White Pines visit...

The corgi kids and I traveled from home, back to White Pines for a two week visit with Jim. He's grown accustomed to living alone in the RV, and is a little sensitive when I move things around, to neaten things up. It's his space, I should leave it alone I guess. He was off on Wednesday and Thursday so we did some site-seeing. We went to Fulton, which is a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River, which has an authentic Dutch windmill built in the Netherlands, specifically for the town. The ninety foot tall windmill is a fully operational mill, and volunteers are the millers. The windmill sits on the flood control dike which helps protect the town. They've made a nice park there, with scenic views of the barge waterway of "the narrows" which is what this area of the Mississippi is called. There are so many interesting things to stop and see along it. Explore websites and learn of the area for yourself, it would make a great road trip, especially with autumn coming. The Great River Road is the longest scenic by-way in America.
We crossed "Big Muddy" on the erector-set style bridge, into Clinton, Iowa. We happily filled up our gas tank there for $3.44 a gallon! We are "church spire chasers" and went in search of the ones we spotted from the Illinois side of the Mississippi.
Jim took me on the parks'John Deere 'Gator this afternoon onto the fire-roads leading to hidden areas in the park. He showed me a high trail, laden deep in scented pine needles, mushrooms sprouting through moss, with the creeks below. There is a cave, made from a split in the canyon's rock, and a totem pole that someone had painted a "Wilson-face" from the Castaway movie, starring Tom Hanks, some years back. You never know what you'll find on the trails. What fun. It was even muggy up there, it's just that warm, but the smells were good, nice and woodsy.
The park is filling up for the weekend. I did a Wal-mart grocery run, and have turkey legs in the crock-pot for supper. Jim and Phil are preparing for a busy night. Life begins here after 10pm on the weekends, eventho that's the hour "quiet time" begins. The law if often called, when alcohol, or worse, drugs, are found in the sites. The guys never know what they'll come across, after hours, in the park. That's why we enjoy the week days so much here; we literally have the joint to ourselves, and no worries!