Illinois 2020

Canton & Moline, Illinois

Thursday, February 27 through Sunday, March 1

We drove from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Canton, Illinois and Moline, Illinois, including an overnight stop at Joplin, Missouri. The unpleasant primary purpose of the trip was to attend my mother's burial at White Chapel Memory Gardens in Canton, Illinois. We also visited (drove by) several points of interest in both Canton and Moline (including former residences and schools in both cities).

I tracked the trip with a Bad Elf GPS Pro+ GPSr (GPS receiver). The end point and beginning point are different, since I neglected to stop the recording of the last day at the starting point.

NOTE: the downloadable GPX tracks are the full GPX files, while those shown on the provided "view map" links are simplified (with minimal effect on geographic accuracy) for much faster viewing.

Original GPX tracks are unedited, except as noted.

Businesses are named below for reference only. No endorsement should be inferred. If you wish to see my opinion of the places mentioned, see TripAdvisor (for those that I have actually rated).

Overview

Overview map—This is a composite map of all the GPS tracks on a blank US/Canada map.
All GPS tracks / view map—The whole trip, including walking, driving, etc.

Thursday, February 27

GPX / view map—Driving from Norman/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Joplin, Missouri. We left west Norman in the late afternoon, picked up another passenger in west Oklahoma City, stopped in north Oklahoma City for dinner, then continued to Joplin, arriving late in the evening.

Friday, February 28

GPX / view map—Driving from Joplin, Missouri to Canton, Illinois. We stopped in Collinsville, Illinois for lunch. We also encountered a herd of deer on the road at approximately 40.4436,-90.0306, about 13 km south of Canton, Illinois. Fortunately, the car was able to slow sufficiently to avoid hitting any of them, but it was a close call.
GPX / view map—Driving to/from dinner in Canton. After dinner we drove past my former home on east Locust Street, only to find a now-vacant lot there.

Saturday, February 29

GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel to the funeral home in Canton, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Driving from the funeral home to the cemetery in Canton, Illinois.
GPX / view map—Walking to the gravesite, then back to the car, and driving back to the funeral home, all in Canton, Illinois. The cemetery is White Chapel Memory Gardens. The apparent location where I sat during the graveside service was 40.54819,-90.00217.
GPX / view map—Driving from the funeral home back to the hotel.
GPX / view map—Driving from the hotel in Canton, Illinois to various sites in Canton, then to the Quad Cities, Illinois/Iowa to visit more sites. Included: (Canton) Dad's original home on north Ave D, our home from 1961 to 1984 (I moved out in 1980) on east Locust St, the Junior High School, Canton Lake (although the road along the lakeshore was closed for the season), our home from 1958 to 1961 (I was born in 1959) on east Maple St, Monical's Pizza (former employer), Big Creek Park (road through park also closed for the season!), (Moline) our home from 1984 to 1988 (I moved away in late 1984, and returned in late 1986) at 34th St & 47th Ave A, our next home (until 1996, although I only lived there until 1989) near 30th Ave & 15th St A, (Rock Island) Augustana College, and (Davenport) lunch.
GPX / view map—Driving from our lunch stop to the mall for ice cream.
GPX / view map—Walking at North Park Mall in Davenport. Despite being inside, the GPX track is moderately accurate.
GPX / view map—Driving from Davenport, Iowa back to the hotel in Canton, Illinois.

Sunday, March 1

GPX / view map—Driving from Canton, Illinois to Norman, Oklahoma via Oklahoma City. We stopped in Osage Beach, Missouri for lunch, and Bristow, Oklahoma for dinner. The total travel time from hotel to home was around 14 hours, including stops.