July 20, 2007

We are 3 weeks into our trip now and are having a great time. After leaving Alberta, we visited with Bill and Ula Knelson in southern Saskatchewan. We also visited with Allan's dad's relatives south of Swift Current; they were a delight.

Then we drove down to Peoria, Illinois where we spent a day going through some of the Caterpillar facilities in the area. First we went to the foundery where red hot molten metal is poured into forms that are made of compressed sand, to make Cat engines. Next, we toured the forge building, inwhich hot metal 'billets' are punched into track links - a quick rendition of the old blacksmith shop. Our next stop was the tractor assembly building where we saw Cat crawlers being put together from start to finish, then painted and shipped off to far-off places in the world.

We realized that Peoria was just a couple of hour's drive from Illinois' capital city, Springfield, famous for its Lincoln history. We camped for several nights at the nearby New Salem, where Abraham Lincoln first settled when he moved to Illinois. The historic village, with costumed interpreters, was a wonderful site and we learned a lot about local crops and pioneer lifestyles. In Springfield we toured Lincoln's home, law offices, the old state capital building, Lincoln's tomb, and the fabulous Lincoln museum. What a wonderful place to learn.










We returned to Canada via Sarnia, and toured the oil museum at Oil Springs, Ontario, where the first commercial oil well in the world was put into production in 1858. Ontario's oil history is much different than that of Alberta.

We also enjoyed going through the Uncle Tom's Cabin Museum in Dresdun, Ontario. The kids and I have been reading the novel of Uncle Tom's Cabin as a novel study in our homeschooling, so this was a great experience. Even though the book is a novel, it was based on the life of a real man, Josiah Henson, who escaped slavery via the Underground Railroad.
For the last two days we've been in London, visiting with Heather and Brad Berdan. I think that even I could maybe be tempted to become a gardener if I lived here. The plants are beautiful, and many are in full bloom right now. We'll keep in touch whenever we can.