Day 3 ON THE ROAD 10/3
The Boys were up and at um, so that means we are up and at um at 0500. We took them out to the dog park here at the campground and they had a very nice romp and wrestle session. The Boys were fed and happy, as I put the coffee on.
Waffles are what is for breakfast with sausage, easy to do with the full hookups.
Will shake out the rugs and give the floor a sweep before we head out this morning.
Camping Tip 105:
When traveling down the road, bugs will splat on your RV, it is a given. Should you be in an area where there is a nice dew which forms a layer of moisture on your RV, these splatted bugs can easily be removed. The moisture on your RV is just about perfect to soften the splatted bugs and one can simply wipe the off in the early morning hours, better than waiting for the sun to bake them on.
Today our route took us by Ronald Reagan’s Birthplace and home town, also the Herbert Hoover Library Rest Area.
The rest areas in Iowa are pretty darn nice and you can stay there for 10 hours.
Thanks to Facebook, friends from our Amazon ABD Trip who live in the Kankakee area who noted our post informed us our planned stop was closed, we made contact and will visit with them this evening. Also with their help we were able to locate a campground that normally only takes weekly and monthly guests. So we did a cash deal for a one night stay. I would venture to say the park manager/owner has some beer money for tonight :) , but a good deal for us.
Seems like a lot of the campgrounds in the area are closing for various reasons so I must say we lucked out.
We pulled in and set up and will meet folks at their permanent campground site.
Well, campground site is not really a good description, more like a lake side community. A permanent camp resort might better describe. Very nice for sure.
We enjoyed catching up, a great camp fire, excellent chili, sangria and pumpkin bars. My brain was picked about what to do in London and I am sure there will be more conversations which is a good thing. I do hope they visit our place as they make a journey out west. Our little patch of heaven way out West is always open for guests. (if we are home)
We made our way back to our camper and got The Boys for the evening walk and crashed. Yet for some reason they wanted to go out at 0130.
Oh well it was a great day and the lessons learned are many, surprise visits are fun, and travel with people bonds you in many ways . It is all good.
Day 4 10/04/2016:
After a great visit with folks last night, we crashed. Yet at 0130 The Boys wanted to go out, so a little pup walk was necessary.
The Boys have been very good travelers in many ways. Sitka just chills all the time and Kenai is Mr Nervous Pacing Dog (at times) and he sometimes get freaked at the strangest things i.e. like opening the camper awning. He must think the sky is falling.
Up at 0530 and got the coffee on as the others sleep. The Boys had their breakfast and were walked. English muffins and sausage was for breakfast.
We will loose an hour as we head into Indiana today.
Our GPS we call Squirrelly took us through the back roads and through small towns and past corn fields. A nice route. Then we hit I-65 and it was just an interstate.
We did make a stop at Fair Oaks Farms where the farm has been turned into an attraction where one can learn about dairy operations. We sampled some of their cheese and bought some 5 year aged cheddar. The 8 year cheddar had an bit of a musky after taste and the clerk agreed with my tasting notes.
We then made it to Prophetstown State Park camp ground and it is really nice. Great gravel site that is level and we have full hookups. Yet there is no WIFI. There is a lot to do at this State Park and it is a shame we are only here one night. One of their paved trails is themed for the season and it is called the Trail of ScareCrows. It is set up by various community organizations, the scarecrows are voted on by placing a penny a vote at the visitors center. Looks pretty darn neat, and we will check it out this evening. Lots of hiking and biking trails, a farm here where they offer information about the local early agriculture as the workings are done by draft horses.
All in all, this is a great state park and could deserve another visit and spend more time. Lots of hiking, birding and bits of Americana are to be found here.
Our friends came by for a visit and we took all our pups for a walk. It was great to see them and chat away, catching up with events in our lives. Really blessed to have met some great people all due to our travels.
We went out to dinner and were treated to a great pork loin sandwich. I remember getting these when I was in undergrad school here in Indiana, the loins are breaded and fried and they are the size of a hubcap. The size is enhanced by the serving on a small bun, but these were served on a large bun and were excellent.
We returned to the campsite where for the first time we left The Boys in the camper alone. The weather was warm so we turned on the AC and they went to sleep, and that is how we found them upon our return. Maybe they are maturing LOL.
After our friends headed home, we took the boys for an evening stroll, well, a good long walk. We made our way along a bike path trail which was part of the Trail of Scarecrows. The first one we encountered Sitka was ready to protect us from the scarecrow, silly pup. After the first one he was ok with the rest.
Back at the camper we caught up on our logs and crashed, We will be cooking pancakes for our friends tomorrow morning.
The Boys learned a trick from Cousin Eddie LOL
Day 5 10/5 - To the covered bridges:
The Boys were up at 0430 for a walk and then we were up at 0530 and took them for a longer walk at 0600. Back at the camper we got the coffee on and took showers.
Having folks over for breakfast today and will be making pancakes on the griddle. These are the first folks we have had over for a meal with the camper. Irregardless, it was a great time visiting with these folks. The Boys enjoyed getting a couple toys. We enjoyed breakfast and coffee and good conversation. I am sure our paths will cross again down the road on a trip somewhere.
We were packed up and heading out at about 1100. Squirrellie, the GPS, took us a very different route and a couple of times we did not go his suggested route as the road was gravel. There was a good bit of construction in West Lafayette so we were all over the place. We did however end up on some narrow windy bumpy back country roads.
We made it to the Rockville Lake Campground and checked in. The person in the office was very helpful in giving us tips as to things to see and do. We learned there are only 4 campers in this 150 site campground. After lunch and getting set up and getting The Boys for a walk, the weather was getting cloudy with rain in the air, we decided to do some shopping for supplies, so off we went to Rockville.
Rockville is a classic midwest bucolic town. There is a county courthouse and this is the center for the fall covered bridge festival. We are here just before the festival and most of the locals tell us of how crowded they will be in a few days. The court house lawn already has temporary tents set up for various vendors. In many many ways I am glad we are here before the masses arrive. This is a very nice little town with typical midwest hospitality.
One of the highlights we were told of was the G&M Variety Store on the town Square. This store is best described as a classic 5 & dime store of days past, the type of store that sells just about everything one can imagine and then some. We bought some seasonal placemats for the camper, a couple of dog toys, a “beware of Malamute” sign and two coloring books all for $8 dollars and some change. We did receive a 10% senior discount as Wednesday is the Senior Discount Day.
From the G&M Variety Store, we made our way to the local IGA for the groceries we needed. Just a nice local supermarket. One item we did get is an item many may have never had, Corn Mush for frying. I will cook it up tomorrow morning. I doubt if Lynn will like it but I might be surprised.
Next we located a couple covered bridges in the area of town. Some of the bridges have been preserved and moved, as one we found this afternoon was located over a creek on a golf course.
The campground person told us of a local Amish store where they sell bulk food and baked goods. So before returning to the campsite we visited this little store. We purchased some cumin, cinnamon, butter, pumpkin butter and Lynn found some pumpkin spice fudge.
Back at the camp ground, we stowed our goods and took The Boys for their pre dinner walk. It was a good walk exploring the campground and finding a nature trail. The trail took us along Rockville Lake.
Back at camp, The Boys had their dinner and crashed. We had meatball subs, as we are trying to use the leftovers. Seems like we have enough food to last a long time.
The evening walk was nice as we went to the beach area of this park. Kenai did not want to walk out on a fishing pier and when some geese took wing he was a bit freaked out. He is such a wimp.
We did see a couple white herons and a bald eagle as well as a bunch of Canadian Geese.
All in all a good day.
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