9 May 2026 - Arrived at Scott Air Force Base FamCamp

 

This morning we departed the Double J Campground in Chatham IL at 1035 hrs and headed down I-55.  About 35 miles south we stopped at Litchfield IL to visit the Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center. The stop worked out as planned using Google Maps satellite view, with a large gravel lot across the street from the museum with easy access. As I mentioned before, we don't make a habit of touring on our travel days due to the logistics of parking the rig. 

The Litchfield Museum and Route 66 Welcome Center was built between 2011 and 2013, and features the collection of Litchfield and Route 66 memorabilia primarily collected by lifelong Litchfield resident and newspaper editor, Mr Dave Jackson.  He passed away before his dream could be realized, but his wife lead the charge to make his dream a reality.

Inside were greeting by friendly staff volunteers.  They gave us a brief history of the museum and the area.  The museum operates strictly on donations. Just a few pictures:

Veteran's Room with memorabilia and information on Litchfield residents that served.

Local resident Ray Schalk, 1955 Hall of Fame baseball player

1930 Ford Model A

The displays went on and on

There were many displays covering the Litchfield School System, the local organizations such as the Elks and many more.  This is definitely worth the stop if you are in the area.  Easy on and off I-55.  We finished up in the museum and after looking over the outside displays we headed across the street to one of the local cafe's, this one with a bakery.

Jubelt's Bakery and Restaurant has been operating here since 1922.  Neither of us were hungry enough for a full lunch, so Doreen picked up a couple crunchy cinnamon muffin's for breakfast tomorrow and a couple snickerdoodle cookies to go.  The place was totally packed with more and more rolling in the door.  We split a cherry turnover with vanilla ice cream.  It was awesome!!  Back in the truck we went and southbound again on I-55 towards our destination. 

In a short time we rolled into the Scott Air Force Base main gate.  The security forces Airmen on duty checked our retired military ID cards and waved us through.  This is our third stay here so we knew exactly where we were headed.  The FamCamp is located on the other side of the runway near the Air National Guard base. 

The 126th Air Refueling Wing had several KC-135 refuelers on the ramp as we drove by.  Moments later we arrived at the FamCamp and our site was occupied,,,, by a tree trimming company!   Apparently a dead tree had partially fallen into one of the campers so they hired a company to come in and remove it.  The tree folks were just wrapping up so they moved their vehicles and we backed in.   

We got all set-up, took a break for a bit, and then headed back to the main part of the base to do a little shopping.  The Exchange had a backdrop for Mother's Day pictures so we got one with Doreen.  

Later we walked around the lake here and through the other part of the campground before calling it a night.  We are just here for three nights and have not developed a plan for tomorrow yet, but as mentioned before, Monday we are having lunch with our friends Howard and Kathi Steffey.