On to Savanna, IL

Okay, I have been fighting a cold/sore throat since Monday. Even put a damper on my Birthday today.  The cool cloudy/raining weather isn't helping either.  Regardless, we have had fun in Savanna, IL and Mt. Carroll, WI.  Savanna is birthplace of THE Mr. Robert Schaut and Mt. Carroll is his childhood home.

We docked at the Savanna Municipal Marina.  Great guys ready to help with anything.  Walked through the parking lot & met Bert & Mary Shaw, lifelong residents of Savanna.  Well, they were better than "the welcome wagon".  They gave us a ride in their truck to show us around town & to the Chevy dealer where we got lined up to rent a car for the next day.  We rented the car so we could drive the 10 miles to Mt. Carroll and check out the town where Bob lived until he was 12.

Bob's childhood home in Mt. Carroll

The house has been replaced but the garage remains from when Bob's Grandpa & Grandma lived here.

The Mt. Carroll school.  Elementary on the left, junior high in the middle & the high school on the right.  Definitely hasn't been used for anything in many years.  So sad.

The swimming pool is exactly the same as Bob remembers and is still in business.

Point Rock Park near Bob's old house and where he would go on daily adventures.  There is a "crick" running through for added fun.  Reminds me of myself age 8 & the times I would put a peanut butter sandwich and a jar of milk in a brown paper bag & walk a mile east of my house to adventure on Four Mile Crick about a mile east of Ankeny. Little did we know back then, that we were in training for the adventure we are on now.

Bob's Maternal Grandparents Headstone in the Mt. Carroll Cemetary

Bob's Paternal Grandparents Headstone in the Mt. Carroll Cemetary

Check this out!

This guy, Jim, grew up down the street & around the corner from Bob.  Jim's younger brother, Bob was in Bob's class. My Bob remembers Jim setting up spooky stuff in his basement way back when he was a little kid.  I say "little" kid because he's still a kid, but not as little.  We talked to Jim, yesterday.  What a neat creative guy. 

http://www.hauntedravensgrin.com/RGI/index.html

Okay the photo below is from the Mt. Carroll Cemetary.  There was this old vault that we had to check out.

The scariest thing about it, were the 4" Wolf spiders lurking just above & inside the door.  YIKES!  No photo of the spiders because I couldn't bring myself to stand in there long enough to snap the pic.

Mt. Carroll has at least 33 houses with signs posted giving history of the house around town.  These are huge beautifully maintained old houses.  The signs giving info are very interesting. 

 Click on the photo below to read about the above house.  So cool that they have taken the time to research each house & then to put up all these signs for visitors to enjoy.