Chicago- Visiitng niece Maddie at Univ Chicago

Natalie and niece Maddie

We went to the Art Institute

Balsac "Norm"

Maddie and her kitty. She has a huge apartment with 5 other women

John Deere Factory

We went on a 2 hour tour of the John Deere factory in East Moline IL. Lots and lots of green paint!

Some combine operators will use his combine for 20,000 acres!

See how huge it is- the S690!

Visiting friend Vicki in Alton, IL

Nat's friend Vicki is only 35 minutes north of St Louis so we stopped to visit with her for a day. We parked the camper on the street in front of her new house. She and Manny moved there from DC8 months ago. They have done a lot of renovations already and the house looks fabulous. It has 14' ceiling throughout and huge rooms...and a pool. Nice retirement Vicki. But Manny still works as a photographer and travels. We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in the historic downtown and a swim in her pool the next day. After lunch we headed north again.

Vicki and Sadie. Her husband was in Calif.

Backyard overlooks Mississippi River. Swimming in her pool was really great.

Big back porch was fun too.

1850 pharmacist house

Martha, a friend of Vicki's came over to chat.

Driving North saw more farm lands

more windmills

the road to our next campground