Rochelle, Illinois

Three hundred and seven miles from Charlotte, MI, finds us parked in a Walmart parking lot in Rochelle, IL We were not looking forward to the drive through Chicago suburbs, but for the most part, the trip was "OK". Road construction south of Charlotte started our day out with a bang. Literally.

 We found that the roads in Michigan leave much to be desired. At one point, we unavoidably hit a pothole that had to be two feet in diameter and...who knows how deep. The frame of the motorhome will never be the same. 

Interstate 94 leaves central Michigan heading west and skirts the southeastern flank of Lake Michigan. Just before we got to the lake, we passed the sign for a town that we have a particular fondness for. 

Paw Paw, Michigan, is the home of the 120 Taphouse, a great little restaurant that we discovered several years ago while visiting friends in the hamlet of Gobles, just a few miles north of Paw Paw. Unfortunately, a special lunch was not on the schedule today, so we continued on into Indiana.

We stopped at one off the nicest rest stops we've seen to start the tow car. We've been having difficulty with the electrical charging system on the car while we tow it, and have begun to stop every few hours and let it run for awhile.

After navigating around the south end of Lake Michigan and through Gary, Indiana, and Joliet, Illinois, we found ourselves on Interstate 39 heading north and passing by yet another town with an interesting name:

This area of Illinois is as flat as Kansas, with thousands of acres of land just now sprouting the summer crop of corn.

Sliding off the road at exit 99 and driving west a mile and a half got us to a Walmart Superstore that allows overnight parking. The parking lot is a bit congested, but we worked our way to the truck delivery area, turned a great big U-turn, and found a few unused parking spots that we proceeded to commandeer!

The huge grass area at the edge of the parking lot is perfect for Her Majesty Sasha! She has already explored it and is now demanding a ball-throwing session! Not a bad over-nighter.

Tomorrow we're back on the road, continuing north. It's supposed to rain.....