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| From 10-08 - Rantoul and Farm |
After leaving Lake Delton, we traveled south to Rantoul, Illinois to a city park at the former Chanute Air Force Base. We had enjoyed a previous stay at this park. Unfortunately we were not as pleased on our second stay.
Two things bothered us. The first was the worst experience we had all year with biting insects. We were plagued with tiny biting gnats. Someone called them teeth with wings. They were about the size of a grain of pepper, but gave a really nasty bite. The second problem was an unpleasant encounter with one of the camp hosts.
On the other hand , we had a wonderful visit with our new friends Carol and Jim Chaney. We met them in June at the Newmar Rally. They travel most of the year but return home near Rantoul in the fall to help their son-in-law harvest his corn and soy bean crops. We called Jim and Carol when we arrived to see if we could meet them for dinner. They thrilled us when instead they drove their RV over to the campground and stayed several days to visit with us.
The highlight of our time in Rantoul was a visit to the Chaney's daughter and son-in-law's (Suzi and David) farm.
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| From 10-08 Rantoul and Farm |
I loved visiting two of my Uncle's and my Grandfather's farms as a child. Farming has really advanced since those days. Now the huge tractor's can pull multiple implements to prepare the fields for planting. What took two or three passes through the fields can now be done in one pass.
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| From 10-08 Rantoul and Farm |
Another big change is the computerization and use of GPS technology. Several of David's tractors and the combine are set up for self steering. By use of GPS technology, the tractors can be set to street automatically in a straight line and sound a signal when approaching the end of the row so the driver can take over to make the turn. The combine is also set up to interface to a laptop PC to keep track of harvest yields and other data as they work through the fields. It was quite amazing to see. Monique especially enjoyed being able to sit in the cab and work some of the levers - under David's supervision.
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| From 10-08 Rantoul and Farm |
We also enjoyed meeting the Chaney's other Daughter Diana and her children Nicole and Noah whom she is home-schooling. That is something we really have an appreciation for since Monique home-schooled our son Ward for several years.
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| From 10-08 Rantoul and Farm |
While in Rantoul, Monique visited two eye specialist due to some issues she was experiencing with her vision. They ended up recommending some additional tests including a visit to a cardiologist. That caused us to change our travel plans and to go to SC to see our home town doctors. Thankfully no serious problems were found. The eye issues are something Monique will just have to live with and have monitored periodically.
