left Effingham about 9 am and headed up the road thru the mostly flat southern farmland of Illinois .. we had  drizzling rain on and off until we approached the Wisconsin State line around 1:30 pm when it finally let up and the clouds lifted a bit ..  still had overcast skies and with the approaching weather front the temperatures are predicted to stay in the mid-50's with periods of rain for the next seven days ...

.. after navigating the road construction (and millions of semi-trailers) between Rockford, IL and Beloit, WI we finally got off I-39 and arrived in Jefferson at 2 pm ..  after picking up Carol's sister at her home we had dinner at the Riverfront Cafe and then afterward enjoyed the indoor pool and whirlpool at the motel where we are staying in Jefferson ...

on Sunday morning we said goodbye to Maggie at her home in Jefferson about 10:30 and then pointed the car West on I-94 for our trip to Barron, WI  to visit Jewel, Bob, Marcus and Fran - and Frieda too! (a 60 lb. yellow lab)  .. as we drove thru the countryside north of Eau Claire on Hwy 53 we could see the red and orange colors of the changing leaves on the trees covering the rolling hillsides .. if it had been sunny instead of the cloudy dreary day the fall scenery would have been spectacular for our drive north ... oh well, maybe later this week we will get some sun ...

we arrived at Bob and Jewel's place and after a relaxing afternoon visiting with Marv's family we had dinner at home in front of their fireplace .. 

the next morning we accompanied Marcus and Fran to school and visited their playground and classrooms ... later we picked up Fran after her kindergarten class let out and saw Marcus at lunch where he showed us the tooth he had lost in class that morning .. his teacher had carefully sealed it in an envelope for the tooth fairy!

we spent a quiet afternoon and then watched as Marcus and Fran enjoyed some time at the playground with their friends before heading back home for dinner and the Packers vs Vikings game on Monday Night Football ... unfortunately the Pack lost but we all thought it was a good game!

we were able to find some time to take a drive into the countryside around Eau Claire to visit a few of the apple orchards ... they were very busy packing up apples for the local grocers and trying to get the last of the apple crop off trees before the cold weather arrives this weekend ... although the apples can handle temperatures s in the 30's the latest forecasts are for lows around 24 degrees .... Brrrrrrr!  ... we picked up a bag of juicy sweet Honey Crisp and Golden Harvest apples ... we also found some Hedge Balls AKA Osage Oranges ... these odd looking green knobby fruits are not edible but are great for repelling crawling insects - especially Spiders ...

after spending a few minutes in the pumpkin patch and at the petting farm Gramps and Carol headed for the barn where we each ordered for 2 cups hot apple cider while the kids caught the 2:30 hayride ... just about the time we thought our feet would fall off from the cold we spied the wood burning pot-bellied stove in the corner where we spent the rest of our time unthawing until the kids returned - they decided they had enough of the cold weather also so we all piled into the warm truck and headed home ...

Dan and Debbie drove up from Eau Claire with Mom (Peg) and Bob fired up the grill for a great dinner of Wisconsin bratwurst and his famous marinated grilled chicken ... after dinner we said so long to Fran, Marcus, Bob and Jewel and drove back to Eau Claire (along with an occasional snow flurry in the headlight beams!)

After scrapping the frost from the windshield (while Autumn enjoyed half an English muffin in the front seat) we left Eau Claire at 7:30 am and headed SOUTH ... enjoyed the sunny but cool drive and arrived in downtown St. Louis before 4 pm ... met Tom (Carol's stepson) at the new restaurant he manages and which just opened this summer at the recently completed Citygarden ...

"Citygarden, a project of the City of St. Louis funded by the Gateway Foundation, has carved out three acres in the heart of downtown St. Louis and transformed them into an exhilarating urban oasis featuring modern and contemporary sculptures, lush landscape, reflecting pools, a cafe, and a playful spray plaza. You won't find walls or fences, admission fees or do not touch signs, because at Citygarden you are always free.  Free to explore, free to play, free to feel inspired."  www.Citygardenstl.org

The Terrace View cafe matches locally grown, organic Midwestern ingredients with Mediterranean flavors. The floor to ceiling windows and sliding doors that open to the patio dining area enable cafe patrons to enjoy the panoramic view of the park while dining. The centerpiece of the restaurant is the brightly colored, oversized polyester and fiberglass sculpture titled Adam and Eve by Niki de Saint Phalle.  They are open for lunch, cocktails and dinner and serve a light organic breakfast (for menus and additional info, visit Citygardenstl.org

after meeting up with Molly, who drove over from Kansas City, we ended the evening at Chef Hubert Keller's Burger Bar in the the Lumiere Place Casino and Hotel ... we enjoyed a variety of burgers and finished off with sharing a "sweet burger" filled with vanilla mousse and raspberry ganache in between a warm donut "bun" ...

... rain again this morning ... hopefully it will end by the time we reach the FL/GA line ... about 20 miles north of Chattanooga the traffic came to an abrupt halt on I-24 ... turns out a semi-trailer truck jack-knifed on the freeway ... one hour later after the clean-up we were back on our way ...

... after a couple of stops - again at the Magnolia Plantation for more pecans (to replace the ones we ate or gave away) we decided to call it a day at Valdosta, GA ... overheard at the rest stop by a driver from Indiana "it may be wet but it's a whole lot warmer" ...

... overcast but not as rainy this morning ... just a couple of brief cloud bursts around Gainesville and Tampa ... pulled off I-75 onto Tucker's Grade about 1 pm ... after quick stop at the post office to pick up the mail we were all glad to see Dee Light at the dock at Legacy Marina ... after 3995 miles!