Leg 8- May 9- Macomb, IL

Hello everyone, this is Dallas! A different voice on the blog for you all - just to shake things up a bit! We arrived in Macomb, as Andy posts below, where I went to graduate school. It's an interesting place to say the least, and especially so for anyone who has lived there for a stretch of time. During grad school, which is, you know, grad school, and very exhausting, exhilarating, and uses a lot of brain power, some of my classmates and I would come out to Spring Lake and stay at one the primitive hike-in campsites. This campsite was a perfect break/oasis - a waterfront secluded location perfect for midnight skinny dipping!

Kristin, who was part of my grad-class and currently lives in the Quad Cities with her beautiful family was able to make the trip down to Macomb to reunion with me.We all took a walk out to show her and Andy the magic of the site.

Then, we returned to the RV portion of the campground, which as Andy has mentioned, was bizarre because it was basically FULL of RVs that were empty! Apparently the locals all have RVs that they keep here year-round. So their motorhome's aren't even on a gravel strip, they're just scattered around in a big grass field.

We had a cookout with Kristin and her daughter Quinn and it was DELIGHT to watch her and Eliza Pearl play together! Then we were joined by some of the best people in the world - Carolyn, Lysa, and DC (all professors in the Theatre and Dance department at Western Illinois). After EP went to bed, Carolyn and DC stayed on and we played some board games. DC has a whole basement full of them or something, so we got to play some new ones for us! What a treat to see these lovely humans.

EP and Quinn being so cute together!

When Carolyn arrived, EP was enraptured by her!