When we got up this morning, it was 71 degrees inside the camper and 22 degrees outside. The heater worked really well! We packed up and hit the road, stopping at the first McDonald's we saw. We got oatmeal to mix our bran buds with and went on down the road.
We drove 542 miles and made it to Georgia Veterans Memorial State Park, recommended by my friend, Mark. As you'll see, the park is pretty neat - over 900 acres with plenty of amenities, including condos, a lodge, golf course, and restaurant.
It was almost dark by the time we got camped, but because we had such a short distance to drive the next day to get to Crooked River State Park, we took some time in the morning to check things out.
We met two camp hosts there. One was from Taylorville, IL and the other was from Springfield, IL. They both retired from Caterpillar in Decatur. Small world!
We towed the camper to the YMCA in Mattoon to attend Adi's birthday swim party. I don't know how many kids were there, but they were all having fun. As you can see, the cake was really cool.
Poor Chad and Faith had 10 girls in the house for a sleep-over that night. I haven't heard the results yet, but it's probably a good thing there was no school or work the next day.
The party was over and we left the parking lot about 7:15PM. We pulled into a Pilot truck stop at the first exit across the Ohio River in Paducah. It was 10:15 and the attendant said we could sleep in the camper, so we did. It was 30 degrees outside, but with the heater running and our heavy comforter, we were snug as a bug.
We left for Edwardsville on Saturday morning. Adi competed in trampoline at 11:00 and double mini at 3:00. Then we went to the hotel for an enjoyable evening which included beer and pizza around the pool with Chad, the kids, and some mothers of other gymnastics competitors from Mattoon.
Then Sunday at 1:00 we watch the floor tumbling events. Adi got 1st in trampoline, 2nd in double-mini, and first in floor tumbling. Not bad!
We enjoyed the weekend.
P.S. I tried to upload some nice videos of Adi's double-mini and floor tumbling passes, but as has happened in the past, Google would not cooperate.
After getting home at 11:15PM last night from dinner in Lincoln with friends, we rolled out of bed at 5:45 this morning to see Adi's first event at 8:00 in Mahomet. We were a bit early and they were a bit late getting started. We could have slept another half hour, but it was worth the trip.
Adi got 4th place in double mini trampoline, 3rd in floor tumbling and 1st in trampoline. She is in the intermediate class in floor tumbling and sub-advanced in double mini and trampoline. There are no pictures below of her with her 1st place trophy because they were running about 2 1/2 hours behind on the scoring tabulation and awards, so neither Chad & Faith nor we stayed for the presentation.
Congratulations, Adi!
We set the alarm for 8:00, but woke up at 6:00. Plenty of time to catch the bus to the airport at 10:30! We packed up last night, so after our showers, we had a nice breakfast, strolled around for a while and went back to the room to hang out in the air conditioning until time for the bus.
I saw our chambermaid working her way toward our room. I checked my money clip and found that all the Mexican money I had left was 120 pesos. I gave it to her and said, "Todo muy bueno." I think I said, "Everything very good." We had heard that the chambermaids make 76 pesos per day and they work ten hour days, so the 120 pesos ($10.00) I gave her made her smile.
We caught the bus at 10:30 for the thirty minute ride to the airport. We got there three hours before flight time, but by the time we checked our bags, got our boarding passes, and went through Immigration, we only had about an hour to wait. We got a sandwich and a drink at the snack bar before boarding the plane.
Our flight time was about thirty minutes less that the flight to Huatulco, but I had time to watch the movie Trouble With the Curve with Clint Eastwood, then grab a short nap.
We caught the Marriott shuttle back to our car and were on the road toward home at 7:00. A short stop at the grocery store for milk and few other necessities had us poking the garage door opener at 9:15.
We had a great time, but as always, it's good to be home.
