Day ~ 2 ~ The Ring And...

I did not know that fishing for Catfish is done at night in Tennessee. This is something that I should have learned. It would have served me to know it. But, since I didn't know, I was not prepared for boats being on the lake all night long! Our campsite was perfect ~ with no neighbors on one side, only the lake... the launch ramp.

I got no sleep!
Fortunately, Richard sleeps through thunder all the time at home so he slept through the night with no problem. 

Day 2 ~

I have to give a little background here. My birthday is May 24th. Last year Richard's step-dad suffered a stroke on my birthday :( 

Richard's biological father had passed away several years ago on Richard's birthday.

So we have a goal to make new good memories that will replace the bad memories we have associated with our birthdays. I tried hard to make Richard's birthday special this year to change his feelings about it. He was determined to make my birthday special also. 

We had plans to go to the Cincinnati Zoo on my birthday this year. I was thrilled with that plan. He had other things up his sleeve though.

When it was actually morning on Day 2 he got up and went outside. I cried. I had not slept at all again for the second night and my RA was flaring! Richard came in the tent and knelt down next to the air mattress.

He said "Baby, I want to give you your Birthday Present early... I hope it will cheer you up"

I was surprised because he had already given me one "early present" the week before...

I love Rose Gold and he had picked out this watch for me that I just adore :)

(Buddy photo-bomb!)

So... I opened the box through tears... and this is what he had specially ordered for me for my birthday...

It is Rose Gold... 2 hearts tied together by an infinity sign of diamonds.

*PERFECT*

I wiped my tears and got my butt up off that air mattress.

 There was a squirrel nest in the tree and we did have squirrels visiting quite a bit but I didn't get any good photos of them.

I had never seen a squirrel nest before!

The campsite was perfect...

Richard made breakfast on the Camp Stove...
Then we decided to go check out the golf course...

This guy landed on the sign and pointed the way for us :)

I thanked him for letting me take his picture and he nodded.

We got to the golf course and were delighted to see this...

It was the most awesome course...

A birdhouse for Score Cards...

There were birdhouses all over the course and they were numbered. This was No. 1
It was a beautiful course and we were enjoying the scenery...

 

But THIS is when the course really started to get amazing...

I took this pic from the cart and I saw the bench...

Richard said "where's the green?" ...
He had to walk out on the hill quite a ways to see it
He called me over to look
This is it...

Wow!!!!
That is Kentucky Lake!
What an AWESOME golf course!

...On the "green" at Hole 4

Don't you just want to sit here?

Just WOW!
And don't forget this is an Audubon Society Sanctuary

We saw these platforms and noticed one of them had a nest...

Oh happy day... It is an Osprey nest!

If it gets any better than this I cannot imagine...

This beautiful red bird is NOT a Cardinal. We have not figured out what it is so if anyone knows please tell me.

In fact... these 2 were a pair, one red and one yellow...

This Blue Jay showed me his backside :) I love the checkered pattern on the wings.

The yellow flowers that were covering fields along the highway driving down from Illinois

And while I was taking photos of the yellow flowers I saw these too...

 

Back to golfing...

 The last hole...

 Contemplating the last hole and taking it all in...

Birdhouse No. 48... I thought it was the last one but it wasn't...

The first Bluebird we saw... look at the nest busting out the side of the house.

There was a woodpecker at this feeder but I missed it... 

 When he returned the cart Richard asked me for the camera. He knows how much I adore flowers and how bad my knee was hurting so he went back and took pictures of these for me...

We decided to get a fishing license and see if we could catch some fish for supper. We also were on a mission to get firewood since we had not been able to have a fire the night before. So we drove down the road a few miles to the nearest market/cafe and bought 4 bundles of firewood. Then to the gas station/store to get our fishing licenses. Richard caught a fish immediately, but we were told it did not measure up to the size requirement of 15 inches :(
He actually caught 2 more fish but none were over 15 inches.
I didn't catch any but I enjoyed fishing anyway.
We did get updates on mom and they were not good. We considered going back home but decided to stay for the night and see how the next day would be.
We realized that everyone was drinking alcoholic beverages regardless of the sign so we built our fire, had our burgers, S'mores, and enjoyed a glass of wine and a beer...

That light is our lantern hanging from the tree.

~The end of Day 2~

Patty Hagedorn Photography 
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The Journey ~ Day 1

We were packed and ready to go. We went to bed at 10 p.m. to get a good night's sleep before starting our trip in the morning. At 1 a.m. the phone rings... "your mom is being taken to the Emergency Room by ambulance... she thinks she is having a heart attack"... We get dressed and go to the hospital. 

If you don't know what we have gone through the last year, well, this phone call felt like we were reliving it all over again. We both just kept thinking "this cannot be happening". But, of course, it was.

By 6:30 a.m. it looked like she was in good hands and going to be ok. My guy decided, with the encouragement of everyone else, to go on our trip as planned. His brother and sister-in-law would keep us informed. We both felt we just couldn't live through another summer like last year and we desperately needed a vacation to refill ourselves. So, with heavy hearts, we left the hospital and started our trip. 

If you've ever been in this situation you will understand. If not, what I can tell you is this... it is very hard to have a good time on vacation when your heart is heavy like that, even though you know you have to do it, must do it for your own sanity and health. So, we made the decision to make the best of it. 

I didn't take many pictures that first day. My heart just wasn't into it. Richard says it always shows in my photos when my heart isn't fully into it. But, we were doing our best to enjoy the trip and have faith that all would be ok.

 Day 1 ~ Drive from Illinois to Kentucky Lake... Camp at Paris Landing, Tennessee. 

It was cloudy but it didn't rain on us and the temperature was nice.

 These signs became my markers. The Love's sign was a reminder to us to keep LOVE as the priority on our journey.

I love the water towers. They are a sign to me of things from the past that have stayed with us and continue to serve a purpose. They also tell me where we are. 

 I was mostly taking photos as we were driving so they aren't the best but I want to just share what we experienced. There were fields of yellow flowers all along the way down to Tennessee.

This is a cool double bridge crossing over the Ohio River. 

 What I noticed about this was the opening in the clouds above the stacks.

The second part of the bridge.

We stopped at a market in Metropolis just at the Kentucky border and this was out front. I felt it was just perfect for us that day.

My SUPERMAN! Ready to take on this journey, able to leap over obstacles and stop trains!

 

This got our attention and we both thought it was a cool sight. A little windmill with it's own little island in the middle of a small lake. 

 We drove through Kentucky down to Paris Landing, which is actually in Tennessee. We were pretty wiped out from the emotions, the lack of sleep and the drive. We wanted to get our tent set up and build a fire so we could cook our steaks and have a glass of wine or a beer to relax and unwind. 

We found the campsite and this...

Well... you can imagine our reaction.

The end of day 1.

Nauvoo - Little Town with a Big History

Richard and I love to go for drives out exploring the country side. One of my favorite finds is Historic Nauvoo. I had never heard of it before but when we got there it struck a chord in my heart. It was a drizzly day so we didn't get out of the car and walk around much. I took a few pictures and plan to go back on a warm sunny day to see more. The history of this "utopia" makes it even more special!

 (I am not a Mormon but I hold them all in the highest regard and I genuinely appreciate this history)

The first thing I saw as we got close to Nauvoo was this scene of log cabins which I thought must  be a movie set (since I am a Cali girl that is the most normal thought for me to have) but then I saw the wagon and the sign... This is not a set, it is a real thing.

"The area of Nauvoo was first called Quashquema, named in honor of the Native American chief who headed a Sauk and Fox settlement numbering nearly 500 lodges. By 1827, white settlers had built cabins in the area. By 1829 this area of Hancock County had grown sufficiently so that a post office was needed and in 1832 the town was called Venus. In 1834 the name Venus was changed to Commerce because the settlers felt that the new name better suited their plans."

"In early 1839, Latter Day Saints were forced to flee Missouri as a result of the 1838 Mormon War. They regrouped in Quincy, Illinois whose non-Mormon citizens were shocked by the harsh treatment given them in Missouri and opened their homes to the refugees.

Joseph Smith, Jr., Prophet and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, remained imprisoned in Missouri, but his chief counselor  had been released and rejoined the main body of the church in Quincy. Church member Israel Barlow fled Missouri and entered Illinois further north than the main group of Latter-day Saints. Learning from Isaac Galland, a land agent, that a large amount of land was for sale in the Commerce area, he contacted church leaders in Quincy, Illinois and offered church leaders title to land in Hancock County and additional land across the river in the Iowa Territory's Lee County. Church leaders purchased this land as well as the mostly vacant Commerce in 1839, and Latter Day Saints began to settle in the area immediately."

"Physically weak from months of imprisonment, Smith and other leaders were permitted to escape from prison in Missouri. They rejoined the Latter Day Saints in Commerce by May 1839. He renamed the town "Nauvoo". The name Nauvoo is derived from the traditional Hebrew language with an anglicized spelling. The word comes from Isaiah 52:7, “How beautiful upon the mountains...” It is notable that by 1844 Nauvoo's population had swollen to 12,000, rivaling the size of Chicago at the time."

"Despite the name, the site was, at first, an undeveloped swamp. Epidemics of cholera, malaria and typhoid took their toll on the struggling Mormons until the swamp was drained. The community was characterized by wood frame homes with outbuildings, gardens, orchards and grazing plots on large lots laid out on an orderly grid system. In general, the buildings were detached single-family dwellings reminiscent of New England construction styles with commercial and industrial buildings in the same pattern."

This is the Bakery

A residence

"After Joseph Smith's death in 1844, continuing violence from surrounding non-Mormons forced most Latter-Day Saints to leave Nauvoo. Most of these refugees, led by Brigham Young, eventually emigrated to the Great Salt Lake Valley. In 1849, Icarians moved to the Nauvoo area to implement a utopian socialist commune based on the ideals of French philosopher Étienne Cabet. At its peak the colony numbered over 500 members, but Cabet's death in 1856 caused some members to leave this parent colony and move elsewhere. In the early and mid 20th century Nauvoo was primarily a Roman Catholic town, and the majority of the population today is Catholic

Nauvoo today is an important tourist destination for Latter Day Saints (Mormons) and others who come to see the numerous restored historical buildings and visitors centers."

"On the city’s higher ground are the temple, residential areas, and the business district along Mulholland Street (Illinois Route 96), much of it devoted to the needs of tourists and those interested in Latter Day Saints history. The flatlands are occupied by a small number of 19th-century brick houses and other buildings that have survived the city’s vicissitudes, with large empty spaces between them where houses and whole neighborhoods have entirely disappeared."

"In June 2002, on the site of the original temple, the LDS Church completed construction of a new temple. The exterior, and much of the interior, is a copy of the original. The exterior matches the original exactly except in three ways: The temple was positioned 12.5 feet (3.8 m) south to allow for parking on the north side, there are two new exterior doors (with an entrance on the north for disabled persons and emergency exits in the basement on the east) and there is a standing Angel Moroni as is seen on most modern temples; the original was an unspecified flying angel, also with a horn in hand but in a horizontal position with the compass, square and flame above."

"The rebuilding of the Nauvoo Temple was an occasion of great joy and enthusiasm for members of the LDS Church. During the public open house prior to its dedication, 331,849 visitors toured the building. Following LDS Church custom, the temple itself is now used only by Church members."

Nauvoo has been dubbed the “Williamsburg of the Midwest.” In March 2007, Nauvoo was nominated to compete as one of the Seven Wonders of Illinois.

I adored Nauvoo. I loved the quaint, beautiful serenity of it and I wanted to learn the history of it. I would love to go back in the Summer and take more photos. 

The Hibiscus were so huge, about 10-12 inches across, the largest and most beautiful pink hibiscus I have ever seen. 

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I'll Be Back!

We are going on Vacation. It's been so many years since I've been on a vacation myself I can't even remember... Oh wait... I remember... I fell on my face and broke my front tooth when I got there so it ended before it even began.  But this is going to be a REAL VACATION for US! For the first time it will be the 2 of us traveling, camping, fishing, sight-seeing, visiting friends and family! Yay!!! 

So I won't be blogging or posting any photos for a couple of weeks. But when we get back... Watch Out! I will have soooo much to tell you all and soooo many pictures to show everyone! 

Before I go I will post a blog I have on the shelf about this special place here in Illinois... Nauvoo. 

We found it last year and I took some photos so I will share that.

For now I will leave you with this 

A view of the lake and the farm on the other side.

We went out for an evening walk and it was perfectly still.

This is our paradise.

See you in a couple weeks.

Patty Hagedorn Photography

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