Port Huron

 We had a great time here on June 21, especially watching the huge ore carriers pass up close.

The interurban and train we road on today.

Day 21: 44 miles to and from the Illinois Railroad Museum where we walked 4.5 miles today. Dad got in free because it is father's day.  It is the largest railroad museum in the country with about 450 different rail cars and engines. We enjoyed riding on an early interurban similar to what would have gone from St Johns to Lansing 100 years ago. And we road in a 1916 passenger car pulled by a 1917 steam engine. We wandered through 5 huge building full of various kinds of trains, trolleys, passenger and freight cars, a train station and displays of all kinds of train items large and small. We had lunch in a diner and dinner at the Chinese buffet. A fun but tiring day. We head for home tomorrow.
PS One railcar is set up to sell used train books. Dad asked "I know this is a silly question, but do you have anything about train whistles"? The fellow handed him 18 different copies of an out of print magazine called Horn and Whistle. He was a happy camper!

One wing of a gigantic octopus mall.

Day 20: 144 miles from Le Claire,  Iowa to Elgin, IL. We drove on secondary roads most of the way. Along the Rock River we stopped for a while to watch the finish line for a kayak race as some very tired people hauled their boats out and stumbled over the finish line. The weather has been overcast, sprinkly and in the mid 60s. So many farm fields we passed are still too wet to plant.
We stopped at a huge mall near our hotel where we are at a delicious Chinese buffet, walked the place and read magazines at Barnes and Noble.
Off to the Illinois train museum tomorrow.

Davenport house; pelicans