Going Home, 2023

 Our wait for trailer axles finally ended, we have begun a marathon trip home. As usual, we are leaving just as the fall colors are beginning, the Amish fall, pre winter shopping is getting underway, and the horse pastures are getting a last trimmimg.

The trailer repairs were completed at about 3 in the afternoon, Eastern time, and we began our journey west by working our way to I 94 via US 20 south of Chicago, and then on to I 80, our friend for the next week. As the afternoon progressed, we passed the Iowa 80 Truckstop, the largest truck stop in the country.

The sunset facing west was spectacular, as it is so many times in the midwest.

We pulled into Little Bear Campground in West Liberty, Iowa, just before dark. 314 miles and five hours later. Doesn’t sound like much, but we were up at 4:30 this morning prepping for the busy day! Local news, a bite to eat, and to bed. It worked so well today that we’re going to try it again tomorrow!

Day 2: York, Nebraska

Iowa is becoming the preeminent wind turbine area in the country. Thousands of square miles of open prairie not only grow vast amounts of corn and soybeans to be used in everything from gasoline to coffee creamer, but also have an endless and constant zephyr blowing across those same endless vistas. Many of those turbines are seen along Interstate 80.

Traveling our highways is an unending parade of surprises. Just about the time it gets boring, something new passes by, like a helicopter….

Even rest stops provide some entertainment.

There are thousands of beautiful views across this “flyover” state, most of them including a look at corn…

After a long day of traveling across Iowa, fascinated by the very definition of the Midwest, we rolled into Nebraska, specifically, York, Nebraska. We’ve been here in the past, and enjoyed a full solar eclipse a few years ago along with family and friends.

We have slipped into site G3 in the York KAMPground. The weather is cloudy and sprinkling and the forecast is for high winds and ping pong sized hail later this evening. We’re only a hundred yards from Interstate 80, but we’re more concerned about the weather than the noise!

Day 3: Sidney, Nebraska

Western Nebraska is not corn country. We’re talking range land and wide open spaces. We kinda got lost in an unexpected land we thought was Montana or Wyoming!

We passes The Great Pioneer Arch on Kearney, Nebraska, about noon and crossed into the Mountain Time Zone. We’re making progress.

Sidney, Nebraska is the home of the flagship Cabelas store, as well as corporate headquarters, which is surprising for a town of about 7,000 souls. Sidney is about seven miles north of the Colorado state line, and has a historic that goes back to a fort established to protect the railroad from attack. A brief mining period and the location of Nebraskas first oil well pretty much sums up the activity in this region.

Cabelas has an rv park adjacent to the store, so we stopped in site 21 for the night. 

The sunset was a perfect end to a long day of driving.

Day Four: Green River, Wyoming 

Somewhere about Kimball, Nebraska, the wind began to pick up. By the time we reached Elk Mountain, Wyoming, we were fighting a 25 mph headwind with 45 to 60 mph gusts. What had started out as a pleasant drive through rolling, golden range became a gut wrenching, gasping endurance contest.

We left Sidney in 40 degree temps after a windy overnight. The area landmark survived nicely.

Clear skies, light traffic, full fuel tank….what could go wrong?

We don’t have any photos of the 200 or so miles we drove during this wind event because our fingers were gripping things like steering wheels and armrests, but eventually we came out right around Rawlins, Wyoming, in time to check out the changes in the terrain.

We struggled a bit with some dirt roads in the town of Green River, but eventually found the Green River RV Park, and site 16.

For the first time on this trip I forgot to take a photo of our campsite. Green River RV Park is a comfortable park, where the sites are all paved, as well as the interior roads. That’s rare in this area of the country. It was frosty the day we left, probably due to the altitude. Nice park.

The view from the back of the park is a beautiful look at the Green River and the major railroad on the other side.

Normally, we can expect fuel mileage in the neighborhood of 11 to 12 mph when towing our 15,000 pound trailer.

Not today:

We’re hoping for better luck tomorrow.

Day Five: West Wendover, Nevada

The western area of Wyoming is much like the rest of the state, but does have a lonely beauty uniquely intriguing.

We were surprised to see so many wind turbines in Wyoming, but on review, it’s a great place where the wind blows 24/7.

Moving into Utah, we began to see the changing of colors. Beautiful!

After navigating Salt Lake City, what can you say about Utah? The Great Salt Lake, of course. We spent several hours skirting the southern edge of the lake.

We stopped for a break at the monument commemorating the Bonneville Salt Flat area, the site of the annual Speed Week.

West Wendover, Nevada, is the first gambling town encountered when arriving from the east. We are not here for the free money (?), we’re here for a nights sleep at the Wendover KOA. Using some rewards points, we’re spending a grand total of $15 for the night. It seems to be quiet in site G2, well, except for the Mexican concert that fired up about 7 pm in the baseball stadium next door….

Nice.

Day Six: Winnemucca, Nevada

We left West Wendover on a great, clear, warm, calm morning and headed west on Interstate 80 once again. Our body clocks are still set to eastern time, so we were up early. Sasha had designs on a long playtime at the KOA dog park, so, with coffee in hand, we tossed and talked for a bit. The pup has been a real trooper during this period of daily driving so we owed her a few minutes while the temperature was cool.

Back on the road, Northern Nevada put on a display of sagebrush, sand, and dust. Great if you’re a snake. We did notice a shortcut to a ritzy town…

Back in Pacific time, we stopped at New Frontier RV Park in Winnemucca. It’s a nice park, and site 12 didn’t disappoint.

We’ve stayed here a number of times, even riding off highway vehicles in the nearby hills. Today we noticed a huge construction project going on next door. Looks like progress has found the east side of town.

Day Seven: Verdi, Nevada

We’re spending the night in the truck parking area of the Cabelas store just west of Reno, Nevada. We’ve briefly stayed here in the past, and it’s a safe, not so quiet place to spend the night, but the evening skies are spectacular!

Northern Nevada was typical today, meaning a lot of brown dirt, grey sagebrush, and dry lake beds. 

Beautiful in its own way. The pungent smell of sage and the smell of burning big rig brakes is not to be missed.

Tomorrow should be our last on the road for this trip, so I’ll leave today with an unexpected sunset.

We’ll update and debrief in a few days. Stay tuned.

 

Shipshewanna, Indiana

 We are mourning the loss of the daughter of very dear friends. No parent should have to endure such pain. It has been made more personal as she was the same age as and was a classmate of our children. Words cannot express our sorrow.

Indiana, the RV capital of the world. We are in Shipshewanna, site 79 in the Shipshewanna Campground South. This is a basic, no frills park, but it is clean and neat, as you would expect in Amish country.

We are hoping to have two major problems diagnosed and hopefully repaired before our return trip west. One of the trailer tires is wearing abnormally, so we are taking the trailer to a shop that specializes in axle repair. Two days later we’re taking the trailer to a shop that specializes in rv slide-out repairs. The very necessary living room slide mechanism is not working properly and we’re concerned that it may leave us stranded with a “box” extended and with no way to continue our journey. We’re hoping that these two shops will take pity on us and expedite repairs. We shall see. 

It’s been both busy and boring the last few days. As I write this, the axle issue has been diagnosed and the axle manufacturer has offered to provide a new parts. The boring part? We had to kill an entire day with our trusty canine companion in 90 degree temperatures in an unfamiliar city. It was challenging.

The main street through Shipshewanna is under construction. It’s a huge infrastructure project, with heavy equipment slinging concrete pipe around and traffic control attempting to separate Amish carriages and 18 wheel big rigs as the traffic lanes swerve from right to left and weekend rv’ers scamper off into a flea market towing a trailer that’s way to long for their toyota car. You get the picture.

The confusion is amply offset by beautiful sunsets and clouds.

We were advised to contact Allegiant RV Services in Middlebury, IN, to assess the condition of our slide out, you know, the one that has a mind of its own. We dropped the trailer (called a “camper” around here) off at 7 am, and prepared to fill the day with…..

A visit to Krider Worlds Fair Garden in Middlebury. Stashed away in a quiet neighborhood, away from the industrial hubbub of the RV industry, this beautiful and relaxing park has its roots in an exhibition held almost ninety years ago.

In 1893 Vernon Krider planted raspberries on land given to him by his father. In 1896 he sold 5,000 plants for $250. It was the beginning of the Krider Nurseries empire. After buying the companys first truck in 1920 and expanding into the wholesale market in 1923.  Krider invested $10,000 to create a display garden at the 1934 Chicago Worlds Fair: A Century of Progress. At the closing of the fair, part of the exhibit was moved to a site across the street from Krider Nuseries headquarters, where it remains today. From the 1940’s to the close of the business in 1990, Krider Nurseries focused on roses, with the original and arguably the most beautiful rose being the thornless Festival Rose.

Today the Worlds Fair Garden is a beautiful place to pass some time on a cool, misty day.

Following a winding path, we strolled through well kept flower displays.

It’s a beautiful place to rest and enjoy nature’s beauty, and as we sat on a bench with Sasha snoozing in the sun, we got a call saying our slideout repair was complete, so a quick trip back to Allegiant, a conversation about sloppy manufacturing and shoddy parts, a hot credit card, and we were on our way! 

We kept in touch with the company that committed to repairing the axle issue, and found out that they didn’t know that they were supposed to order the parts. Duhhhh.

So, we took a daytrip north to the hamlet of Gobles, Michigan. 

As you may remember from past blog posts, whenever we’re in this area we try to visit the Robinson Cemetery just south of Gobles to pay our respects to the parents of a good friend back in California. George and Helen were special people, and often George was called “unique”, as his headstone would indicate.

George was heavily involved with automobile and motorcycle racing, and developed a reputation for liking his beer, so we brought a bottle of beer for George and some flowers for Helen. Strangely, someone else had the same idea, so we allowed as how George had some drinking to do.

The cemetery was beautiful on this clear, warm day.

A few miles south of Gobles, the town of Paw Paw, Michigan is home to one of our favorite restaurants, the 120 Taphouse, home of the Doobies. A Doobie is a take on an eggroll, with corned beef, pulled pork, sauerkraut, or other lucious ingredients, onions and cheeses. We had to stop!

Unfortunately, Paw Paw was celebrating its annual Harvest Festival, and while we enjoyed a bit of the parade, we found that the restaurant was both full of people from the street, but also inaccessible by car. 

Well, so much for that plan. 

Two days later, when we checked on the progress of our repair, we found that the repair shop had again dropped the ball and had not ordered the parts that we needed. A conversation clarified procedures and we were comfortable with the situation.

It’s now four days later, and we find out that the shop had once again neglected to order the parts. Strike three. By now we have wasted a week, so we began the search for a different repair shop. An “Ah Ha” moment led us back to Allegiant RV, where Melissa and Tony had parts on order and an installation appointment made within two hours! Unfortunately, the appointment is another ten days out, so we’re once again waiting, and stressing because we need to be home with our grieving friends. 

The hours drag by slowly, ever so slowly.

Houghton Lake, Michigan

 We left Island Resort and Casino a little later than we normally would have done because high wind conditions existed through the Straits of Mackinac and on the five mile long Mackinac Bridge. Figuring that the wind might lay down as the weather warmed, we delayed as long as we could, while still hoping to arrive at our next destination at a reasonable time. So we took our time driving the 100 miles east on US Highway 2 to the bridge. 

Our plans seemed to work, as we approached the Straits the wind died to a gentle breeze and we paid our toll and headed across.

Having successfully navigated this engineering marvel, we arrived at Shady Oak RV Park in Houghton Lake, MI, mid afternoon. This park is privately owned, with each of the two hundred or so lots privately owned. We were meeting friends there, and they were able to score us an empty lot for the week!

We rested, ate, washed the trailer, met new friends, and generally had a good time with our friends Bill and Diane, the two closest to the camera. This was taken at the LC taproom and pub in Lake City, MI, where every Tuesday a dozen wings and a salad is $6! The others in the photo are Jeff, Pat, Paul, Shelley, Kari, Dana and Sandy. Jeff and Sandy still struggle with adulthood.

Later in the week, Bill and Diane hosted an evening gathering around a backyard fire. A bunch of the neighbors gathered in a cool evening to talk, laugh, and gossip. Good time!

We took the opportunity to have lunch with our friends Dave and Toni who are full time rv’ers and are currently in Traverse City. We met at the 308 in Manton, MI, and caught up on the latest happenings.

A trip to Fruitful Orchard near Gladwin, MI, netted us some fresh squeezed apple juice, apple cider donuts, and a bottle of Peach infused hard cider, all from their private orchards.

While we have been glad of the time in Houghton Lake with friends and new acquaintances, our mood has been somber as we attempt to find a way through some health issues of friends back home. Our hearts are with them and we pray for peace in their family.