road trip

about two weeks ago, i looked at dad and said, "you wanna go to grand tower?" and in an instant his face lite up and excitement bubbled over! grand tower is a small town in southern illinois where my dad lived until he was about ten.

he was like a little kid. so happy, so eager to see his family.

so early thursday morning, jack, dad and i loaded up the car and ventured south down the great river road through southern illinois.



had to re-buckle his carseat several times!



anyone who is familiar with this part of the country understands that it consists of lots of flat land, great views of the mississippi river, and lots of corn fields.

but it is so beautiful this time of year. and that day was surprisingly warm for october. we had the windows down, wind blowing through our hair and country music in the background.

we visited with my dad's cousin, brenda, in grand tower.

talked about the cardinals, the river, grand kids, and family!

we drove around grand tower for a while.

we visited my grandparent's grave. it was good. dad got to see it with grandma's name added to the marker. he ventured around and started telling stories about other family members buried there. for an only child, he sure has a lot of family members... 

there is really not much there...one bbq restaurant, an elementary school, a few churches, and tower rock.


gotta love my arm in the picture!
my camera battery died, so i picked up a disposable camera to document the adventure.



we had our only "discussion" during the ride from grand tower to murphysboro to see his other cousins, judy and lamoine, he wanted to go one way and i thought we needed to go another...

imagine a picture, right here...dad and his cousins standing in their living room...and it would be right here if it didn't get taken on a disposable camera with a broken flash...

after pictures, hugs, and another long talk about william. we climbed back in the car, and headed north...homeward bound!



i had to stop and get out to take this picture.
it was so beautiful. the barn and all of the changing colors.



i've never been so happy to see the jb bridge!

all in all, it was a good day. a long day. but, a good day.