Beautiful blue skies and warm temps got us out on our bikes exploring this super campground. There is a playground, swimming area and boat launch; there are about 60 sites and they are mostly occupied. I’m guessing the weekend warriors will fit it up by tonight.
It was going to the high 70s this afternoon, so we drove the few miles to the dam. We had four different spots to view it: both the east and west sides of the spillway and the reservoir. The visitor center was full of taxidermy and exhibits. The ACE manages 33,000 acres here, 14K water, 18K of land of which 10K is wildlife management. The reservoir is 42 miles long!
We could smell BBQ smokers, so we found Papa Turney’s on the waterfront nearby and got us some huge and delicious BBQ to go!
Today was a long day of driving. It was, however, quite beautiful. Leaving Illinois, we crossed the Ohio River entering Kentucky then crossed the Tennessee River shortly before entering Tennessee. The trees are starting to show their fall colors and the landscape varied from rolling hills to flat farm land and horse country.
It took all day to make our way to this campground just 10 miles east of Nashville. It is on a 42 mile long reservoir that was built by the Army Corps of Engineers, completed in 1967. The sites are spacious; ours has a good view of the water. We arrived at 5:30 and were set up and watching the sunset over the water about 6.
Pere Marquette State Park, Grafton, Illinois 146 mile jump
Originally a corn bin, this was repurposed by the CCC to be a visitor center.
Backside of corn crib.
Some Illinois river control building that has seen its share of floods.
We had to cross the Mississippi River and then the Illinois River to reach Pere Marquette State Park. We tried here to stay two years ago, but it was halloween weekend, they we full up and we had to spend the night in a Walmart. This year we have reservations! It is on the Illinois River and has a marina, a lodge, visitor’s center, all sort of trails and a scenic drive, but not much for internet connection.
Tuesday, we rode bikes together, but got into terrain that was too hilly for Penny. So, we returned to explore the marina whereupon she rode to the campsite and I rode the Scenic Drive which had 700’ of ascent in about three miles. Tough riding, but I rode it all. The views up there were spectacular; the ride down was a hoot!
Penny’s brother, Dan, is returning from his annual summer cooking job in Boulder, Colorado, heading for their parent’s summer home in northern Michigan. But, he thought he’d pay us a visit since we weren’t too far out of the way. I prepared spaghetti sauce and Penny crafted a unique salad for supper. We had a campfire and talked until we ran out of wood. A great night!
This is objectively one of the worst places to camp. It’s an asphalt parking lot with no trees; there are water and electric hookups. But across the street is a railroad switchyard delivering raw material (corn) and shipping whatever products they are processing. I am thinking high fructose corn syrup would be one. This processing plant is over half a mile long belching smoke and emitting a cacophony of industrial noises in addition to those made by the switching railroad cars. Actually, it’s such a loud, continuous din that it becomes a background noise you soon don’t notice, unlike a barking dog or a fire engine.
On the positive side, the waterfowl (pelicans, geese, ducks, eagles) coexist in the river with this behemoth of a processing plant just a few hundred yards away. The river runs east-west through here so sunrise and sunsets are killer. Lock 19 is just upstream, so one can watch huge football field size barges navigate the locks. Amazing!
When in Iowa, you gotta try Iowa Chops! To die for!
Another component is the South Side Boat Club; they collect the city’s camping fees. They are so darn hospitable, they won’t let you out of the place without buying you a beer and/or a pizza. We made friends with Ron and Mary two years ago when we came here as rookies on our Nomad 1: 2015-2016 trip. They had traveled for 10 years after retirement but had recently given it up. They cheered us on, telling us to do it as long as we could. We returned to let them know of our success and to show them that we honored Keokuk by painting the very scene I described above on the side of our trailer. The dichotomy of industry and nature is apparent in Penny’s mural.
On Saturday afternoon after conversing with Ron and Mary and making a slew of new friends Jim, Larry, Roger, Lois, et al. We went out to the ITLDO to start dinner when our phone lit up with a tornado warning! Our awning was out, so we went out to retract it with no problem. We went inside to see what developed when the wind and rain hit like a freight train. I knew the trailer was vulnerable to high wind; luckily the narrower back end was facing the wind. We opened the door which pulled me out into the wind and rain. Penny followed and helped me close and lock the door. We then almost literally flew the 100 feet or so to the South Side Boat Club. By the time we got into the door we were absolutely drenched.
After an hour or so, the storm quieted down, so we went out to get in dry clothes. Shortly thereafter (about 6:15), another alert sounded so we went back inside where our new found friends started buying us beer and pizza. We finally got out of there about 9PM. It was a long night with high winds buffeting the camper, but no damage resulted.
We went to church Sunday morning, thanking God for our safety. We visited the Keokuk Museum which was an old steamship built in 1927, then we took a ride through historic residential neighborhoods and Rand Park on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River. Stopping in to say our good byes, we had people trying to us beers and 85 year old Lois came over to tell us some of her bawdry jokes. Fantastic! We insisted we weren’t drinking any more beers and got out of there.
Shady Creek ACE (Army Corps of Engineers) Park, Muscatine, Iowa on the Mississippi River
158 mile jump
Finally, we are on the road away from the responsibilities of home ownership, enjoying each other’s company, finding solace in our tiny, tiny house and looking forward to exciting new explorations. The weather at Shady Creek was rather inclement, but we had things we could do indoors (like this blog!).
This is a relatively small set of barges. Some have five sets of two!
We enjoyed the hundreds of white pelicans that were feeding in the Big Muddy as well as the huge barges moving up and down the river. Time is slowing down from the hectic routines in Grand Rapids. “We have to slow down and rest to let our souls catch up with our bodies”, according to our First Nation brothers and sisters.
We only left the campsite once with the truck to check out a bike route that would not require much travel on the highway right out front. There are no shoulders and it’s a 55MPH zone. We discovered a road about 1/2 mile down the highway. But, it was a long hill formed by the Mississippi River valley that led to a state park. I rode it Thursday and found Wildcat Den State Park at the top of that long climb. It was beautifully treed, but after a quarter mile, the road plummeted down swiftly to a creek on the opposite boundary of the park. I surmised that rather than riding back up that huge hill, I might find a trail to get me back to the road I rode up to the park. That worked out excellently; it was a beautiful hike/ride!
This year’s adventures are, for the first time. almost all planned out, reserved and paid for in advance. It’s a little conservative I know, but there are a lot of snow birds competing for a limited number of campsites. We’ve learned the value of planning ahead.
Rock Cut State Park, Rockford, Illinois 296 mile jump
The reason for starting this trip in Rockford was two fold. The first was to visit my mom to say goodbye for the next six months. I am devoted to her and phone her every weekend. She’s in pretty good shape, but one never knows when she might leave this earth. We brought her flowers and chocolate eclairs and did our best to keep telling stories and jokes. She doesn’t have much to say as she is homebound with little outside stimuli.
The second was my 50th HS Reunion; I had been away from Rockford for so long, I thought I might have been forgotten. I had forgotten a lot of my classmates, that’s for sure. There was 545 in our graduating class!
I was heartened to have many old friends who wanted to see me. It was difficult to catch up with all of them, but it was clear to me that I made a positive impact while attending Guilford high school. I was a little emotional about that after we left; still am. I know that I hurt a few people back then; that haunted me. I am so glad to have had the chance to get a new perspective.
Sunday, Penny and I did some bike riding and hiking through Rock Cut. It is one of the largest state parks in Illinois with two lakes, all kinds of trails, fishing, boating. We highly recommend it!
Monday, we brought Penny’s home made turkey soup to Mom’s for lunch on the way out of town. She really enjoyed it and we had a joyous good-bye. She really enjoys the weekly reports on our adventures and lives them vicariously! I am pretty confident we will see her again. She got spunk!
