Bear With Us: July 4,5,6 & 7 Joiliet, Illinois

The Bear's Assignment

The Bear always seemed to be in the way, on the bed, 0n the sofa. He is called a Jingle Bear. Some long past and nearly forgotten Christmas morning he showed up under the plastic wonderment we called a Christmas tree. Round and fluffy white, with two small friends from the same realm. The friends have somehow dissapeared over the years but the big one had a real tenacity. He was just too round and cute to be discarded. What use is this bear? He always seemed to be sitting on the sofa or laying on the bed in the very spot one would want.

The Bear is going to earn his keep. His owners are going to employ him as their tour guide on their greatest adventure. An RV trip accross the country from Ventura, California, to New York City and back with many stops along the way. The Bear is going to help them meet many new people and explore many new places.

Many have said the journey is long and difficult, "Why don't you just fly?" Hopefully as you follow us on this blog you will get a better understanding of how much one misses as one soars a mile above the Earth to a destination. We aspire to make a journey not a trip. The Bear is our tour guide to make "every day an adventure" .

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

July 4,5,6 & 7 Joiliet, Illinois

We are camped at the Oasis RV Park at the Empress Casino on the Des Plains River. This is the only RV park we were able to get into for these days. This park caters to those who come to gamble in the casino and there are no brochures in the office on local points of interest. There is no Internet service of any kind. We check out the hotel to see if Internet connections are available there, but no. We do get a Joliet area map which will be helpful. We find a few places to visit. We also need to do laundry and find a laundromat.

The Casino on the River. The walls inside resemble Egyptian temples & tombs, some in relief.

Hey! there's a White Castle burger place! We have to stop there for lunch. We have been wanting to eat at a White Castle and now's the chance. Out impression: so-so, but interesting.

Another place we have been looking for, and Aldi grocery store. We stopped here for some supplies. Very nicely laid out and very low prices. On our way out the toddler in the cart in front of us reaches out for Dan and squeals as if he knew Dan as we pass by.