Springfield, Illinois

    We found spring today.  Suddenly we noticed that the trees were mostly leafed out and all along the road there were beautiful spots of pink and white from flowering crabs and apples.  The rivers are all running very fast and near flood stage.  We crossed the Illinois and the Mississippi today and saw the preparations for the expectation of even higher waters.  One campground that we planned to stay in near Mammoth Cave emailed a reservation cancellation due to high water.
    It rained some last night and was blustery.  We will have to pile more blankets on Rick tonight.  He was chilly.  I turned up the heat when I got up this morning and got the RV warmed up for him.  Fortunately the rain had stopped before we needed to disconnect our power and water.  It takes us longer to get going while we establish a routine with the new camper - we could pack the 5th wheel up with our eyes closed.  I'm sure it will get much faster in a few days.
    We had a longer drive today - mostly on freeways - and the first few hours of driving were tiring due to the wind and many big trucks.  The plus side of driving freeways is easy access to rest stops.  Lunch today was at an Iowa rest stop that was decorated with paintings and tile work which were copies of quilt blocks.  These block designs were used as symbols to send a message to slaves who were escaping the south on the Underground Railway.  There were 14 stops on the Railway in this area.
      Our destination today was the Illinois State Fairgrounds.  There is a 300 site campground on the fairgrounds.  I saw a review of the place on RVParkreviews.com and thought that it sounded good since it is very close to the Abraham Lincoln home and museum.  The sites are either on rolling, grassy areas or a cement parking lot.  We chose the grassy area with some big trees nearby.  The place is almost empty this time of year and the water has just been turned on.  We love the quiet open space.  Our only problem was getting the car unhitched while parked on uneven ground.  However, Rick was finally successful and we had a nice but short time sitting outside in our lawn chairs on the long grass having a glass of wine.  Then the expected showers blew in and we escaped to the camper.