A trip to Southern Illinois Part 3 of 4

I loved going to Cave-in-Rock. I read that a pirate ship was once hidden in the cave but I can't find confirmation. I found the history fascinating and will leave you with just a little information.

From AI on Yahoo, "Cave-In-Rock, Illinois is an imposing geological formation on the banks of the Ohio River.... The cave gained infamy in the late 1700s and early 1800s as a notorious hideout for river pirates, counterfeiters, and outlaws who preyed on passing flatboats...Worn into the white limestone bluffs by Ohio River flooding, the cave was extensively carved out during the melting period following the Wisconsin Ice Age. It measures roughly 55 feet wide at the opening and extends 120 feet deep. A unique 100-foot vertical fissure in the ceiling acts as a natural chimney, allowing smoke to escape and making the space perfect for human habitation.... " 

After descending some steps, we walked down a paved path.

The entrance.

Entering the cave.

Looking back towards the opening.

Further in, looking back.

Inside the cave. There is natural light because of the fissure.

The Cave-in-Rock car ferry can be seen from the high cliffs near Cave-in-Rock.

The ferry goes straight across the Ohio River to Marion, Kentucky, and back. It makes about 3 trips each way every hour. This free ferry fascinated me because the boat swung the barge part when approaching the dock. The 'hinge' is the red part in the photo below. 

We took the ferry to Kentucky and supposedly the largest Amish settlement in Kentucky but we learned that in recent years, at least half of the families have move to other places. It sounds like the new bishop might have been a little too modern for some families and they wanted to live more conservatively. I'm sure there were many other reasons also. 

There weren't a lot of Amish places to see but we did find the  bakery, Hidden Valley Kitchen. After eating a free blueberry donut hole, we had to have their specialty, the  blueberry donuts. I think we also had a couple of fried pies and some oatmeal whoopee pies. Enough treats for more than a week! We also found some ripe tomatoes at the bakery and some fresh lettuce at an Amish roadside stand, so we enjoyed eating BLTs a couple of times.

One day we went to Bell Smith Springs to hike to the natural bridge. We met a Boy Scout troop going the opposite way. They all said hello except one young man - he said something like "Are you having a great day?". The conversation with him just made me smile as we kept hiking and hiking. 

Eventually we decided we weren't on our way to the bridge because we had hiked far too long. Right after we decided to turn around, we met a backpacker. He said we would eventually reach the bridge if we kept going but it was a loooong ways ahead. Going back the way we came was the shortest way! When we got back to the trailhead, we decided that we'd had a nice hike and we'd just call that a good day or maybe a great day! 

It was an interesting day - we didn't get lost, we didn't find our destination, I slipped and fell while ascending a big rock - I was pretty dirty but not hurt badly, and Ray's allergies seemed worse.

We drove to High Knob to see how it would be for sunset shots. 

It was pretty but sunset shots weren't going to work because of trees. If I looked a different direction, I could see the layers in the hills. 

Sunday morning Ray's allergies were much worse so we visited Urgent Care in Harrisburg. He got some meds and was told the pollens are really bad right now. We spent the rest of Sunday at  'home' resting. I needed the rest too. I also spent time sewing a binding on a quilt I brought along.

We took a second day of rest even though Ray felt some better as did I. I did take a short walk around the farm, ran into host Kathy and ended up in the barn holding a baby peacock! I also spent some time with their Great Pyrenees, Sam, and the 2 goats. 

That evening we got some much needed rain. The deep ravine behind our outside seating area had LOTS of runoff from the 3" of rain.

With the runoff 

No runoff

On our last full day, we went to Burden Falls. We met a "ranger-type" person that was working there. She said the rain quickly floods the area and then quickly runs off. The only trace of last nights rain (1" there) was a wet ground and wet rocks. The falls is pretty and was probably really crazy during the rainfalls.

We drove to Rim Rock and decided to only hike upper trail because it was getting late. We found this interesting tree.

Of course, we stopped for wild flowers.

There were lots of trees so it was hard to see much of the scenery.

When it began to rain, we decided to turn around and head back to the parking lot but stopped to take a selfie first.

On our way 'home' we drove through Pounds Hollow Recreation Area. It was a pretty drive and Pounds Hollow Lake is quite long with boating, fishing, and swimming. Since we didn't stop and go down the steps, I couldn't get photos of the lake but I did grab this picture of the area thru the windshield. 

More to come ....

A trip to souther Illinois Part 2 of 4

We traveled south from Arthur and  stopped in Effingham at The Wooden Spool. When we arrived, we met the owner who had just stopped in for a few minutes. She was great and showed me around the store. I was very impressed with this shop.

I found backs for the last three on my list of quilts. 

The quilt is navy with dots and red.
Can you see it to the left of the navy?

I loved the store but found that they cut instead of tear wide backs. (Tearing insures that the  piece of fabric is square when straightened on grain.) I had the lady checking me out tear some off each piece so I kind of knew what I needed to buy to have enough for each quilt. (I paid for the pieces torn off.) She said the long armers in the area just bought an extra 8" and they never complained. I usually want an extra 10 inches and I want the fabric on the straight of grain. The owner was gone by the time I checked out - I wish I could have asked her to tear my fabric. They had a wonderful selection of wide backs.

We stopped at Flora's Diner in Flora for lunch. I thought shrimp sounded good but I didn't know what Ayce Popcorn Shrimp was. Do you?

Maybe I don't eat out enough - it means all you can eat. I might have figured out AYCE. Anyway it was good and the hushpuppies were wonderful! I couldn't eat all of the first serving!

We arrived at our rental near Junction, IL and the Shawnee National Forest. Our home for the week was out in the country on 20 acres bordering the National Forest. We had a great cabin which was close to but private from our hosts' home. Our hosts were great too! I thought of this as our backyard but it was actually our front yard. Past the seating area was a deep ravine with a stream. We did hike across it one day.    

Off to the left in the above photo, we had bird feeders. I caught this red-bellied woodpecker eating one day. Ray captured a photo of a pileated woodpecker! 

One day we went to the Garden of the Gods. We hiked the observation trail. I just took photos and let Ray worry about the iconic shots of the area.

This part of the trail was a little narrow!

We had a gorgeous day.

An Amish youth (teenage) group was there that day. We talked with some of the young men and they said they take a bus trip every year on Ascension Day. One of the chaperones began talking with me and said there were 30 some youth in the group. She then explained that they were actually Old Order Mennonites and that there are a few differences between the Amish and the Old Order Mennonites with the most obvious being that married men do not grow beards. 

This scenery shot has the older chaperones enjoying the view. The teenagers were enjoying the rocks so they appear in some of our pictures. 

Some things we've observed: there aren't many if any stores or gas stations around, the roads, except for the major highways are narrow, there isn't much traffic, people are very friendly, cell phone service isn't always available, things seem to be a little slower and more quiet around here. It was all very relaxing.

On our way 'home', we came across the Garden of the Gods Outpost. They had souvenirs, hotdogs, and ice cream. We were able to get root beer floats which tasted so good.

Following our GPS, we turned onto Sparks Hill Road. As we turned onto the road, it was downhill and we could not see the road ahead. When we'd driven a few feet, and could see the road, we realized we were on a path and then it hit us. Our host told us about this road. So glad we knew where this would take us ('home') because there was no way we could turn around. This photo was taken when the road leveled out some, there weren't deep ruts or mud, and  I could hold my phone steady for a second. We were extremely grateful not to meet an oncoming vehicle. It sure was pretty in those woods though! 

We only drove Sparks Hill road once,

More adventures coming...

A trip to Southern Illinois Part 1 of 4

A while back, we planned a trip even though Ray was dealing with some back issues and not feeling his best. After I gave ChatGPT a few details and asked for a destination suggestion, it recommended the Shawnee National Forest and Garden of the Gods in southern Illinois. Driving the interstates from our home in northwest Illinois would have taken 6.5 to 7 hours, but we prefer to avoid interstate travel and long stretches in the car. 

We decided to go through Pontiac, Illinois, to visit some Route 66 attractions. This most legendary highway, is celebrating 100 years this year (2026),

then continue to Arthur to explore the Amish businesses. Our plan was to arrive at our rental near Junction, Illinois, next to Shawnee National Forest, on the third day. On the way back, we planned to spend two nights in Springfield, Illinois, before returning home.

On day one, we ate lunch at the Edinger's Filling Station in Pontiac. This nostalgic service station themed restaurant blends Route 66 history with classic dining.

The food was good too! We both had breakfast food (me - bacon and eggs, Ray - sausage and biscuits) and shared an order of their famous fried macaroni. Our waitress said people usually love it or hate it. I loved it, Ray not so much. The macaroni had onions and smoked gouda cheese.

We walked around downtown and enjoyed the murals. It took us quite a while to find the iconic one. It's actually on the back of a building and is fenced off for some work being done. 

A merchant told us how to maneuver around the fence and we found these murals in the same area.

The merchant told us that people often ask where
the ice cream shop is because they want to eat there.

There is a nice quilt shop in Pontiac but it is closed on Monday (when we were there). Our rental the first evening was in Fairbury, IL. I decided we didn't need to  back track to the quilt shop the next day when I found the Lost Arts Fabric Store was less then a block from our rental. I was looking for backing for a few donation quilts and I found the first two backs on sale at this nice shop. I have a habit of taking a photo of my fabric pieces on top of the selected fabric so I know what's what when I get home.

We drove to Arthur the next day and arrived in time for lunch. My brother told me they love Yoder's Kitchen and we planned to eat there for lunch but... they had a broccoli casserole on the buffet so that meant I couldn't eat anything that was near it on the buffet. (I have a severe allergy to broccoli). Anyway we headed to Pauly's BBQ and had a great lunch. I loved the menu for the non smoker.

Guess we were both smokers! I enjoyed ribs and Ray had pulled pork.

We stopped at a few of the Amish businesses in the country. At one fabric shop, I found some cotton to go with a piece of flannel. I needed the backing and also something to put with the flannel. Not sure how I'll make this quilt yet.

 

We visited a couple of Amish grocery stores and found some treats and food for the days ahead. In town, we visited Stitch and Sew Fabrics. I found backs for four more quilts. And they were all on sale!

Two quilts will have this backing.

Our rental the second night was in Arthur and we enjoyed a quiet evening as we listened to the clip clop of the horses pulling the buggies by our house.

Stay tuned for more...