Head Out On the Highway, Looking For Adventure

Head Out On the Highway, Looking For Adventure - Part 3

Head Out On the Highway, Looking For Adventure

Turn right onto the Bald Bluff road a mile north of Little York and you begin heading West. Go far enough and you'll begin to see the pines of Big River Conservation area, a 2900 acre forest between Keithsburg and Oquawka. Slow down now and start looking for this sign on your left. Its your personal invitation to a little-known local adventure.

Of particular interest in this area is the Lincoln Trail. The broken unmaintained sign reads:

"Lincoln Trail History

On May 7, 1832 Capt. Abraham Lincoln led by Col Samuel

Thompson and Maj Nathan Bucmaster,

Rode with 2000 militiamen on this trail to

the mouth of the Rock River in the

Blackhawk War."

The stately pines provide plenty of cover and mystery.

Hidden on the trail on a small bluff is this small pioneer cemetery. Burials appear to be in the 1850's and 60's. Overgrown and weedy it seems appropriate out here in the dark forested middle-of-nowhere.

A mile east of Oquawka we discovered this ancient timber cabin slowly being consumed by nature.

The trip culminated in a stop at Papa Joe's, a fish market with a big sign out front that reads The Meat with No Feet.

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Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless. Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001. It was one of those things that can generate crime: two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job. Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things. Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold. But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find. His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead. He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds. He will be paralyzed for life. None of this is pleasant. Reading the facts of the murder and attempted murder are most unpleasant

Summer Swim

It's Monday and the start of another work week. Except for me. I have the week off because the parents of my daycare charges are taking the week off, too. This is one of those wordless posts I love on Mondays so I can put my laziness in full view of loyal readers. These pics need no words. Why muddy the waters? They were taken at the pool at Sinkhole Estates aka Death Valley. The nice thing about this pool is it is heated in winter. If one must find positives in one's situation, I suppose that is one. But, please, no more.

Florida Air Museum - Part 3

Welcome back to a pretty neat tour of the Florida Air Museum in Lakeland Florida. There's a lot to see and a couple of the old Geezer Gold Wing guys are already sitting down instead of walking around looking at the exhibits. That's John who is wore out and making a call to his wife. In all honesty, John was pretty well bushed before the ride. He told me his daughter's family was down from one of the Carolina's with the grand kids and he must have played with them too much. He's about to take off on his own and head for home, but he's going to miss a couple of neat things out on Hangar A. But, before we walk over there, we have lots yet to see here. If you saw The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio playing Howard Hughes, you'll remember that he went up in a plane during the filming of one of his movies to prove a point about flying. He crashed trying to execute a roll and this is a picture of the plane he crashed. Note the propeller

Existing In BFE

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