking in Rock Cut State Park.

The Rock Guardians of Rockford, IL

Made our way to Lake Shelbyville. Had a chance to visit Denny and Mary K Craig, friends we met in Arizona. They have a beautiful home in St. Joseph, IL. Played some Pegs and Jokers and had a great lunch.

Cheryl, Steve, Mary K and Denny

We then headed north to Madison, WI. Unfortunately, we had a terrible shock with the death of Steve's cousin, Paula Smith. If you read our previous blog, you saw pictures of Paula and Steve at his birthday party early in May. We flew back to Pensacola from Madison for the funeral. After returning to Madison, we got to spend lots of time with our friends, Harlan and Gwen Olson, who live just west of Madison in Mt. Horeb. They have a beautiful farm and we loved seeing the farmhouse. 100 years old and so charming. Gwen and Harlan brought their motorhome to the RV park where we were and we had great days of biking the Capital City Trail and touring Madison. The Saturday farmer's market was awesome. Madison is a maze of paved bike paths and beautiful lakes. We had a wonderful surprise visit from Nan and John Banks who live in NW Wisconsin. They decided they needed a Pegs and Jokers fix (a board game we all learned while in Ft. Myers this past fall) so they drove down for an afternoon and evening visit. We all had to spend about an hour in the campground shower due to a very severe thunderstorm, but made the best of it and had a great time.