We camped at Steele Creek Campground nestled in the mountains near Morganton, North Carolina. Beautiful location along a winding mountain road with some wonderful views.

Next stop Asheville and Pisgah National Park.

TANGLEWOOD. What a lovely spot in central North Carolina. A county park that includes two championship golf courses (the 1974 PGA was played here), tennis courts (Har Tru courts which are Gordon's favorite), arboretum, horseback riding and steeple chase course, miles of walking trails, aquatic center, bed and breakfast, and a small rv park.

Gordon had to decide if he would play golf or tennis....he chose tennis and was able to join a group tennis session conducted by the local tennis pro. Michele decided to take a long walk through the park and spent time in the arboretum.

In the afternoon we visited "Old Salem", a historic part of Winston-Salem that was founded in the mid 1700's by Moravians who emigrated from Germany where they were in exile. We had a delightful lunch under an outside arbor at the Salem Tavern. We visited several authentic shops that displayed the trades and crafts of the period. Gordon sampled several samples at the Winkler Bakery mmmmmm!

Unfortunately, we forgot to bring our camera on the venture so have no pictures to share.

We spent two days in the Raleigh-Durham area of North Carolina. In addition to enjoying the park where we stayed we visited the Duke University Campus.  Gordon wanted to say hello to Coach K and Michele, the perpetual student, wanted to enroll in a class. Fortunately for us and the University, none of this happened. We did get to see the Duke Chapel.....

From the Nation's Capitol we traveled to the coast at Virginia Beach. What a great location, we relaxed on the beach for a couple of days and worked on our tans (ha).

Headed for North Carolina and the area of Raleigh - Durham.

Since we have been to DC several times, on Saturday we decided to see some of our favorite monuments to start our visit. The weather was gorgeous!

 Lincoln Memorial with newly reopened reflecting pool.

Looking from the Lincoln Memorial toward the Washington Monument and the Capitol. The area around the Washington Monument had been closed after 9/11 and is now open.

           

The following 3 photos are of the Korean War Memorial.....one of our favorites.

The World War II Memorial.....

And, new to us, the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial...

Sunday we spent the day with Michele's brother, David, and his wife Sally who live in Baltimore. We enjoyed a great dinner at a Thai restaurant that Sally recommended.

Monday found us in Alexandria, VA at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, Center for Care at the End of Life.

We had a great time touring the building and joining several of the staff for lunch. We saw a prototype of a tile that will be placed at NHPCO in her honor of Michele's retirement.  Thanks again to the "Minnesota 10" for their gift.

After our visit at NHPCO we stopped at the Pentagon and viewed the 9/11 memorial. There are 184 benches named in honor for each of the persons who lost their life, both on the ground and on the plane.

What a surprise, when we arrived at Cherry Hill Campground in College Park, MD, President Obama greeted and directed us to our campsite. 

We have just traveled through the Eastern part of Ohio, West Virginia, the rolling hills of Pennsylvania and stayed in a heavily wooded campsite in Maryland. More about our adventure at that campsite to follow.

We stayed at this lovely campground in Pennsylvania. If you click on the picture you will see our RV in the lower right side.

This is the wooded campground where we stayed in Maryland.

And, these are some of the acorns that pelted our RV during our stay....quite a "racket." Think large hail. We have not moved from rural to urban settings and look forward to visiting with Michele's brother and his wife and, seeing the staff of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization in Alexandria, VA.

We arrived at our campsite at Springfield, Ohio, on Sunday evening, settled in, and enjoyed this sunset  through the front windshield of our RV.

When we woke today we watched the fog over the lake, as seen in the header picture. It was amazing to watch it form, dissipate, and reform again.  Later in the morning we went exploring in the area.  We visited a unique rock garden in the backyard of a home in Springfield. Ben Hartman created most of the garden between 1932 and 1939 and is maintained today by a local "Friends of the Hartman Rock Garden."

We then traveled to Yellow Springs, the home of Antioch College. We had head about Antioch from our friend Susan who was a graduate of the school. Antioch is being renovated after being closed for a time.

Antioch has a great nature preserve, Glen Helen, where we hiked.

We are now at Comlara County Park, our second campsite in Illinois. We are experiencing on and off thunderstorms, watching the neat clouds come in over the lake. Had planned to go golfing at a small 9 hole course close by but the weather gods had something else planned.  We are taking the rv into the local Ford dealer to check out, hopefully, a minor chassis/suspension issue.  Michele has been working on emails and doing some reading and I have been reading and "spying" on the weather.  The pictures were obviously taken on arrival yesterday which was a gorgeous, sunny day.

Ok, after a short trip to Heller's Ford in El Paso, Illinois ("out in the west texas town of El Paso...."sorry I could not contain myself), we are back at the campground no worse for wear.  Everything ok with the  motorhome.  Rain has stopped for a while so we went golfing at the "Hazy Hills Golf Course", a 9 holer a short distance away....well, Gordon golfed (not well) and Michele walked along doing her best to provide support (no advice).

Gordon has vowed to work on his golf swing this winter.

We are camping at Mill Bluff State Park, Camp Douglas, Wisconsin.  Our plan is to take shorter trips each day, about 150-180 miles, so that we have time to explore and enjoy each new site where we stay.  We have driven by/through the Camp Douglas area in the past and noticed the buffs and hoped to come back tot the area.  And, now we are here!

We climbed the 223 stone steps leading to the top of Mill Bluff, and found a great view of the bluffs that surround the area.  The climb brought us 120 feet above the starting point, which gave us a great view of the area.  The stone steps are below and the picture in the header is taken from the top of the bluff.

We also walked a path around the bluff.......

....and saw some of the rock formations on the lower part of the bluff....

And, a picture of our motorhome nestled amongst the trees....this was a challenging spot to back into.

Tomorrow we are of to the Rockford, Illinois area.