RV Road Trip. Ohio to CA. Travel Day 2.

Everyone seemed to sleep pretty well in Rockford. We got up early, dumped the tanks and got the RV packed up and ready to go.

Flexing our stop last night from Elkhart to the middle of Illinois was a great idea. We saved about 2-3 hours of drive time today and made it to Field of Dreams early, with plenty of time to just hang out, play catch, walk in the corn field and relax.

Lukas pretends he's Moonlight Graham

 The site was exactly what you'd expect from a baseball field in Iowa. It was about 10 minutes off the main highway, which meant 10 minutes through corn fields, and around the bend you saw the light poles. Down a dirt road to a dirt parking lot and you're in front of Ray Kinsella's farm house. There was only one other family there when we arrived, and they were out in right field taking pictures, so we had the whole infield to ourselves. The field looks exactly like the movie -- the small basic backstop, the bleachers on the 1st base line, everything. So we played catch for a while, took a few grounders, then walked out to the corn to see if we could find Shoeless Joe.

Everything about the field was low key. No one there telling you not to throw this way, it was just a field to play on.

Ellie feeding a baby calf.

We then made the 90 minute drive west to Hudson, Iowa to visit Hansen's Family Farm. It's a working dairy farm that we found through Harvest Host.

***Side note. Harvest Host is a website that connects you to places that you can stay for the night for free. It's basic, no hook ups of anything, but in exchange for visiting, taking their tour or buying something from their store, you get a place like this for free for the night. This was our first Harvest Host location. We have one more scheduled, and I'm already a fan.***

Lukas feeding a kangaroo.

We took the farm tour and learned fun facts, like a cow drinks 80 gallons of water a day and produces 5 gallons of milk every time it is milked. We got to feed a calf from a bottle, milk the cow, visit the goats and meet and feed kangaroos. Why kangaroos on a dairy farm in Iowa? One of the owners toured Australia in the early 2000s and fell in love with the kangaroos. So he brought a few back and breeds and raises them. We then got to make our own butter and have some of the homemade ice cream.

Then there was Piper, a black lab who lived on the farm, but came to greet us as we arrived and Lukas and Piper became best buds. Piper hungout with us the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Late in the afternoon Lukas tried to catch fish with his hands. There were SO many fish within a couple feet of the dock as he and Ellie fed the fish with the fish food that the owner of the farm provided.

Swimming as the sun goes down.

Just as the sun was going down some of the kids who work on the farm came by and went swimming in the pond. Lukas watched them for a bit, then put his bathing suit on and went swimming.

A few things, yep, still corn as far as the eye can see. We passed through a town in Illinois called Elizabeth, that in addition to having a catchy name was painted right out of a Norman Rockwell rendering. Brick buildings, all the graduating seniors from the high school had their graduation pictures hanging from the light posts that lined the street, it was pretty fun to drive through.

Petting a kangaroo.

Ellie milking a cow.

Lukas milking the cow.