June 14, 2013

Waking up to the birds chirping was a lovely sound until it was rudely interrupted by the talking and giggling of about 20 little girl scouts in the cabins near us. I guess it’s only fair since we probably woke their counselors when we came in last night and drove around the campground looking for just the right spot. Well there is one debt repaid, even steven.

The kids were excited to be outside and have some room to roam around. The playground was nice but the pool was even better, heated to 80 degrees and with two slides this was one thing that had to be taken advantage of.

If I had thought about it sooner I would have thrown a load of laundry in while the kids swam, but live and learn. The laundry bags aren’t stinky, yet as I did laundry just a few days back after the big soaking.

After some swimming a little more exploring was done. Sister Bear really liked that they had big tepees that you could rent.

Legoboy thought the Kangaroo crossing next 5k was the best sign he had seen.

Carboy really wanted to bike ride but Sparky wasn’t up for taking them off the rack. I’m going to remind him of this time and back in MI when the kids wanted to ride bikes but he didn’t want to get them down. I think I will count “times asked, when there was a reasonable place and time to ride” towards the five times he said they needed to use them in order to ever bring bikes on a trip again… So far three – one actual and two appropriate asking.

Thirty five dollars granted us an empty waste tank, charged electronics without the use of the generator (although I do use it liberally now that it is a push of a button), and full clear water tanks. Plus a swim and showers for everyone, not in a 2×2 vertical coffin they call an RV shower stall; functional, but claustrophobic.

We headed out late in the afternoon and headed towards Dubuque where we’ll cross the Mississippi River and pass into Iowa and then Wisconsin.

Before we realized it we were crossing the bridge over the Mississippi.

Yikes, the kids had all dozed off on this afternoon, post swim drive and I didn’t want them to miss this. So we swung Flyer around, ok, she doesn’t really “swing around” more like meander, and crossed back over into Illinois and woke the kids to tell them that we’ll soon be crossing the Mississippi.

They all got their cameras out and took shots of the River as we crossed.

Then into Wisconsin to get some cheese. Probably should have thought about the time we headed out from KOA, but they were having so much fun, as it was now after 6 and finding a place open in Wisconsin on a Friday night was nearly impossible.

We bagged the Wisconsin cheese idea and settle for some Subway. No comparison, I know. Oh well, the kids didn’t seem to care. Poor Sparky, no cheese but your kidneys free of stones will thank you later.

Up through Wisconsin to Prairie du Chien or “Prairie de Chicken” as Sparky liked to keep saying, much to Legoboys dismay.

We watched a beautiful sunset over the rolling hills of Wisconsin’s numerous farms.

I can imagine when my home state might have looked like this but with a lot more mountains. At a stop in Wisconsin the kids noted that the clerk asked if they wanted a “sack” instead of a “bag” as we’d say.

Cross back over into Iowa and then headed to Minnesota.

Some people are magnets for good things like, always get their name drawn for free giveaways or winning scratch tickets or lucky slot machines. Others are magnets to things not so fortunate, not always by pure chance as I think we have a hand in what comes our way. The thing that Sparky is a magnet for is police officers. Yes, we got pulled over in our 1985 Winnebago on a dark and winding road in the middle of Iowa. Yes, officer, we have full insurance and valid registration (later I noticed that the license plate is hidden behind our bikes). We explained to the nice officer that we do know the speedometer is off by about 5-7 mph and we try to watch the GPS which lists the travel speed. Probably should have noticed we were going 69 down a nice long hill in a 55mph zone. A warning to be more careful and keep the kids buckled up, which they were, and “Buckle Up” tattoos for the kids and we were on our way.

Legoboy and I played some card and board games while Sister Bear rode shotgun as we rode.

Carboy had long since zonked out; he’s been getting sick. Awful cough, which was better today and hopefully will be gone tomorrow with a good nights sleep. No more midnight nights for him, puts his whole body in a tale spin.

Magnets, did I tell you we were magnets? It seems like we are also magnets for storms. Yes, Iowa has a big storm also coving the southern part of Minnesota. Right, where we are.

Really, you do know we have no wipers, right? That part is waiting for us in Rapid City, SD.

We change course slightly from Northwest to North and head into Minnesota and up to Spring Valley. It’s close to the highway for tomorrow and I think we can get there before the storm gets this far East. I also found an overnight RV lot in Spring Valley.

I guess whoever publishes the website for Spring Valley, MN and their RV lot doesn’t see much point in addresses or directions to this said overnight parking area. Maybe they don’t realize that anyone using it won’t be from “round here”. There was a map that showed a water treatment facility and County Rd 8. It showed this lot was after the intersection of 240th St. but before Poppy Rd., none of which would come up on map quest or our GPS. I have to say, I am a master map reader and I was able to find these roads and get us to the lot, which obviously no one else had been able to find as it was empty, before rainfall.

As we backed into a spot, that had a electical hook-up that was nicely padlocked closed, the first clap of thunder came. We’d been watching the lightening in the distance for a while, but now it was over us. Rain came down quick and hard wth lightening and thunder overlapping each other. Sorry, Oscar, you’ll have to hold it til morning…