Burlington to Aurora

Today's post is sponsored by the Retired Old Bastard

Hi Folks,

We managed to outwit the Muppet's for a while and drove back to Fort Madison to have a look around the old fort and take some pictures.   If you look closely at the photos, the shaded areas are a mass of May Flies.   They're like a cross between a mosquito and grasshopper.   They were in such plague proportion that the fort was closed to tourists.

We got talking to a fellow who was doing a Doctorate on the Civil War and what the fort was used for.   He told us that Fort Madison was the world headquarters for the he Sheaffer Pen Company and ever since it was closed, there was very little employment and that 60% of the adult population were drug addicts.  

We then headed off towards Chicago and that's when the Muppet's took over again.   Ron's GPS told him to go straight ahead and the signs indicated we should turn right.   You can never believe those signs.   We then lost contact with Tobin's car and they headed off in one direction and we and the other car in another.   They finally caught up with us and we headed off for Coal Valley.

Here we visited Sharon and Roy.   George had met Sharon six years ago when he went to a reunion in Ireland for people from the town of Mohill.   She was a lovey lady who was very hospitable.   She and Roy took us to a local restaurant and shouted us lunch.   GREAT people.

We're in Aurora now and we're off to an Irish Bar for dinner and a couple of drinks.

Regards,

The DMTC