donna-sue and martin's amazing adventure (aka: ds & m see America)

After leaving my heron friend, Bun Bun and Larry, Darryl and Darryl at the Green River Reservoir we made our way to Cole Creek Campground on the Carlyle Reservoir in Illinois, just a hop, skip and a jump (across a rather well known river) from St Louis, Missouri. We did make a stop on the way there to pay homage to a person whom I deeply respect. A person who led our country in making courageous choices during deeply divisive times. A person who suffered and gave the ultimate gift, his life, to our country in support of the belief that we should be one country and all men, no matter the color of their skin, should be treated equally. I am, of course, speaking about Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of these United States of America.  But that wasn't all we did, oh no. Once settled at Lake Carlyle we also visited the Mounds of Cohokia.  What are the Mounds of Cohokia you ask?  (Don't feel badly, I thought the same thing.) The mounds were built by a prehistoric Indian civilization

This episode of the adventure would see a closing of a story we had been following for several stops. We left WV heading in the west, south-westerly direction driving through the rest of WV into Kentucky, through the mountains, on into the rolling landscape and then the famed Kentucky  horse farms with its abundant bluegrass in the Lexington area and … kept driving.  Eventually we reached a spot that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere with a sign Pike's  Ridge Campground (which was on the Green River reservoir) 20 miles. What? 20 more miles into where? We turned off the "main" road (at least it had a number) onto a significantly less populated road (we'd given up lines marking lanes several turns prior to that).  It's hot, I'm tired and cranky, we've been driving all day and I can't imagine what kind of place this is going to be, but I'm pretty sure it's not one I'd really like to be at if I had my druthers.  Now I know thi