Madison to LeRoy

Tony decided to try the public shower at the campground so he could have a long hot shower which you really can't get in an RV.  The showers are in a cement block house and rather depressing.  Tony said he felt like he was in the TV show "Orange is the New Black" which is a show about a women's prison.  Depressing cell block stuff.

We found out a wonderful benefit that Lake Farm Park Campground had.  It was kitty-korner from a dog park.  We took Miko over there and she ran and chased balls and had a wonderful time.  She is a little strange at dog parks.  When she first gets there, she is very well behaved and extremely social with the other dogs.  After about a half hour, she starts to become rather a bully.  She sees another dog in the distance and crouches down to stalk them.  She then rushes them and won't let them alone.  She does not play nice and it ends up with me giving her a time out.  I hate to have that happen but I can't let her bully the other dogs. 

After the dog park, we headed on down the road.  Today was just going to be a travel day.  It got warmer as we went and just about the end of the day, we actually saw sun.  We ended up at Moraine View State Park right outside of Leroy Illinois.  Educational Note:  A moraine is a ridge that was created by glaciers.  We showed up at the registration desk and there were two guys there to check us in.  Really sweet goofy older guys.  They had a big basket of Buckeyes which are also called Horse Chestnuts.

From Wikipedia:
All parts of the buckeye or horse chestnut tree are extremely toxic, including the nut-like seeds.^{[7] [8]} The toxin affects the nervous system, causing paralysis and death. The USDA notes that the toxicity is due to saponin aescin and glyside aesculin, with alkaloids possibly contributing.^[9] Native Americans used to crush the seeds and the resulting mash was thrown into still or sluggish waterbodies to stun or kill fish. ^[10][11] They would then boil and drain (leach) the fish at least three times in order to dilute the toxin's effects. New shoots from the seeds also have been known to kill grazing cattle.

I had never seen these before - they are really beautiful nuts.  Very shiny and dark brown, they just feel good to hold.  These camp hosts told me that the buckeye is considered good luck if you carry it around in your pocket.  I now have a pocketful of them.

We really lucked out in our campsite.  We got a pull thru campsite so we did not have to unhook the car.  It looks over the lake and was peaceful and very soothing.  It was another glorious cocktail hour, watching the sun set over the lake.  Just what I needed and what I was looking for. 

Moraine View State Park Illinois