A Day in Chambana

Tuesday night we got 2.9 inches of rain in about 2 hours, which caused some local flash floods.  We didn't need that, and we may need to replant some soybeans.  Our area is already about 7 inches above normal for the year.  But we have it better than many.  I feel for the farmers (and others) along the Mississippi, Missouri, and Ohio river systems that have been flooding or threatening to flood all spring. 

The golden slippers finally died and will be given a proper burial in the dumpster.

Thursday morning, we took daughter #2 down to C-U to register at the U. of I.  She will be our 4th and final child to attend the old Alma Mater.  I got to spend a lot of time walking around campus with her.  I may have embarrassed her a few times.:)  In the afternoon, Laura gave us a tour of the "Upper Room", where D#2 will be living this fall.  We also got to shop at Champaign Surplus, one of my favorite stores down there.
In the evening, Son #2 gave us a tour of the engineering campus and buildings.  It's a pretty impressive area and it's easy to see why they consistently rank very high internationally (in 2009, #3 in the world).
After a meal at Applebees we headed back home .

We should never forget that the greatest education comes from God through the Holy Bible.

Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
Proverbs 9:9

Galena

The old farmer and the wife of his youth took a R & R retreat to historic Galena this week.  Daughter and Son-in-Law gave us a gift certificate at Christmas to the DeSoto House Hotel in downtown Galena.  It is the oldest operating Hotel in Illinois.  We enjoyed good rest, good food, and learned the history of this unique town.  We took a trolley tour and did a lot of walking to see the old Victorian mansions, houses, and buildings.  We shopped the quaint shops on Main Street, but only bought one book.

  Lead mines and Mississippi River steamboat trade built the city up to a peak population of 14,000 people in the late 1800's.  But the mines played out, steamboat trade decreased, and the river silted in.  Now the town is down to 3500 people and the main industry is tourism.  Galena supplied 9 Generals in the Civil War, the most famous being General U.S. Grant.  And he went on to become the President of the United States.

Galena is proud of its heritage and is a great place to visit. 

The countryside surrounding Galena is "dairy" country.  Very picturesque.

 Flag and cannon in Grant Park.

 The DeSoto Hotel.

 Main Street Galena.

Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant.
I Kings 8:56

California Guests

We finally finished planting soybeans Monday afternoon.  We had been at it for a while!  As soon as a field would be dry enough, we planted it, but then it would rain again and we would have to wait on the next field.  We would only get to plant one or two fields a week.  As soon as we finished we started side-dressing our corn with additional nitrogen.  We needed to hurry that job before the corn got too tall to be able to drive through it without breaking the corn off.  This afternoon the side-dressing was completed.  I think maybe the stress level will decrease now and life may slow down a little.

Our California family was here the past week.  It was great to see Ed & Peggy, Alan & Amy, Laura, and Jessica.  It was great that their whole family could be here together.  Alan and Amy came to Illinois from the National Small Bus Roadeo in Indianapolis.  She came in 16th in the nation! 
I would have liked to have spent more time with them, but our unfinished fieldwork kept me busier than I anticipated it would for June.  But I did enjoy the time we had together catching up on what's happening in their lives. We did a lot of visiting with a lot of the local relatives with them.
Peggy brought her poodle "Ruby" with her.  Normally I don't like house pets, including hyperactive little yappy dogs.  But Ruby was the calmest, best behaved poodle I have ever seen.  You hardly knew she was around, and I never once heard her bark.  And since we gave up our bedroom to our guests, Ruby slept in my bed for four nights! :)  The old farmer and his wife slept in our "basement suite" on the sofa bed.  It was cool, dark, and quiet, and I slept well.  They left yesterday to continue their vacation.

And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the LORD, and see how they do.
Acts 15:36