Paradise Resort, Garden Prairie, IL
After poorly navigating the Illinois toll system, (okay maybe it is just us and not our lack of French) we finally arrived at Gary and Dru's, my brother and sister-in-law's, camper. As expected, I hardly slept a wink last night in anticipation of seeing my big bro. Yep, it sure felt great to get a great big bear hug from Mr. G.
We had an awesome time drinking some brewskis and breaking out the bottle of George Dickel No. 12, sitting on the front deck and getting caught up. Gary had fired up his smoker and grill, and what a treat it was. He was babying a brisket in the smoker and keeping a close eye on the slow cookin' ribs on the grill. Dru and Gary spoiled us with a Midwest feast, including potato salad, broccoli salad, beans and watermelon. Delicious!!
Their camper is located in a seasonal RV park, Paradise Resort, that is situated on the Kishwaukee River. I enjoyed the walk-about with Dru and the spin on our bikes with Ned. This little piece of paradise is so relaxing and feels like a bygone era. A tractor was pulling kids in a hayride wagon, youngsters were splashing about in the small lake, and a couple of games of bean toss were happening. However, the highlight of the evening was definitely the Moose races.
At the community hall just about everyone in the campground turned out for the big event of the night, Moose racing! Six wooden Moose, about 10" high, painted different colors, and each given their own unique number are lined up at the end of 4 folding tables. Everyone places a bet (turning in cash for funny money) on which moose will win. Someone rolls the dice, someone calls out the number and whatever number comes up, that moose advances. It takes about 20 min. for each race. It was a hoot watching everyone jumping around and screaming for their moose. I had a streak of beginner's luck and won the first 4 races!!! The best part was not winning, but seeing the annoyed and exasperated look on my brother's face. Just like old times, Gary's little sister provoking and annoying him. It didn't hep when Dru and I won a race together too! Fortunately, by the end of the evening each one of us had won at least one race. Looks like breakfast is on me tomorrow!
