"U" is for Utica

My husband, Jim, and I traveled this great country of ours for SEVEN years in our RV. We saw many wonderful sights, visited famous and not so famous cities, and wandered through many a National Park. I have blogged through all our travels. I've stumbled upon the "Blogging from A to Z Challenge 2013". I decided to jump on board this crazy train and share with all of you places I have seen in my travels.

Day 21 "Blogging from A-Z Challenge"!

is for Utica, IL







This small town of approximately 1,000 was put on the map when a tornado hit on April 20, 2004, killing 9 people.

Main Street has lots of touristy shops and restaurants. The large restaurant on the corner is Duffy's. (This shot is only one side of the street. Stores and restaurants line the other side, too.)

What would bring tourists to a little town like Utica? Well, Starved Rock State Park is just a few miles down the road from here. And many people pass through the town of Utica to get there.

We visited Starved Rock many times because we spent a lot of time camping during the summer in Utica over the years while we were on the road. Utica is not too far from where my daughter and her family live.

I love going to Starved Rock because the scenery always changes. We have been there in the dead of winter, in the coolness of spring, and the heat of the summer.

There are several paths to walk.

One may look like this

You will probably cross a bridge or two along the way.

You may see some of these kind of wildflowers:

or these

or even these.

And plenty others. Depending on which path you wander down, you will stumble across a waterfall,

or two,

or three!

The scenery calms one's nerves......

This is the actual Starved Rock, where legend has it that the Potawatomi Indians chased the Illini tribe to the top of the rock and forced them to stay until they starved to death.

Thanks for stopping by!

Small Town, USA - Utica

As I've mentioned before, we are camping just north of the town of Utica, Illinois. I've written about Utica in my post on bicycling along the I & M Canal. This small town of approximately 1,000 was put on the map when a tornado hit on April 20, 2004, killing 9 people. If you want to read a terrifying, heart-wrenching, moving story about the tornado, click the link.

There is a beautiful plaque and memorial for those killed in the tornado.



This memorial is where the Milestone tavern once stood, where 8 of the people were killed when the building collapsed during the tornado.



Here is a picture of Main Street. That's Duffy's Tavern on the corner. It's a fun bar with good food.



Main Street has an eclectic collection of shops such as the Second Look Antiques:




Or The Cheating Gourmet Shop (love the upside canoe over the door).



Utica is a biker-friendly town. It is not uncommon to see a row of cycles parked down the street.



Wheelbarrows with flowers planted in them were placed in front of businesses, like this one that was in front of Duffy's Tavern:



I thought this was clever. This one was in front of a computer store. The plants are inside of an empty computer monitor.



Towards the outskirts of town, I spied this bottle tree. I was so excited! It was the first one I've seen since we were down south in Mississippi.



I saw this wooden carving as we were driving by down the street. I made Jim turn the truck around so I could get a picture of it. It was pretty tall; I bet over 7 feet. I definitely had to look up at it. I'm not sure what she has in her hand; it almost looks like a man's head, yes?





Utica is also known for Starved Rock State Park. In another post I will talk about the park and post some photos.

Home is where you park it

We have stayed nine weeks in Utica, IL, so we could be close to our daughter and son-in-law, and new granddaughter, Lily. It was time to leave. On Monday morning, Loco Louie, the crazy cardinal, came pecking at our window at 5:45 am. Then he flew to the top of our trailer and started pecking at the vent cover and sang his heart out. He was determined to wake us up. We just groaned, threw covers over our heads, and rolled over. Finally we awoke at a more decent hour and started our packing after breakfast. I was tempted to leave a note with our forwarding address attached to the tree next to the trailer so Loco Louie would know where to find us. We’ll be back in September on the same spot, so it will be interesting to see if he’ll come back to pester visit us. (To see a video of Loco Louie attacking our kitchen window, see the link here. A View from the Edge: Redbird, redbird what do you see?

I will miss seeing Lily. We really bonded during the times I babysat her. Lily is so laid back and content. She is such a good baby.



I always feel a little melancholy when we leave an area that we’ve stayed at for awhile, whether we have relatives near or not. Maybe it’s because we have no permanent home, so any length of time we stay put is “putting down our roots.” I enjoy the campground we are going to in Marengo, IL. It’s in the rural Midwest, with lots of farms and cows. Our site is right across from a small pond that I’ve named Tranquility Pond. You can read more about it here. A View from the Edge: Tranquility Pond

So it was only about a 1 ½ hour drive north to reach our destination. I was happy to see the moo-cows out grazing in the pasture next to the campground. The Canadian Geese were honking their protest as we pulled in. Their poop was everywhere. Yep, we were home!

As soon as I had a chance, I grabbed my camera and snapped some pictures. Here’s one of the geese obeying the speed limit.





I walked over to the pasture to say hello to my moo-cows to see if they remembered me. I’d like to think so. {SMILE} Read my past post about the moo-cows. A View from the Edge: Nuttin' but cows

Here’s one of my favorite with her long, white eyelashes.




There are four new calves this year. These two were very curious about the crazy lady with a strange black box in her hand. They followed me along the fence as I walked, with me yelling out, “Watch the fence! Watch the fence!” - Afraid that they’d get an electric shock by getting too close to the fence. I guess they’d learn real quickly not to do that again but, I’m a mom, what can I say?



I love the fence posts with barbed wire running along the pasture. The pine trees are huge on the campground side and are filled with tiny sparrows chirping away. It is almost deafening till I walk by – then there’s the sudden fluttering of wings and all the tiny birds fly to another tree.



I liked the cloud formation and the sun burst behind the large tree, with the cows resting in the shade beneath.



This old truck sits right in the middle of the pasture. I love the tall thistles growing all around the abandoned old girl.



I walked further down the road and smelled something really sweet. I spied these flowers/weeds. They smelled exactly like lilacs. I looked them up and found out that they were milkweed. They attract beetles (see below), butterflies, and bees.



Oops! I spy with my little eye……something I shouldn’t have. Is that Marvin Gaye I hear in the background singing, “Let’s get it on?”