Day Seven- IL

We woke up this morning at our KOA campsite in Springfield. The air mattress that has a hole -- somewhere -- completely deflated leaving us on the damp, cold ground. We roughed it last night! We had breakfast/lunch at Bob Evans and went on our way exploring the land of Lincoln. Illnois sure is proud of him. So much so that we don't know what they would have done without him. Each little town boasted on their welcome sign, "The Land that Lincoln surveyed" or "The bridge Lincoln help build." We were waiting for a gas station to say, "Where Lincoln stopped for a cold Coca-cola!" But it never came. Nonetheless, Springfield was a nice town. We learned alot of history and even saw a re-creation of the town back in the 1800's. Around mid-afternoon, the rain came upon us indicating that it was time to hit the road for our northern track to Iowa.

State Capital Building of Illinois

We didn't waste anytime driving through Springfield looking at all of the sites and jumping out to take pictures. We were so eager that we entered Lincoln's house without a National Parks tour guide and were soon apprehended by a ranger instructing us that the only way to view the house was with a guide. Strike 2 with the NPS! (National Park Service) With Jessica's thick accent and Orit's detailed description of our road trip we were escorted into a group that was entering the house at the time and were not made to wait.

Lincoln's House in Springfield

Orit noticed squirrels along the way that seemed unusually large and tame. This one in particular was not camera shy.

The Lincoln Neighborhood Squirrel

Inside Lincoln's Tomb we both remarked on the uniqueness of his 2nd inaugural speech which was displayed prominantly on a plaque in the front entrance. The kind of speech he gave where he continously mentioned God could never be found in today's poltical arena.

The Lincoln Memorial and Tomb

As we made our way along several routes, winding our way through the beautiful countryside we came across towns that held similar names to other cities, states, and countries. There was a Philadelphia, Havana, Virginia, Bath, Milan and Marietta among many, but one of the funniest was the one below.

We drove how far?

Once arriving in Moline, we found another KOA and decided to rent one of these cute little cabins. It's all two girls could ask for... bed, swing, electricity, and of course, wi-fi!

Our Kozy Kabin at KOA in Rock Island/Moline

In preparation for our journey through Iowa -- specifically through Madison County -- we bought the movie, Bridges of Madison County. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day filled with riverboat cruise and all the John Deere memorabilia we can handle! See you then!