Took a trip down through the State following the course of the Illinois River. Not such a good idea as I discovered when I arrived at Starved Rock State Park, to experience the wonderful canyons and waterfalls, to find the Visitor Center under water and the gates to the park firmly shut.

In fact the whole River valley is suffering from one of the wettest springs on record, leaving many homes inundated and several roads underwater.

Very interesting to see but not an experience you would want to live through.

Headed onto the stare capital Springfield. Passed through Petersburg, where Abraham Lincoln lived for a while when he was a surveyor for the new settlement. Strange to think that when he was here this was frontier country, right on the edge of the United States.