White Springs, Florida - Suwannee Valley Campground

Love the drive through Tennessee - such a pretty state! Stopped just inside the Florida border for the night at a Passport America campground that is a couple of miles off of the highway, Suwannee Valley Campground. Most sites are pull through with lots and lots of trees. Sites were pretty level on sand and grass. We chose a 50 amp full hookup site and the PPA price was only $16, gotta love Passport America! (Please use our referral number if you decide to join - 508989) I thought we would have a view of the river but it is over in the tent area with a steep embankment. Enjoyed some time in the pool after setting up and enjoyed chatting with 2 nice couples that were residents here. On the way out of the park came across some low hanging branches but didn't see any damage to the rig.  Just a little work and money spent on putting a solid surface on the sites would make this a wonderful park but I don't think we'd drive 3 miles off I 75 to stay here again for only 1 night. The residents that we spoke to love it here so if visiting the area for a few days or longer we would recommend this campground. We forgot to take pictures, so you can tell we are ready to put the jacks down for longer than a day or two -Bushnell here we come!  I had to use photos from their website, we forgot to take pictures.

Emerson, Georgia - Red Top Mountain State Park

Red Top Mountain State Park, Site 6

Oh Lordy! The staff member that checked us in obviously had never pulled or drove a big rig through the campground! She told me that the sites were plenty big enough for us...failed to mention that the road to get to the site were small, winding roads and the sites would be impossible to back into! Bruce did a fabulous job at getting us out of that mess and we found the pull through sites, which weren't much better for big rigs. The park is beautiful just not for rigs any larger than maybe 24 feet at most. Not very many other campers there luckily, pulled into site 6 but had to unhook since not level enough. Camp Host stopped to talk to us and said they had seen us pulling through the loop and wondered if we would be able to make it. Pulling out took some skill too - way to go Bruce! Moving on...

London, Kentucky - Levi Jackson State Park

Levi Jackson State Park, site A14

Bruce at Cumberland Falls State Park

Original KFC in Corbin, Kentucky

Goodbye Indiana - Hello Kentucky! Came across another beautiful state park that I found out about on RVParkReviews.com. Friendly staff at the gate, allowed us to pick from several sites that were available. Decided on site A14 which is a back in site that is close to the front of the park, pretty level, water and 50amp electric. Charge was $26 ($28 on Fri/Sat nights). Some sites would take a lot to get a rig level but their website tells you the severity so pay heed! They even have a laundry at each bath house so was able to get caught up on that chore while here! They have a nice pool that is only $3 for campers ($5 if not camping). We would definitely stay here again if we are in the area.
On Friday we drove over the Cumberland Falls State Park. Beautiful falls and area with surprisingly no entrance fee. Glad that we didn't try to camp here though - just for small rigs or tents! They have a very nice gift shop and small concession. Drove through the cute town on Corbin where the original Kentucky Fried Chicken still is in operation.
Saturday morning went to the flea market - interesting to say the least :-)  Got a basket of big, red tomatoes for only $2.
Sunday we packed up and moving on south.

Lake Haven Retreat - Indianapolis, Indiana

Lake Haven Retreat

Bruce enjoying the ride

Bruce at Indy Museum

Lake Haven Retreat was a great find from rvparkreviews.com.  Very friendly and helpful check in. Got a great end site (104) with view of their little lake with a cute fountain in it. Sites are gravel and level. The only negative is the side-by-side parking. The back of our rig was only a couple of feet from the back of our neighbor's rig. He got home around midnight both nights we were there and we'd hear something that sounded like thunder in the distance for about an hour. Not sure what was going on behind us! Bruce enjoyed the Indianapolis Speedway Hall of Fame Museum (after I had accidently taken us to the Indianapolis Art Museum) - always an adventure! Went to explore the downtown area - beautiful! Loved looking at all the old (and new) building architecture! They were doing construction on almost every road - guess they have their reason for not doing a couple at a time.
Hate to say but we were not that impressed by the rest of Indianapolis - rough, small roads, homes not maintained in the areas we drove - we can now say - been there, done that, what's next?

Indiana Dunes State Park

Site #9

Chicago, Sunday morning traffic jam

Kathy at Dunes State Park

Bruce with rig at Dunes State Park

Thought we would have a short drive today - well the drive was short - 219 miles but it took us 8 hours to do it! Got into a terrible traffic jam in Chicago, 4 lanes of traffic going no where!! Didn't know what was going on or how far the traffic was jammed.  Got out the laptop (we don't have smart phones yet) and had enough battery to see that the problem wasn't far ahead so decided to stick with our route. Wrong plan!! When we finally got to the south side of Chicago found the problem - a semi had overturned and blocked 3 of the 4 lanes! NO traffic controls to help either! Everyone was just on their own to mash 4 lanes down to 1 lane. Surprised that Chicago was so lacking in speeding up the cleanup and also at re-routing traffic!! Oh well, no schedule, just a loss of time and money on gas just idling for 6 hours. We'd planned on going to a state park just north of Lafayette but due to the jam changed our stop to Indiana Dunes State Park, near Chesterton, Indiana on Lake Michigan. Indiana Dunes State Park
The RV park was pretty much the usual state park - with gravel sites, lots of trees and plenty of room between sites. They charge a $10 park entry fee then when you get to the campground they charge another $17.34 to camp. Would have been nice to have been told that the sites were electric only so we'd known to fill our water reserve. We made due and the bathhouse was clean enough, showers could have used some cleaning though. Monday morning we were going to walk over to the Dunes but the path was closed and saw a cement truck so figured we better not to try to sneak by. Decided to go ahead and hook up, drive over to the beach then head on south. The beach area was beautiful!! Lots of soft, white sand and the water was surprisingly pretty too! If the path had been open so that we could have seen the beach before we hooked up we may have stayed a few days. Oh well, on with our adventure!

Road America Raceway - Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin



Pulling "Eve" through the tunnel

 What a great experience! We arrived Tuesday, August 16, and couldn't have asked for a friendlier welcoming! From the gate guard to the office staff to the security staff, just wonderful. Lori, the Hospitality Director was supposed to be out on maternity leave but happened to come in for a meeting and helped get us squared away. Lori had an escort take us to our site since the track is so big we would have had a difficult time finding it. Then Dawn, the Security Director, gave us a tour of the track after we go set up. Had no idea that the track was so big! Bob, the guy that posted the opening on RV.net, and his wife, Kathy, arrived. She attempted to tell us where, how, when, and why but it was just too much to grasp without actually seeing it and doing it. The other camphosts, Mike and Jill, came by to meet and greet us. A very nice couple who offered to show us the ropes the next day.


Hard at work

 
Getting the hang of what we are supposed to do and it was a good thing - camper gate was opened at 3 pm Wednesday. We were assigned the blue, red and yellow camping areas. When the campers arrived we would greet them and verify that they were in the correct camping sites and had their wrist bands on. We were impressed at how most campers were so friendly and kept their sites clean.

We only had an electric site and thought we'd got enough water when we pulled in but we started running low. Not a big problem since the bath house was right across from us and it was always clean.




Our site in the Carousel section

 

By Saturday morning we were pretty much done with our jobs and could enjoy the race. We were allowed to use the golf cart that the track had provided to us as campground hosts. You don't just stay in one place to watch the race! People would ride or walk all around the track and watch from different corners or stretches since the track has 14 turns and is over 4 mile long. Our grandson, Owen had asked for an picture and autograph of a famous person. We stopped at Jim Norton's trailer - what a nice guy! Went out of his way to be friendly and accommodating!
 As we pulled out Sunday morning, we were so impressed by how clean the camping areas were given that most were there for 5 days. Here's the link to Road America - hope to return next year! roadamerica.com






We were provided lunch daily!

 



Getting autograph from Jim Norman for Owen



  

Enjoying a drink at the Patron tent



Walk along Lake Michigan

We took a 2 mile walk along the shore of Lake Michigan today. They have put in a great walk/bike path with some beautiful flower beds planted along the walkway. Other than that, we just chilled at Stop and Dock for the day.

Bike path along Lake Michigan

Downtown Two Rivers, Wisconsin

As you may have surmised from reading my posts - this is a wonderful area! After my hometown of Lawton, razed our downtown area in the name of Urban Renewal, I have become very observant of downtown areas that have been restored instead of torn down. This is another beautiful example of what Lawton should have done with our historic downtown - rehabbed it to a historic downtown shopping area instead of a big old ugly mall!! OK, anyway...we stopped in a place called Unique Flying Objects which had kites, flags and all kinds of other gizmos. Some of the kites were almost too pretty to fly! They also had something called Sky Lanterns which the clerk told us that on Labor Day thousands are released over the lake and it was a beautiful sight to see. The are made of paper in the shape of a hot air balloon  and a candle it lite in the bottom. The hot air of the candle makes the lantern fill with air and rise. They eventually catch afire, if the conditions are right, way up in the sky. Since we won't be here Labor Day here's a picture I found...

Sky Lanterns

Stopped in another store, Schroeder's Department Store, and talked to a very friendly sales clerk. Asked what life was like here in the winter...brutal! Snow, ice is always on the ground, just keeps piling up. And unbelievably COLD! Guess that may be one of the reasons that the houses are so nice and flowers everywhere - they go out and enjoy their beautiful summers since winter is so harsh. Bruce told her we'd found out that they call water fountains "bubblers" and sure enough the store had an actual bubbler. The water bubbles up not out in an arch. We have truly enjoyed our time in Wisconsin! If I had enough money I'd buy a house up here to spend summers here but since I hate being cold would have to leave for the winter!

Day Trip to Manitowoc, Wisconsin

A short drive to Manitowoc, a town of medium size with surprisingly large buildings. Will have to investigate the history of Manitowoc. Has the appearance of a city that was up and coming a long time ago and maybe lost it's main financial supplier, like some the the towns in Oklahoma that were oil towns back in the day. Again, we found that the homes and yards were very pretty. Flowers everywhere! Went to eat at Charcoal Grill but we both thought the burgers weren't worth the charge but better than McDonalds :-) Drove to check out the ferry that crosses to Michigan twice a day April-Oct. HUGE ship but round trip passenger fare is $120 each so we'll just stay on this side of the lake. Looking out over the lake is awesome - so large that it seems like you are looking at over the ocean, without the smell of salt in the air. On to Wal-Mart to get groceries and back to the home on wheels.

Two Rivers, Wisconsin

Site 17

A short drive today to our next stop - Two Rivers. Found a Passport America park, Stop and Dock where we will be spending the next 5 days. It is a small (19 sites) park with full hook-ups. Sites are tight but has a view of the West River. River is too low for boats to use the docks, which I'm sure has made a major financial impact to the owners, Chuck and Mary. Will just hang out here at the park today then drive over to Manitowoc tomorrow for groceries and sightseeing.

Door County Driving Tour

Took a drive around Door County today - up Highway 57, the Lake Michigan side. Stopped at the Sandpiper in Bailey's Harbor for lunch and had some very good fried whitefish. A very cute little town, but all of the towns up here have been so cute! From there we continued up the peninsula stopping at Gills Rock to check out the scenery and a couple of gift shops. The water was very rough, with huge waves. Went further north to the end of the peninsula, Northport. There is a ferry that goes to Washington Island but had been told that it really wasn't worth the time or money to cross so we didn't do it. Did get out to stick my toes in the sand though. Traveled back down the peninsula by way of Highway 42, through Sister Bay, stopping again to see the harbor. Big, beautiful boats, harbor was full, wonder if it was because of the rough water? Stopped at Grandma Tommy's Gift shop near Sturgeon Bay and wanted some cheese but they sold Renard's Cheese which was on our way back so going there! On to Renard's Cheese, near Brussels. Had to sample "Cheese Curds" they do squeak on your teeth! Bought some cheese with cherries and salsa cheese, very sweet girl working there, had us sampling whatever we wanted.  All in all - Door County is a beautiful place to come for the summer!

Gills Rock

Sister Bay Harbor

Sticking my toes in the sand

Washington Island

Brussels, Wisconsin - Quietwoods South RV Park

Bruce readying the grill

Had a short drive (about 160 miles) to Brussels today. Not a bad drive but Bruce thought it was a long drive for some reason. The park is a few miles off the main highway, in a country type setting. It is a Passport America park or we wouldn't have been able to afford it - $37 a night plus tax but with PPA is came out to $19.50 a night. It is a nice park with about 1/2 being season sites that are fixed up very nicely. Most of the overnight sites are not manageable for big rigs but there are 6 sights that are pull through on the outside of the trees. There is also a great looking pool that I hope we'll relax beside during the next 4 days. Met two really nice couples next door to us that we got to share some wine and a good evening chatting. They are leaving tomorrow, wish we could have met up with them sooner! Will have to exchange info with them before they pull out tomorrow.  Anxious to tour Door County!

Tour from Brussels to Egg Harbor, Wisconsin

Nobody near to take our picture together

We drove up through some beautiful county to Egg Harbor. Cute little tourist town, did some window shopping and stopped for a Snicker's coffee (Bruce decided on the ice cream, I know you are surprised :-) Stopped at the Door Peninsula Winery that our neighbors had told us about and what a winery! Free samples of any of their wines - free! I decided on the Chocolate Cherry and the Plum Loco. Then went to the fruit stand across the street for cherries. They had sweet and tart cherries - liked the sweet best, of course. They also had some blueberries, not local, but from Michigan so had to get a pint of them too. Decided on a short trip today but plan on a trip, in a couple of days, up to the tip of the peninsula which is a town called Northport.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Took a day trip into Milwaukee and had a wonderful time! Took the Harbor Exit and found that they were having an air show. Lots of people, walking, bicycling, picnicking, just enjoying the day. The harbor was beautiful with sailboats all around. The houses along Lakefront Drive were unbelievable!  Bruce noticed a market area downtown as we were driving in so drove back to find it. It was Third Ward, a renovated industrial area along a waterway. So nicely done! Flowers everywhere and roads closed off for week-end events. Waterway had condos with balconies covered with flower boxes. Stopped at Milwaukee Ale House to get the free beer that came with our $5 parking ticket. Had a great waitress, great beer, great pretzels, great fun with Bruce!

Cliffside County Park - Caledonia, WI

Bruce found another great county park! The county parks have all been so nice and the prices are so much more reasonable than the private or state parks. We took another route off the main highways to get here from Hampton, IL to avoid the tolls roads, loved the scenery but the road through Rockford was terrible. Should have taken that toll road to avoid going through that city! The highway 100 was pretty bumpy but most of the roads are nice and smooth. This one has 92 sites with 50 amp electric and most have shared water hook-ups. Water is at the back of the sites so needed 2 hoses to reach. Sites have nice tree coverage. Bathhouses are nice and clean. Not sure where the name Cliffside came from as there are no cliffs. Nice park for $23/night. After dinner, we took a walk around the RV park, enjoyable evening.

Cliffside County Park, Site 21

Illiniwek Forest Preserve - Hampton, Illinois

View from our front window - site 59

Moved across the border of Iowa to Illinois because we found another nice county park that is right on the Mississippi River for only $15 (W/E 50amp).  I love watching the barges and tugs go by and just love water in general. It was only a 25 mile day on the road :-)