Casey, Illinois

We've been at the Casey (CAY zee), Illinois KOA since Friday afternoon.   We stopped here last fall, on our way west and remembered it as a small, green, quiet campground with all the necessary services and not too far from the interstate for ease of continued travel.   It is surrounded by enormous farm fields of corn or soybeans.

site 4

It's still that.....but this weekend it is bulging at the seams.   Kids, bicycles, dogs, tents, campfires, corn hole games, flags, heat and humidity, bugs.     Everyone is having a ball and, surprisingly, we're not having such a bad time.   Just a different time than everyone else.   

People must think us odd.   I guess we are, but that's how we roll.    We have no flags flying, no chairs outside around the campfire, no fishing poles leaning on the tree, no bright table cloth on the picnic table, no barking dog tied outside, no pool towels hanging from the awning.   No awning out for that matter!

We're enjoying a respite from driving miles on the interstate each day.   We're enjoying our heavenly air conditioning, our pretty lake view (no one has put a tent or trailer there. much to our surprise and joy).    We're enjoying making and eating a few good dinners instead of just warming things in the microwave.  We're enjoying watching the Indianapolis 500 on television and we're enjoying not itching from the mosquito population just outside Beluga's door.

Lewis enjoys his spot directly under an air conditioning vent.

Yesterday we drove into Casey's downtown looking for the town's claim to fame.....8 Guiness Book of World Records certified, fully functional,World's Largest Things.

I don't think we actually saw all 8 but we saw enough to satisfy me.    Casey is a small town (less than 3000 people) that had fallen on hard times, as many small mid America towns have.   One of it's residents decided to design and build something to encourage people to stop for a bit on their way past on I-70.  He felt that if people stop to look at the "world's largest......" maybe they'd buy gas, ice cream, lunch, and perhaps even stay overnight.    He began creating.    Each one is placed next to or in front of, a local business.

World's Largest Mailbox
 (with an official USPS mail slot inside, a door that opens and closes and
a flag that goes up)

this colorful birdie keeps a clean cage!

World's Largest Golf Tee sits on the town's golf course.
There are plans to put a giant golf ball on top......

World's Largest pitchfork beside a restaurant inside a beautiful old barn

World's Largest Windchimes

giant replica of the builder's Grandmother's Rocker

We did see the World's Largest knitting needles and crochet hook through the window of the town's Yarn Shoppe, but didn't go inside to photograph them.   We also noticed the fabric actually produced by those giant implements lying next to them.    All these things must be actually usable, the rocker must rock, the knitting needles must knit, the wind chime must make noise, etc.

The town is exceptionally neat and clean, Disney-esque almost.   Each attraction is set upon beautiful and perfect landscaping.   Dave even noticed that the decorative rocks and stones had been lacquered.     Another thing we noticed everywhere were religious symbols and/or bible verses, especially evident on the World's Largest things.      Hmmmm.

We leave here in the morning, refreshed and ready for the final leg of our trip.