Five Story Tall Caterpillar

East Peoria, Illinois
Mill Point RV Park

Yesterday we drove from Amana to Peoria in perfect weather.  

We immediately both liked the RV park.  It's situated around some huge trees, but we still have a satellite signal.  The park is located along the Illinois River. Originally, we planned to stay two nights, but we decided to extend our stay until Saturday.

Here's the number one reason Bill likes the park. Bill asked the owner if he could wash his truck and he told him no problem.  The truck hasn't been touched since we crossed back into the USA. I didn't even have the satellite locked in before he started cleaning it.

We found out that other Escapee friends that worked at the park in Heiskell are here.  We spent some time with them during a tornado in Tennessee.  It's a small world.

Today after Bill waxed the truck, he drove into Peoria so I could see the Caterpillar Visitor Center.  We're a little confused because there was a Riverfront Museum next to the Caterpillar Visitor Center and a Caterpillar Museum.  

On the way to the Caterpillar Visitor Center we passed this Holocaust Memorial.  These 18 glass columns are filled with six million different kinds of buttons.

"The visual image selected a simple button.  Each button is unique, like each person.  Buttons hold things together, an analogy to holding together families, communities and societies.  Buttons were part of clothes left at the gates of the concentration camps, ghettos, and slave camps. Buttons are round and symbolize the cycle of life."

This part of the city is very pretty.  There were statues on every street.  Not my kind of art, but I'm sure many people enjoy them.

Inside the Visitor's Center there was a video that was shown inside this 797 mining truck.  Can you imagine 4,000 horsepower, 1,375,000 pounds, 25 feet 4 inches high by 49 feet 6 inches long by 32 feet wide.  That's a lot of truck.  The seats vibrated as the video played.  We actually saw these during an Escapade in Gillette Wyoming at a coal mine tour we took a few years ago.

  

This was created for the 60th anniversary.  It is made of silver, pewter, and brass with gold accents.  The cost of this was $6,000 and only 500 were made.  

I don't think this nut and bolt one would cost $6,000 to make.

I had no idea that Caterpillar made anything besides tractors.  Here's part of a propeller for a huge ship. They also are in the railroad industry, oil and mining, power, and agriculture.  

This 797 Caterpillar makes me look small in front of it.

Some of the antique equipment from the Veerkamp Family California collection.

I believe this was a 1919 Best 60 Tracklayer.

1929 Caterpillar Expo Fifteen.

There were many interactive exhibits, but we needed the grandkids with us, to show us how to use it. 

Bill put more dirt in his hole but I don't think there is a career for either of us in equipment operation.

I suppose you knew that Caterpillar is into Nascar.





It was a fun day and I want to thank Ron Ames and Ron Lichtenberg for suggesting that we visit it.  

Turtle Safely........