The rally was held at the Lee County 4H fairgrounds at Amboy. Weather was great. We had 8 couples bring out their rigs and a couple more showed up for visits. We held a business meeting Friday to elect Norm White as president. Saturday was spent in town looking at the 80 tractors that were on display. Sunday we went back and tried to see all the 400 cars that had come into town. Aarup’s two grandkids enjoyed outing.
Ten couples came out to enjoy excellent weather at this Mississippi riverfront campsite. The park is run by the Army Corp. of Engineers which also operates lock and dam #13 at this location. Most of us visited the locks to watch them process the large amounts of barge traffic going up and down the river. The Dutton’s arrived two days early and Warren waded out to catch some excellent bass which he fried for our Friday Pot luck dinner.
The Dixon’s brought their canoe for some still early morning river trips. President Bob Whitesell and VP Norm White found it more challenging to paddle against some headwinds later in the day. Many people brought their bikes to explore the portion of the Great River Bike trail that went through the park. Nightly campfires were held on the banks of Mississippi. A road scavenger hunt revealed the details of the nearby towns of Thomson and Fulton, IL. Individual member groups visited the Fulton Hertiage Canyon to explore the history of limestone quarrying and the mid-1800’s village. Crossing the river, we encountered the large ADM Clinton, IA facility which processes huge quantities of corn to make sweeteners, ethanol, starch products and a new section that will make the first commercial quantities of a corn based (PHA) biodegradable plastic.