Our Winter Adventure Begins - 11/10/15

Tuesday – November 10, 2015
Our Winter Adventure 2015 / 2016 Begins
Metropolis, Illinois

We embark upon our winter adventure under a sunny sky and cool temperatures in the low fifties. Sharon and I are excited to be back on the road again, after spending the past five months at our home base in Illinois.

Our exit from the Chicago area is timely. Severe weather is expected to arrive in the area on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain downpours and wind gusts up to 70 mph.

This winter adventure will take us to Florida to visit family during November and early December. Following our visit to Florida, we will head west to ride out the winter months in Yuma, Arizona. We spent our first winter in Arizona during 2014 / 2015 and really enjoyed the southwest desert region.

We will spend one night at the Fort Massac State Park.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Travel Details:
Departed: Chicago Area
Departure Time: 10:05 A.M.

Arrival: Metropolis, Illinois
Arrival Time: 5:20 P.M.

Campground: Fort Massac
Type: State Park
GPS Coordinates: Latitude: N37.14671 Longitude: W088.70888
Camping Fee: $15.00 (with senior discount)
Campsite: 25A
Campsite Hookups: Electric
Campground Amenities: Water Spigots, Flush Toilets, Dump Station

Cellular Service: Verizon - 4G, 2 Bars
Internet Service: Verizon Jetpack

Total miles traveled today: 382
Route Traveled:
South on Interstate 57
East on Interstate 24
South on U.S. Highway 45 to campground

Navy Pier - 07/09/15 - Chicago, IL

Thursday – July 9, 2015
Navy Pier
Chicago, Illinois

We enjoyed a four-day visit with our 15 year-old grandson this week. He lives in Panama City, Florida and doesn’t get to visit Chicago that often, so we took him to one of our favorite spots in Chicago – Navy Pier.

Navy Pier, built in 1916, extends 3,300 feet from the Chicago shoreline out into Lake Michigan and offers a wonderful view of the Chicago skyline. Today, the pier is one of the most visited attractions in the entire Midwestern United States and is Chicago's number one tourist attraction.

The Pier and its grounds encompass more than 50 acres of parks, gardens, shops, restaurants and other shore entertainment, including a ballroom, a concert stage, and convention exhibition halls.

Major attractions include a Ferris Wheel, an IMAX theater, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Amazing Chicago's Funhouse Maze, the Chicago Children's Museum, and at the entrance to Navy Pier is a statue of Oak Park comedian Bob Newhart, sponsored by the TV Land network.

Visitors can enjoy a ride on the iconic Ferris Wheel that reaches 150 feet into the sky, offering sweeping views of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. The Ferris Wheel is open year-round, weather permitting. It never stops; people enter and depart the Ferris Wheel’s gondolas while it is slowly rotating around.

The Pier is used as an embarkation point for tour and excursion boats and is a popular place to watch lakefront events, including the annual Air and Water airshow and the parade of lighted and decorated boats during Chicago's Venetian Night festival.

Navy Pier attractions include sightseeing tours from companies such as Seadog Ventures, Shoreline Sightseeing cruises and Water Taxi service, and the Tall Ship Windy. There are also dinner cruises by Entertainment Cruises, on their ships the Spirit of Chicago, The Odyssey II, and the Mystic Blue.

The Pier has fireworks on Wednesday and Saturday nights during the summer and Saturday nights during the fall.

We bid goodbye to Navy Pier as the sun was setting behind the skyline of Chicago.

We finished off this day of adventure with a deep-dish pizza at Lou Malnatti’s.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Buffalo Chicken Kebabs - 06/02/15 - Chicago, IL

Tuesday – June 2, 2015
Buffalo Chicken Kebabs
Chicago, Illinois

While perusing The Chew web site recently, I came across this recipe for buffalo chicken wings with celery blue cheese salad. I decided to try it out on our COBB grill this evening.

After finishing this delicious meal, Sharon and I both agreed this recipe is definitely a "keeper."

BUFFALO CHICKEN KEBABS WITH CELERY BLUE CHEESE SALAD

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (cut into 1 inch cubes)
• 1/2 cup buffalo hot sauce
• 2 cups sliced celery (peeled and then sliced 1/8 inch thick on a bias)
• 1/4 cup finely sliced scallions
• 1 jalapeno (thinly sliced)
• 1/4 cup parsley leaves (torn)
• 1/2 cup crumbles blue cheese
• olive oil
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 bamboo skewers (soaked in water for 1 hour)

Step-by-Step Directions

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place the seasoned pieces in a gallon-sized bag and add the hot sauce. Seal the bag and marinate the chicken for 2-3 hours or overnight.
2. The next day, remove the chicken from the fridge and allow it to rest at room temperature, for about 30 minutes.
3. Remove the chicken from the bag and add about 4 pieces to each skewer. Lightly drizzle with olive oil.
4. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high heat. Add the skewers to the grill, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Flip, recover, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Remove to a platter to rest for 5 minutes, tented with foil, before serving.
5. Meanwhile make the salad by combining the celery, scallions, jalapenos and parsley leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Gently fold in the blue cheese.
6. Serve the skewers on top or alongside the celery salad.
7. Tip: Substitute your favorite marinade if you're not a buffalo sauce fan!

Here’s a video that shows how to make this delicious meal. Enjoy!

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Bites - 05/23/15

Saturday – May 23, 2015
Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Bites
Chicago, Illinois

One of our favorite homemade sweets is chocolate banana peanut butter bites. Now that we are home again, we have the counter space and freezer space available to prepare this delicious treat.

The ingredients are quite simple:

• Bananas
• Dark Chocolate
• Peanut Butter (smooth or chunky)

Sometimes we will sprinkle crushed nuts over the chocolate covered bananas before freezing them.

Here’s an excellent video we found on YouTube that shows how to make this delicious treat. Enjoy!

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

McKee Marsh - 05/21/15 - DuPage County, IL

Thursday – May 21, 2015
McKee Marsh
DuPage County, Illinois

One of our greatest pleasures while we are home, are our daily walks through the Blackwell Forest Preserve in DuPage County, located about 30 miles west of the city of Chicago.

The land on which the forest preserve resides, was shaped by the retreating Wisconsin Glacier 12,000 to 15,000 years ago. The glaciers meltwaters left behind much of the soil that covers DuPage County today. After the glacier’s retreat, savannas with widely spaced oak trees formed on the higher ground while the lower-lying ground became home to marsh and prairie plants.

Hikers, bicyclers, horseback riders and cross-country skiers can enjoy more than 6 miles of turf and limestone trails, including a convenient route to the Illinois Prairie Path.

One of our favorite trails is a circular trail around the McKee Marsh. This area features two observation decks, a bird blind, and signs that describe the history and ecological significance of the marsh. Our daily 4-mile walks take us through open fields of native prairie grasses, flowers and stands of towering oak forests. The sounds from birds singing and the wind gently weaving its way through the trees and prairie grass are soothing to the soul.

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Chicago, IL - 05/14/15

Thursday – May 14, 2015
Chicago, Illinois

We departed the Giant City State Park, near Carbondale, Illinois, at 8:55 a.m. We spent a restful night within the serenity of the Shawnee National Forest. We stopped for a quick breakfast at the Cracker Barrel Restaurant in Marion, Illinois and arrived home at 4:35 p.m.

Since departing our home in Illinois on October 10, 2014, we traveled through 14 states, including a visit to Los Algodones, Mexico, logging 15,353 miles during our snowbird adventure.

We are so glad to have a home base to return to. We enjoy spending six to eight months in a warmer climate to escape the bitterly cold winter weather in the Chicago area, but it is always a nice change of pace to return to the comfort of our home environment.

Total miles traveled today: 357

Tomorrow another adventure begins.

Giant City SP - 05/13/15 - Makanda, IL

Wednesday – May 13, 2015
Giant City State Park
Makanda, Illinois

We had a wonderful BBQ lunch at the Memphis BBQ Co. in Horn Lake, Mississippi and departed the restaurant at 1:40 p.m. We arrived at the Giant City State Park in Makanda, Illinois at 5:35 p.m.

Nestled in the Shawnee National Forest, just minutes south of Carbondale, Illinois, Giant City State Park was named for the unique impressions made by massive sandstone structures. Eons of geological faulting and folding have molded a landscape like none other, which is now clothed in lush garments of fern, moss, large flowering mints, hundreds of species of wild flowers and 75-plus varieties of towering trees. The natural splendor of Giant City has made it a renowned retreat that attracts more than 1.2 million visitors annually.

Shelter bluffs, or rock shelters, worn into the sides of the cliffs have revealed evidence of human habitation in this region from as early as 10,000 years ago, and the blackened ceilings caused by their fires remain visible today. On an 80-foot sandstone cliff near the main entrance, one can see the remains of a Native American stone wall erected between A.D. 600-800.

The first European settlers moved into the area from Kentucky and Tennessee in the early 1800s, and by 1850, settlers were using the land to cultivate fruit trees. During the Civil War, many of the cliffs and canyons were used as havens by soldiers of both the Union and Confederate armies.

In 1927, the state of Illinois acquired more than 1,100 acres of land in Union and Jackson counties and dedicated the area as Giant City State Park. In 1936, the Civilian Conservation Corps completed construction of a lodge and 12 overnight cabins on the highest point in the park. Today, the park has grown to encompass 4,000 acres of spectacular countryside plus the 110-acre Fern Rocks Nature Preserve.

The campground has 99 campsites, some with 30/50 amp electric only sites, some with 30/50 amp electric and water hookups. There is one restroom facility with flush toilets and free showers. There is one dump station.

Since the campground is located within a dense forest, campers with satellite television service may find it difficult to locate satellites through the abundance of trees. We have Dish satellite service and our antenna could not locate the satellites.

Campground: Giant City State Park
Camping Fee: $15.00 (with Illinois senior discount)
Campsite: 27

Cellular Service: T-Mobile – E, 2-bars with signal booster.
Satellite Television Service: Trees in campground are too dense for antenna to locate satellites.

Total miles traveled today from Horn Lake, Mississippi: 222
Route Traveled:
North on Interstate 55
North on Interstate 57
North on U.S. Highway 51
East on Giant City Park Road to State Park

Tomorrow another adventure begins.