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Ten Degrees and Getting Colder

  Cold Sunrise   That's just the name of the song written by Gordon Lightfoot.  It was actually -13 F when I got up this morning (wind chill -24).  Tucson may have pulled back into the lead!  There's a lot of weighing pros and cons of Colorado vs Arizona by the wood stove.  Not much else to report. I did enjoy a few games of pool and a beer with my brother this week.  We don't get together very often, so it's good to try to keep the lines of communication open, especially with my mother celebrating her 86th birthday next month.  He lives in Milwaukee and just started semi-retirement.  Our opposing politics and lifestyles keep things very casual and surface-level.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.   It's important to find common ground.  He and his wife have started going to concerts and recently saw the Steve Miller Band.  Music is one of our common interests.      
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Rend Lake, Illinois

Our next stop in early May was at another Corps of Engineers campground at Rend Lake near Benton, Illinois. 

We needed to reserve a spot for the weekend, and things were already getting crowded on the first weekend in May. I made the reservation two weeks in advance, and our site was far from prime. To get level, I needed all of my leveling blocks for the rear of the trailer. 




There was a lengthy bike/hike paved trail on the property. We took full advantage and walked at least five miles every day of our stay. After the weekend, the campground emptied out enough to score a lakeside site. 



Julia kayaked several times on the lake.




We visited two brewpubs in the area. The first was called  The Hop Brewery in Christopher, Illinois. The town was in bad economic shape.  The brewery was newer and the highlight of the town.



Julia had a Hefeweizen that she thought was ok. I had something called a white stout that I didn’t like much at all. I thought it would be light colored but full bodied, but it was more like a stout on a diet.




We also went to St Nicholas Brewery in Du Quoin, Illinois. The beer here was much better.






We spent four days at Rend Lake before heading across the river to Mark Twain country in Iowa. 
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MFH said…
Remember that time we were canoeing in the Amazon and the guide said it was the tannins that colored the water dark brown? I gonna surmise those folk at the Hop Brewery went on that trip at one time.
June 5, 2021 at 4:32 PM
greg said…
OK, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say I'm sure that dead end sign in the photo of Julia was just happenstance and not something you planned??

Yep, decent trails, but I'll always remember Rend Lake as the place I bought my Geezer Pass within days of becoming eligible.
June 6, 2021 at 9:55 AM
John said…
Not my cup of tea.
June 6, 2021 at 3:40 PM
John said…
Oops, photobombed by a sign. A coincidence.

They better not change the rules/eligibility on that pass. Less than two years and counting.
June 6, 2021 at 3:45 PM
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