Ed and Jean Herberts, Summer Travels
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| Ed Herbert |
In mid-July, Jean and I set out from our in-laws Cabins near Wintergreen, VA for Minnesota. Our daughter traveled with us and we headed to see our son and his family in Maple Grove, Minnesota. My daughter, Elizabeth, offered to do some of the driving, so after a short practice session in the local school parking lot, we headed out. That day the temperature was so hot that the generator kept shutting down even while we were rolling down the interstate! Never had that happen before. Elizabeth did a good job driving; I was a bit nervous, but soon learned that she was doing just fine and I needed to keep quiet.
Anyway, we spent the first night at Scioto Trail State Park in the lower corner of Ohio. What we soon discovered was that state parks are generally clean, reasonable, not crowded, and usually offer only electricity. Sometimes water, but all had dump sites. The second night we made it to Peru/LaSalle, Illinois and stayed the night at Hickory Hill Campground in Secor, Illinois. From Secor, we took I-39N to Madison, WI., then on to I-94 up to Eau Claire and spent the night at Stoney Creek RV Resort in Osseo, Wisconsin. This place was absolutely beautiful, expensive and wonderfully maintained. It was a Wisconsin version of the TGO in Florida.
The interstates through Ohio, Illinois and Indiana were “about half” – half were OK, and half were absolutely terrible. Several times I thought every nut and bolt in the RV was going to fall off. Construction, repairs ,and general disrepair was constant. While Elizabeth drove, I rode shotgun, and Jean climbed in bed and watched movies; the ride was too rough for her to sit on the sofa, so she opted to lay in the bed.
The next day we made it to Maple Grove, and stayed at the KOA in Maple Grove, MN. That was a bit of a downer; we paid KOA prices (higher than most) but there were absolutely no amenities. We had full hook-up, but no pool, no playground (for the grandlings), no laundry, no Putt-Putt golf, and no store!
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| Fishing Lake Of the Woods |
However, while Jean played with the grand kids, our son and I (and his in-laws) drove up to the Canadian Border and spent the weekend walleye fishing in Lake Of the Woods Boundary Waters. Wow- did we catch some fish! Two days on the largest body of fresh water I have ever been on, we caught over 100 fish – the boat skipper was also an in-law to my son. He married into a big family, that’s all I’ll say… We had good quality time with the grandkids for the week.
Coming back, Jean and I opted to avoid some of the interstates, so took a trip down the Mississippi through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa. What an absolute gorgeous drive! We plan to return that way next trip out because we want to stop in some of the little towns we passed through along the way. First night out, we stopped at Dubuque, Iowa and stayed at Miller Riverview City Park & Campground. A very nice little city park right on the Mississippi River. After leaving Dubuque we continued south on Route 52 to Davenport, Iowa. There we took a left and got on I-74 to Danville, Illinois and stayed at Kickapoo State Recreation Area. We stayed for two days and I did some more fishing (of course)..
We continued east on I-74 to Indianapolis and there, turned south on I-65 to Louisville, KY, and then east on I-64 to Winchester KY. That night we stayed at Fort Boone State Park. We were lucky to find it; our generator had quit working by then and we were afraid we would have to be Wal-Marters without AC, but we found Fort Boone State Park in Boonesboro, KY and slept comfortably that night.
Jean and I left Winchester, KY on I-64 and stopped for the night at Douthat State Park. Again, a neat little (Virginia) State park, but I don’t think I will ever take the RV back there again! The road into the park was narrow, windy, shoulderless (with big drop-off) and lots of low-hanging tree branches. The next day, with a stop at our in-laws cabins in Wintergreen, we arrived home.
We took all the food needed and when we stopped for fuel, used our credit card at the tanks so we didn’t have to go into the stations. Jean and I managed to drive half way across the country (and back) with minimal human contact except for our son and his family. The Covid/Mask thing is frightening. In the end, the generator quit, the bathroom fan broke, we had two water leaks, and we were getting a bit grumpy with each other. So, it was good to get home.
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