Spoon River Scenic Drive 41/11 weeks

Just in from the cross country trip, we still made it to the beloved scenic drive.
L to R top to bottom; Hillary, Mark, Dane, Tyler, Me, Jordan and our new daughter Nicole.

Spoon  River scenic drive is a yearly celebration that happens 2 weekends in October in the spoon river valley. People come together in droves to commemorate the beauty of the fall colors as well as the local harvest. It is also a time to celebrate local crafters and artists as they show off the works that they have been collecting all year in order to sell at this popular event.

Crowd shot of one of the stops in Knoxville Illinois.

We were excited that the marriage of our son fell close to one of these weekends. In fact, we drove across the united states and arrived in Illinois in the wee hours of the very last day of the last weekend of the scenic drive and still managed to get up early and head out into the sunlight.

I know other folks dont go just for the old fashioned kettle corn but it is always an attraction.

And this is how Illinois kids play in the fall...

...until some old grump comes along and tells them to knock it off!

The crew heading back to the car.

 We were so happy to be back in the midwest for a visit. A wedding is such a great time to get together because family comes from all over and we are adding to our numbers by including not just Nicole but all of her wonderful family members as well. Once the festivities of the wedding were over we had to head back out to the road and the relative quiet of Canada.

Our gorgeous new daughter in law...fitting right in.