Blackhawk Campground: De Soto, Wisconsin

 We traveled the Great River Road from Clarks Bluff Campground in Montpelier, Iowa to Black Hawk Camp Ground in De Soto, WI.  The trip was a fairly easy drive with no surprises, with the exception of the topography of the area.  In our minds, Iowa was flat with corn fields everywhere. We were correct in the fact that they grow plenty of corn here, but we had several descents of 6%- 7% grade.  Neither of us knew that Iowa was so hilly.  When we crossed the Mississippi River into Lansing, Iowa, it was a little dicey.  The bridge was an old-style steel decked bridge that had a large rise prior to flattening out with a rapid descent into Wisconsin.  We did arrive safely at the campground.  Honestly, we were both a little relieved to make it to the other side of the bridge. 

This is our third Corp of Engineers campground we have stayed at in a row.  These facilities are fantastic. They are spacious, well laid out, with power at the sites. Did I mention that these COE campgrounds cost a mere fraction of a private campground? We purchased an “America the Beautiful” pass that gives us 50% off the already very affordable fees.  While the COE parks may lack some of the amenities, such as a pool and kid’s activities, they more than make up for it with open spaces, plenty of trees and fantastic views. The only downfall is that they are power only, not full hookups. Water and sewer stations are located at the entrances typically.  Thankfully Ethel can provide water and hold waste for 3-4 days.  As an added bonus, our site was right on the bank of the river with an amazing view.

Views of Iowa from Ethel

We love that massive windshield and the views from it. It is like our own private IMAX screen. 

We made plans to tour La Crosse, WI, a medium size city north of us on the Mississippi.  Our first stop in La Crosse was the Grandad Bluff Park.  This was an area years ago that was being mined for the limestone in the bluff.  In the early 1900’s, a family took ownership of the area. They wanted to preserve the bluffs rather than allowing mining to destroy the area.  The bluff was held in trust prior to be given to the City of La Crosse to be used as a city park.  From the Bluff, there is a wonderful view of the Mississippi and the Bluffs on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi.

We loved the green, lush vastness of the area view from the overlook on Grandads Bluff.. 

Overlooking La Cross, WI, we could see for miles. The weather was a perfect, breezy, balmy day with clear blue skies. The temps were a little more conducive to hiking than it was a few days ago. We realized packing a cooler would be smart.  Since we didn’t bring a cooler, we decided to try a treat of frozen custard at Culver’s. Of course, we each chose very different frozen treats and shared. 

We tried to visit St Rose Convent, The Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration Motherhouse. Unfortunately, tours were not offered on the day we were there.

This area is a college town, full of quaintness with a mixture of trendy, hipster places. It made for a nice walk on a pretty day. 

We were able to walk around on the grounds of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The walk from the parking lot to the shrine is probably about ½ mile all up hill.  We saw a few shrines prior to getting to the main shrine. They were in the midst of a Mass when we got there. We were able to step inside and see the gorgeous church. There was a memorial dedicated to the unborn, including the markers for many dead infants. There was a candle chapel with many layers of 700 towering candles lit weekly.

The construction of the church is beautiful.  Pictures were not allowed to be taken inside.

    One of the common billboards in the area is featured below.  We found humor in the sign.

We decided not to be those couch potatoes and try to explore the area by biking and hiking. We did get out on our bike on this stop. We took a ride on an old railroad bed that led from Onalaska to La Crosse.  It was a nice ride of about 19 miles round trip.  We are really loving our electric bikes with the throttle assist. We are able to travel much further than we ever could on a standard bike. The trails were well laid out and easy to ride without fear of car traffic. It was perfect weather for our long bike ride.

The La Crosse River before it reaches the Mississippi

                         The trestle bridge was built when this was a railroad path.

Lisa enjoyed the view on one of the many bridges our trip took us across.

This Veterans Memorial was for the vets from La Crosse County.

Tribute to Local Medal of Honor Winner 

This area does pay tribute to the local veterans at most of their parks. We really appreciate this.

Clarks Ferry: Montpelier, Iowa

 We traveled from Ray Behrens (Mark Twain Lake) to Clarks Ferry in Montpelier, Iowa.  Our intention was to follow the Great River Road to the Corp of Engineer Park.  Apparently signs cost too much in Missouri. The route was very poorly marked, so we so had to change plans and follow the GPS. Unfortunately, there is not a setting in the GPS that says scenic.  We did reach the park finally.  As we pulled in, there was a barge coming up river which was fun to see.

This was our fabulous view from the campsite.

Remainder of day was taking care of various items on the rig. Just like living in a house, there is always housekeeping and work to be done.

We went north to Davenport, Iowa to look at the sky bridge and Vander Veer Botanical Park. The sky bridge was not anything to talk about, but it did give us a nice view of Lock 15.  The dam is 1,203 feet (366.7 m) long and consists of nine 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible, non-overflow roller gates and two 109 feet (33.2 m) non-submersible overflow roller gates. It is unusual among the upper Mississippi River dams. It has different sizes and types of roller gates.

Vander Veer Park was a nice stop even though the temperature was approaching 100 degrees.

We got curious about the location of Antique Archaeology and discovered it was in the immediate area.  It is the store that the American Pickers TV show centers around.  The store is located in Le Claire, IA.  It was a huge disappointment.  There are 2 stores on the property and almost everything they are selling is advertising junk (t shirts, hats, etc) for the store itself.  We did discover the Buffalo Bill Museum in town.  This made the trip worth our visit to Le Claire.  The Buffalo Bill Museum is a Mish Mash of everything from the area, not only Buffalo Bill information.  He was from the area.  

 

This is a Stern Wheel from one of the last Stern wheel ships that worked the river. Very interesting when you can look at it closely. Those are 2x10’s bolted to the steel supports.  Very simple concept but I would be interested in knowing how long they lasted.

This is the Great River route in Iowa.  From what have we seen to this point today, the Route appears to be very well marked with signage advertising the route.

One of the fun things we found in the museum was how Pearl buttons were made.  These are actually made from Mollusk shells from the Mollusks that live in the area in the Mississippi River.  At one point, the area produced 1.5 billion pearl buttons each year.

Below was an interesting bit of information regarding the Interstate high way system

On our way back from Le Claire to Clarks Ferry, we stopped at Lock 14 as a barge was being transferred up stream.  It was a very interesting process and not heavily time consuming.

Today is another travel day. We will be moving upstream along the Mississippi to De Soto, Wi.

Ray Behrans Campground in Perry, Missouri

 We traveled from Paducah Kentucky to Ray Behrans Campground.  It was an adventurous start to our journey.  We followed the Great River Road.  This path follows the Mississippi River from its start to New Orleans.  Our intention is to follow it north from South Illinois to Minneapolis/ St Paul. An unexpected discovery on the route was Chester, Illinois, The Home of Popeye.  Popeye was based on Chester resident Frank Fiegel who was said to strongly resemble the spinach eating cartoon character that first debuted in 1929.  From here we followed the River Road to St Louis where we ended up on Expressways.  As our trip to the campground was ending, we were passed by a pickup truck towing a grain wagon with Auger and chute.  As he passed, the chute came loose and broke the driver side mirror of the coach.  After chasing him down, he denied it had occurred and grudgingly provided us with his information.  Luckily for us, we have a dash camera that verified our position.  When checking to see what the costs were going to be, we discovered we could purchase the glass by itself for $59.  Which made dealing with him pointless.  This ordeal definitely proved that the investment in the dash cam was a good one.  If the entire mirror had to be replaced, that would have cost about $2,500.

We toured Hannibal, Missouri, the Home of Samuel Clemmons, pen name Mark Twain, while we were here.  It is a nice little town on the banks of the Mississippi.  It appears the majority of income is derived from the town’s relationship with Samuel Clemmons.  There is a tour of his childhood home, which we opted not to do.  We walked all around town and looked in several little local shops. The people were very friendly.  Many of them asked what had brought us to the area and were interested in our travel plans. 

Not sure why but Hannibal has a Light house dedicated to Mark Twain.

We found this very nice park in town with this memorial to veterans. Behind the monument is a great view of the area.  We have found several veteran memorials in the area.  The park was nicely laid out and well maintained. 

The town is overwhelmingly dedicated to Tom Sawyer, Huck Finn and all things Mark Twain.

We went to the Farmers Market.  It was enjoyable but it’s a little early to get fresh vegetables.  There was a lot of home baked goods. We bought a few things- tomatoes, banana bread and cookies. Karma got to go and was a superstar there. We got stopped so many times so people could pet on him and ask about him. Luckily, he is very well behaved when we take him out. He loves to go anywhere with us and loves getting attention from others- he especially loves kids.

 We had lunch at a local restaurant named what else but Finn’s. A local noticed Mark’s Navy shirt and cap and suggested Finn’s to us. Finn’s gives a 50% discount to veterans, so we were glad to give them our business.  Mark got a “Ponyshoe” for lunch.  It was a grilled Chicken breast with BBQ sauce and a slice of cheese covered in French fries with Cheese sauce.  Lisa had catfish and onion rings.  Nothing to write home about but it is part of the area’s delicacies. We are trying to eat at local places rather than chain restaurants and try some local favorite dishes.  Part of experiencing different parts of the country includes experiencing their culture and their food. 

Since we are camping at Mark Twain Lake, we felt it was essential to take a tour of the area on the hiking trails. There was a really nice trail near our campground. Karma was thrilled when he realized he was getting to go with us. It was nice but extremely hot. Karma had a great time, but he was ready to call it a day about the same time as us.  Missouri needs to look at introducing Guinea Hens to the park.  Guineas love to eat ticks. The ticks are record setting. Between Lisa and I, we picked off at least 200 ticks. Karma’s Seresto collar did a great job protecting him.  Neither of us have ever seen this many ticks before. We found out later that we also got into some poison ivy. We had to go find some Fels Naptha soap. Mark swears by this for poison ivy. It works really well for him, so we got to go visit Walmart to find some.  

Visit to Mark Twain state park is coming to a close. We will be heading to Clark’s Ferry in Iowa tomorrow. We are already getting pretty good at tackling the packing and unpacking as we travel.  We have a system and it works for us.

Day One of the Rest of Our Lives

 We spent about 10 days in Nashville before we set out on our journey so we could spend some time visiting family and friends. We spent the morning having breakfast with our Granddaughter Ellis. Courtney was there also, but Ellis was the real star of the show.  Missing time watching Ellis grow up is probably the hardest part of our travels over the next few years. We also believe we will have multitudes of stories to share with her and any other grandchildren we will have in the future.  Sharing our stories with our family and friends is huge for us. We felt the blog was a great way to document our adventures so we can share them with others. It will also be great for us to look back and cherish those memories. 

We finally got on the road late morning on June 7, 2022.  My official retirement date was June 6, 2022. Lisa had already retired in 2018.  The first day of travel was planned to be an easy one, so the late start was not an issue. Spending time with Ellis was well worth a late start. Lisa was trying to figure out how to escape with Ellis without anyone noticing, but decided Ryan and Courtney might object to that plan. 

Mark worked for months plotting the route, booking campgrounds and researching the areas. It was a lot of work and planning to set up this first 6 months of our adventure. The trip was designed with purpose and intent versus just willy nilly taking off. We have planned and anticipated so much- such as maintenance for the coach and for us.   There has been literally years of research and planning invested into this trip already. 

So…. Off we go to start our adventure. 

With that being said, we had an approximate 150-mile drive to Metropolis, IL, the home of Superman (Statue) and Noel Neill, the original Lois Lane, the intrepid reporter for the daily planet and love interest of Superman and his alter ego Clark Kent.

While in Metropolis, we also stopped Big John’s Grocery store.  From what we were told, these used to be a chain of stores.  Now there are only a handful around.  The one in Metropolis has an original Big John greeting you.

Google is a great thing. We looked up things to do in the area.  The superman statues and Big John grocery store were actually at the top of the list for top attractions.  There was a casino nearby, but we opted to skip it after the excitement of the Big John statue. We didn’t want to set the bar too high for the rest of the trip. 

On our way out of town, we took a walk on the river near this Lighthouse.  It was a nice walk and allowed us to get Karma out.  We are actually looking forward to seeking out parks and things to do that get us outside and active. It is great for us and Karma loves it. Most of our stops will be at COE parks or state/national parks. We should have many great trails and parks ahead of us. 

Tomorrow we are back on the road.  So far, so good.  Karma isn’t really sure what is going on, but he is adjusting well to life on the road. He is already learning the signs that it is time to pack up and move on. 

We are each learning as we go.  We have definitely learned we need to make lists because we will forget.  We are doing well working together as a team.  It is a good thing we like each other, because there is no such thing as privacy.  Having a sense of humor is a must. We have to laugh at ourselves and each other.  It is critical that everything has a place and we put it back in its place when we are done with it.  Living in a RV is like playing Jenga.  It is a balancing act.  

Below is our planned route for the remainder of 2022:

Welcome to Our Website

 

    We started making plans for this lifestyle 3 years ago.  We looked at all the options for travel- including trikes, hotels and a RV. We researched the options and weighed the pros and cons of each. We decided to get a RV, live in campgrounds and become "full timers".  Next we had to decide what kind of RV we wanted- gas, diesel, Class A, fifth wheel, etc.. After putting this all on a spreadsheet and comparing these, we decided on a diesel Class A.  From there we had to decide on a floor plan and a manufacturer. We were able to narrow it down to 3 different manufacturers.  From there the search intensified and became exciting.  After looking at an untold number of coaches, we were able to settle on the basic floor plan.  We found the coach we were sure was the one for us.  We were set to go look at it in Arkansas in just a few days.  Our local dealer called and informed us a coach just came in on a trade and he felt it was perfect for us.  He said we needed to come look at it ASAP before someone else grabbed it. We were at our favorite Mexican Restaurant and said we would be there in about an hour.  We went to the dealer and there was Ethel.  Ethel is a 45 foot 2016 Tiffin Allegro Bus Model 45OP. He was right, she was perfect for us. We bought her on the spot.

 Meet Ethel and our travel companion, Karma

She is everything we wanted and more.  Ethel has all of the comforts of a Sticks and Bricks home- including heated floors, fireplace, central vacuum, dishwasher, and a washer and dryer. She looked brand new despite being several years old. She has far more features than we ever dreamed we might have in a RV.   

We decided on a tow vehicle for getting around town and exploring the various areas.  We were very limited in options for a tow vehicle, not many are approved to be towed "4 down". Fred is a 2021 Chevrolet Equinox.  When looking for vehicles that could be used as a TOAD, we felt the Equinox fit us best. The Equinox is large enough for the 3 of us, yet small enough to allow us maneuverability.  The Equinox also gets average gas mileage, which we wanted because Ethel loves to drink up diesel pretty quickly.  Fred came with a trailer hitch. We mounted a 1up rak attach (swing arm) and 1up Bike carrier. Finding a good bike rack was harder than we anticipated. Not all bike racks are approved for use on a tow car, so this took some research as well. On the bike carrier we have 2 Rad Mini Electric Bikes. The Rad minis were a great purchase. They provide us with plenty of exercise and another means to get around town. We can use the e bikes on and off road, so trail riding will give us many adventures off road.