Memphis & Rend Lake, Illinois

On our way from Texas to the International Airstream Rally site in Illinois, we stayed one night at the Red River Army Depot at Texarkana with a view of a lovely lake. Then we proceeded to Memphis, where we camped under a huge shade tree at the Mid-South Naval Support Center for a week. Getting ready for a four months trip had been arduous, and it felt good to just relax and do nothing except engage in a couple of days of touring. We stopped at the visitor’s center, enjoyed tributes to Elvis and Beebe King, and rode the trolley around the city. We got off long enough to visit the historic, exquisite Peabody Hotel. It is where the ducks periodically march down from their penthouse and waddle across the red carpet to the big marble f lobby. Another day, we took the monorail to Mud Island, a park where there is a lengthy carved-out depiction of the Mississippi River with all of the major cities that border her. At various points along the walk there are interesting historical markers. The highpoint of Mud Island is the museum. There are several exhibits dealing with life along the river, the Civil War, and Mark Twain.

From Memphis we drove north to Rend Lake, Illinois, located about 20 miles from where the International Airstream Rally would be held. We stayed there for another relaxing week awaiting our June 20 parking date for the rally. The tranquil Corps of Engineer lake was picturesque, and we again had a large, shady site surrounded by grass and big trees. With ountain in the center of the luxuriousour Golden Age pass, the entire week of camping cost only $56. Each day we took walks along the side of the lake. For shopping and laundry, we traveled to the nearby town of Bennett. It had everything we needed, including a big Wal-Mart Supercenter, premier laundromat, and several antique stores. We visited most of them. On our last night at the lake, there was a severe thunderstorm with lightning that resembled a 4^th of July display. Little did we know that a tornado had set down in the fairgrounds 20 miles away where our pre-rally workers were parked. A few buildings were destroyed, big trees were uprooted, a couple of non-Airstream trailers were rolled, but our people escaped except for minor damage to one trailer and a motorhome. The sun was shining brightly the next morning as we said goodbye to the lake and drove 20 miles west to the Du Quoin Fairgrounds.