Driving through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois

 
Friday, Aug. 3, 2018

I don't know why I'm even writing a blog today-- all I needed was a title! This is all we did. Drive through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. All day. For a long time. For 524 miles. It was a LOT of driving.

We got back on the road a little later this than I'd hoped-- 10:20 a.m. We woke up a little later than usual, and had to dump our waste tanks and fill the fresh water tank, which added to the time before we could actually leave. We also topped off the gas tank, which was not quite half empty, because we didn't want to have to stop too soon for that. And then we just drove.

One thing we noticed was  how many triple-trailer trucks there were on I-80. I hadn't noticed them so much yesterday, but we saw about one truck every 2 minutes which was at least a double, if not a triple. I am thinking it's because of how many people shop on line now-- these trucks are moving stuff all over the country a lot more. Most of them were UPS and FedEx trucks. It used to be very rare to see even a double trailer, but today the triples were out in force. When I decided to photograph one for a Facebook post, it was less than a minute that one came by so I could take this photo.

Our planned big stop was in Elkhart, IN. We needed groceries, and by then we were going to be needing gas too. So what with stopping for a very quick lunch--only 30 minutes, it was still almost 3:30 when we got to Elkhart. We went to Martin's, a very nice grocery store we'd shopped at back in May when we went to the RV rally in Elkhart. Then we had to track down some gasoline, shocked by the difference in price over Ohio. It was a full 22-cents/gallon more in Indiana ($2.77 vs. 2.99.)  Anyway, that took us 90 minutes. Luckily, we got 60 of those minutes back about an hour later when we crossed into the Central Time Zone.

We were very happy that Google Maps routed us around some of the customary traffic tie-ups in the Gary, Indiana area south of Chicago. Supposedly the route we took saved us about 30 minutes. We did have one 20-30 minute back up just over the state line in Illinois, but it was the only really bad spot (it was way better than the traffic we hit back in May on our way to Wisconsin.) After that, more driving.

As soon as the traffic stopped being so bad, we started thinking about where we could spend tonight. It was obvious we would not make it to Dubuque, Iowa (where I have some fun planned for tomorrow morning). So I decided we should stop in Davenport Iowa, down the river about 1 hour's drive from Dubuque. This required a lot of searching through apps, books, maps, and even last year's travel log (I keep a written travel log with each night's stop). We did have some issues-- the Cracker Barrel and one of the Walmarts in Davenport (both potential free sleep-over sites) were listed on our "RV Parky" app as not allowing overnight parking. We found another Walmart that was supposed to be ok. We called the campground we stayed at last year, just on the Mississippi River on the Iowa side, but were told it was full this weekend. RV Parky showed me a Corps of Engineer campground on the Illinois side of the river, and so I pulled out my new book of Corps campgrounds and we called them. The lady said she had just 2 sites available, but we were almost 2 hours away, so we knew we were pushing it to hope they'd still be there for us when we arrived. So finally, that was our choice-- the Corps campground or Walmart.

I should add here, we have a new thing this year making our lives SOOOO much easier! Joe got us a new phone contract from Google called Project Fi. We had to buy a Google phone to go with it (we got it used on Ebay), but it now acts as a wifi hotspot which will, over the course of the month's travel, cost a lot less than using our AT&T phones as a wifi hotspot, which we did last year. So we have it turned on all the time, and our AT&T phones connect to it and use it to access the internet, and my laptop does the same (right now, I'm typing on that.) Which means we have wifi access all day, even while traveling, and it does come in very handy. Joe is having fun taking photos of our night stops on his phone, and he sent me this map-- the blue dot is us!

So anyway, it was just about 8:30 when we got to Fisherman's Corner, the Corps of Engineers campground just north of Hampton, IL. It is RIGHT on the Mississippi, about 4-5 miles north (and across the river) from the campground we used last June on our way to Denver. It was just dark when we got here, and the nice lady we'd spoken to was no longer here. No one was in the booth. So we drove around to look hopefully for a site which was not already taken, and did not have a reserved tag on it.  Our Campground Angel was working for us again today-- we found an empty site. I got out to look at what the tag on the post said, and it said the site, although empty, was reserved from 8/2 through 8/7. But, that began YESTERDAY, and it was empty! Just then a woman walked over from two sites away and said, "I had that spot reserved, but I just cancelled it a little while ago. It was for our friends, but they called to say they couldn't make it." She said she had spoken to the ranger, and gotten a refund for the site, but the "reserved" tag was still on it. But, as she pointed out, her friends were not coming tonight. And she said, "If anyone asks you about it, we're over here." So we said, "YAY!!!  It's our lucky day!" and we pulled into the site. Tomorrow morning when we look out our windows, we will see the Mississippi River flowing right in front of us.

Meanwhile, it's quiet, it's a large level site, and we are very comfortable. Cassie was thrilled to get out of the RV to walk, and she and I found this cute guy in the grass. Well, *I* found it-- she didn't even seem to notice it! (Joe says frogs have almost no odor.) She was within a foot of it but never even sniffed it.

And that is that. It's now just 11:00 local time, 12:00 "body time", and I suspect when i finally lie down, I will be able to sleep with no problem! And hopefully, tomorrow will be a very fun day, with our first "touristy" stop upriver in Dubuque, Iowa.

Rally Life

May 20, 2018

Saturday was a quiet day most of the day for us. We didn’t find any exciting seminars in the morning, so we stayed in and puttered around. Toward noon, Joe and I went over to the vendors’ building so he could look at the URB-E, the cute little electric scooter that I’d thought he might make use of. We both went for test drives--it was a lot of fun! But he says he doesn’t think he’d use it inside for support, he says it’s still too much strain on him. He was more interested in it as an auxiliary vehicle for when we are parked in a campground and need to go into town. He’s also thinking that an electric bicycle would do the same thing and be less expensive. So we have to have some more discussion and thinking on the subject.

Also at the vendors, we bought some new LED light bulbs for the coach, and some cute little items for our kitchen, both at home and in the RV. I got a couple for gifts.

While I walked Cassie, I took photos of some of the RVs set up in our “village.” Many people do make themselves quite at home and settled-- some may even be here for several weeks, I guess. There are signs, mini-gardens, patios, lights, etc. There are SO many “big rigs” here-- 38 foot and larger Class As abound, as well as large 5th wheels. I know a lot of folks are full-time RVers, so I guess if you are going to live full time in one of these rigs, you want some extra room.

In the afternoon, I went to a seminar on “Boondocking.” I learned a lot about some places out west where you can stay on public land for not-much money (such as $40/two weeks, or $180 for the entire winter season.) I also learned ways to save on water so it would be possible to be without hookups for a longer time (we’ve gone for 3 or even 4 days in the past, but no longer.) I would love to go out to Arizona next winter for maybe a month and live off the grid a little bit. The biggest expense is the gas to get there!

At about 5:30, we joined up with several hundred other folks in a huge pot-luck dinner. Joe made his macaroni salad. We sat with some nice folks and chatted for a while before going back to the rig. There was a band set up to play around the Firebirds, but we are so close to them, we could hear the music from our camper! So we “stayed home” rather than sit in the uncomfortable plastic chairs outside... we are not much for chatting anyway. And we really enjoyed the music while Joe was able to lie down. We both took showers sometime during the evening as well--a great time to do that, since no one else was using the bath houses, which can be crowded in the mornings.

These folks have a business making yard signs.

Now it’s Sunday morning. We had planned one more day here, but we are leaving for home today instead, because of the sad loss of mom’s cousin Jerry. We were both very fond of him, and want to be home for the funeral on Tuesday. So I am going to upload this blog as fast as possible. We want to leave at 11:30 so we can stop at Bontrager’s, an RV surplus store which is about 22 miles from here but right on our route home. And then we’ll hit the interstate and plan to drive as far as the Pennsylvania state line tonight (almost exactly half way home). That will leave us 6 hours to get the rest of the way home tomorrow.

Our trip has been VERY successful-- it is great to be back on the road, and we still love traveling as much as ever. Having done it now for the first time since Joe’s surgery and retirement, we are convinced that we can do more, and are looking forward to future adventures. It was a good trip.

Rally Ho!

May 18, 2018

We got up very early on Thursday morning by CDT, but it was 7:30 EDT, which was what we decided to work on. We knew we’d be back into Eastern time as soon as we hit the road. And after we filled the water tank, and dumped the waste tank, and walked the dog, we started off for the RVillage Rally 1: The Connected Road event. It is the first rally that RVillage has done, and it’s our own first RV rally as well. We were only about 90 minutes away via non-highways, so we drove the backroads to Elkhart, Indiana-- which meant we drove from a site in Indiana to another site in Indiana via Michigan.

We arrived at about 11 a.m. and were greeted with hugs by Curtis, the founder of RVillage. We were directed to our campsite, and got ourselves settled in among the other hundred or more RVs of every description. I took Cassie to the large grassy dog run, where she enjoyed meeting a few other dogs and rolling in the grass. Then I checked in,

picking up our name tags and a few other goodies, and signing myself up for a tour at the Thor factory on Friday afternoon. The weather was glorious--warm and sunny, such a treat after all those days of rain and cool weather. So we pulled out our awning and set ourselves up for a few days of relaxation and socializing.

Although we’ve never been to a rally before, this was exactly the way I expected it to be. Joey and I each went to a seminar in the afternoon. He learned about solar powering for RVs, and reported back that it would cost thousands of dollars to do it. I went to a seminar given by a company called Fantasy RV Tours, which takes “caravans” of RVers to pretty much everyplace in the US and Canada, as well as Mexico and even Australia! Their tours are very expensive, but they take away a lot of my own “job” on our trips-- planning a route, deciding what sights to see, and where to camp--as well as providing the reassurance of help in case of breakdowns or other unforseen troubles. And the cost also includes the entry fees for everything such as parks, attractions, museums, and campgrounds. On the other hand, we would still be paying for our own gas and most of our food (although a number of meals are included.) I think it could be worth considering for some trips to, for example, western Canada (which is the trip I saw featured.) It’s worth thinking about, anyway--I can always steal their itinerary and plan it out myself!

In the evening, we went to a Welcome session, with everyone there. It looks like several hundred people are attending. The information (sessions, activities, etc.) are given out via a phone app called HelloCrowd, which RVillage is utilizing. I am not thrilled with it-- it means always having to use the wifi or my data to call up the schedule. So when I checked in, I took a photo of the paper copy of the agenda at the check-in desk, to refer to. Several things are already changed around, but for the most part, it will help me know where to go. I still think paper is a lot easier than encouraging people to always be looking at their phones-- even though I’d say we are at the median age for attendees, even our own age group is phone-addicted.

After it got dark, there was a get-together at the Firebirds installation, a metal and fire art exhibit set up outside the seminar room building and the big meeting tent. We sat there for a little bit, but nothing really seemed to be happening, although the firebirds were very pretty. So we came back to our RV, and I read my book while Joe went to sleep.

Friday morning, Cassie woke me at about 6a.m. with an urgent need to go for a walk. After that, I fell back asleep, and so it was a late morning for all of us. Joe was planning to go to a seminar on Internet on the Road, which was ironically the one we were most interested in, but his body did not cooperate, and he missed it. I’m planning to go to a workshop on genealogy at 1:30, and then meet up for my tour of the Thor factory at 2:45, so I’ll have a full afternoon. The weather is a little less glorious today-- I’ve gotten mixed weather reports on my phone, and the awning was flapping earlier. We just did some tinkering to stabilize it, and I hope we don’t have any strong winds. It is a big pain to raise and lower it.

OK-- time for a quick lunch and off to my seminars!

Added at 7:30 pm:  The genealogy seminar was not so interesting, so I left it and went into the vendor room. I can't say there was a lot there that excited me either, except for a really fantastic little electric bicycle called an URB-E. I thought it would be ideal to help Joe get around while his legs feel too weak to take him very far. I spent a bit of time talking to the lady who was demo-ing the URB-E, and as a result, was late getting to the meeting point for the Thor factory tour. Fortunately, everyone had already left--but a couple who had followed the wrong tour group returned to double-check their directions and I overheard them ask about the Thor tour. So I was able to hitch a ride with them, and we got to the factory before the large group had filtered inside.

The tour was interesting--I love watching how things are put together in factories. I also happen to be attracted to the Thor ACE Class A RV, and of all things, they gave us a tour of the Class A line which included the ACE. So I got to see how they put it together, and then we got to go inside a few completed ones. I often don't see them at RV shows, so this was a treat. I still like it-- if we ever upgraded to a Class A, this is a real contender. Thor also makes 22 other models of RVs, including the new RUV style (a combination of SUV and RV), which I'd love to see sometime. 

Anyway, the tour was very interesting, and then we came home (in the rain AGAIN, will it EVER stop??). I found that Joe had put up the awning, had taken the dog for a walk, and had been researching motorized bicycles without my mentioning the URB-E yet (we'd seen someone driving it around the campground before I went into the vendors, so I guess that's what made him interested.)  We'll go test drive the URB-E tomorrow, but he found a much less alternative (albeit not as nifty) on line. We'll have to see what he thinks when he meets the URB-E in person tomorrow. 

Curried Noodles for dinner!!!!  Yay!!!!