Leaving Pittsfield

I slept in - no alarm needed on this fun trip!  A coffee shop is next to the William Watson Hotel so I stopped in naturally for a scone and a coffee before leaving.  The owner asked me where I was from and I told her about the adventure I was on. 

 She told me that one day she and her husband were coming home from the nearby town of  Detroit, population about 80, and they came across a lady on a country road.

"Are you needing help?"  "Yes" she replied in a thick French accent.
She had flown in to the Chicago airport and then rented a car.  She put Detroit into her GPS and it brought her to Detroit, Illinois, not Detroit, Michigan!  They told her that she had come 5 hours west instead of going toward Michigan.  Poor thing!  But, hey, she got to see parts of the United States she never would have seen otherwise!!

 After packing my car, I headed toward Indianapolis.  Should I pick up Highway 72 from Pittsfield, or head out on back country roads?  I chose the 2 lane back roads, of course!

That morning, I noticed that the cord on my hair straightener had some exposed wire and I needed to wrap it with electrical tape so I stopped in a little town and found a hardware store.

 Crossing the Illinois River on a drawbridge!

An old school house

I had to turn around because I passed this cemetery.  I pulled over and turned on my flashers.

It seemed to be a family plot.  Many died so young.

What fun to just drive and have no traffic for miles!

I didn't see gobblers, but I did see turkey vultures!

 Lots of farming going on.  Corn harvest!

 Hard to see them but there are 3 deer scampering away in the picture above.

 My husband would have enjoyed driving by all these farms!  One road sign had the name "Seedy" on it that led to a grain elevator.

 I stopped in a little town to fill up with gas and this truck was parked there.  I didn't notice if it smelled like flowers...

 I pulled off the highway at Sangchris Lake State Park.

Coming into the next town, my GPS took me a couple of blocks out of the way.

I did get to see grape vines before getting back on the main road.

 And saw this house.  The person who lives in this town must like decorating for fall!  Even though the GPS sometimes did some weird moves, I could always find positives about the detour.

 My grandchildren enjoy the stories of Whit's End in  Adventures in Odyssey .

I found another Whit's End in Taylorville, Ill.

 Sometimes you hear people say that they are at their wit's end.

If you say that you are at your wits' end, you are emphasizing that you are so worried and exhausted by problems or difficulties that you do not know what to do next.

Definitely not where I was.  I had such a blast on this trip, just tootling along back roads!

Adventure to be continued...