Author: Julia

I am a retired software solutions architect. I have been married to my husband, Bruce, for over forty years. We went full-time RVing for 3.5 years and saw much of the United States. After deciding to stop RVing, we bought a ranch house halfway up a hill on five acres. After Bruce and I talked about names for our five acres, we settled on Blackberry Homestead as a homage to the wild blackberries on the hill. We are working on creating our homestead. I love cooking and enjoy sharing recipes. I am also an artist, and I’ll share my current projects. Gardening and reading are my favorite hobbies.

Visiting Tampico, Illinois the Birthplace of President Ronald Reagan – Part 1

July 26, 2023 On July 15 (Saturday), after breakfast, we rode the motorcycle to Tampico, Illinois, the birthplace of President Ronald Reagan. Tampico is a small village that is very proud of its native son. They have an excellent museum dedicated to Ronald Reagan. We parked the motorcycle outside the museum and birthplace of President […]

Thunderstorm Pictures

July 25, 2023 On July 17th (Monday), there was a lovely sunset through the trees. The storm had already started rolling in. You can see the clouds in the picture below. A short time later storm clouds rolled in. A low constant boom or growl started up as lightning strikes went from clouds to clouds. […]

Nox Discovered a New Love

July 24, 2023 While we stayed at Hickory Grove Campground and RV Park, Nox discovered a new love. Our new friends Jerry and Connie took us around the campground in their golf cart. Nox came with us and had a blast. This was the first time she rode in a golf cart. we had multiple […]

Lock 22 of the Hennepin Canal Parkway

July 23, 2023 On July 17, 2023 (Monday), we rode to the Wagon Wheel Restaurant in Mineral, Illinois. Mineral is a small town and didn’t seem to have a lot of businesses there. The food was bar food and I had a good hamburger. Bruce wanted fried chicken, but the kitchen was so backed up, […]

Buffalo Rock State Park in Illinois and Dinner

July 20, 2023 After our stop at the US Army Corp of Engineers Rock Island Visitor Center, we headed on to the Buffalo Rock State Park. It wasn’t crowded like the other two state parks. There was a birthday party going on in the pavilion, so I didn’t take any pictures of it. We were […]

US Army Corp of Engineers Rock Island District Visitor Center

July 19, 2023 After our visit to the Matthiessen Waterfall, we decided to visit Buffalo Rock State Park. On the road to Buffalo Rock State Park, I noticed the US Army Corp of Engineers had a visitor center for the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. We pulled into the parking lot and got out of […]

Starved Rock State Park in Illinois

July 18, 2023 After seeing the beautiful sunflower field at Matthiessen State Park, we decided to try Starved Rock State Park along the Illinois River. While this park was also packed, we were able to find a spot to park in the visitor center parking lot on the far edge near the Illinois River. Nox […]

Matthiessen State Park in Illinois

July 18, 2023 We decided to go see the waterfall at Matthiessen State Park on July 8 (Saturday). It turns out that going to the state park on a Saturday was not our best idea. The parking by the visitor center was full. There was a significant walk from parking in a field to the […]

Sights in Hickory Grove RV Park at Sheffield, Illinois

July 16, 2023 We try to get a walk in every day. On July 7 (Friday), we took a walk around the RV park. First, we walked Nox. She walked over to see the farmer’s dog next door. She decided the farmer’s dog was too big for her to play with and proceeded to ignore […]

Visiting the Small Town of Walnut, Illinois

July 16, 2023 On July 5 (Wednesday), we rode the motorcycle to the small town of Walnut and had lunch at the Walnut Cafe. The Walnut Cafe is an old fashioned diner, with booths and a counter. All the locals knew each other and were visiting and catching up with each other. We walked around […]