LAKE DELTON< WI: Moving Further Northwest

Wednesday, we went  to Captain's Cove Bar and Grill and enjoyed a leisurely lunch on their screened porch while watching the traffic on the Illinois River.  The food and service was good, and the river activity was entertaining.

Yesterday (Thursday), we drove to Starved Rock State Park.  Unlike most states, Illinois does not charge an admission fee, boat or swimming fee in their state parks.  The park suffered major storm damage in July, and some areas are still closed as the massive tree damage is removed.  We started at the Visitor Center and learned about the history of the park and surrounding area. We took a 45-minute ride on the Belle of the Rock, an authentic paddle-wheel boat, on the Illinois River to near the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Starved Rock Dam and Locks and back to the park

We were lucky enough to see one of the Bald Eagles that live in the area.   All in all, it was a beautiful day to be out and about.  Wednesday evening, another thunderstorm blew threw the area but it was much calmer storm than some of the previous ones this week.

Today (Friday), we started moving early, and pulled out of  the Hickory Hollow Campground about 10 A.M.  After 159 miles of interstate travel, and a rest area lunch stop where we got some maps and tourist information, we arrived at the Country Roads Motorhome and RV Park in Lake Delton, WI, near Wisconsin Dells around 1:30 P.M.   We're in a site close to the "store" and so far the free WIFI is decent.  We'll be here for a week and look forward to exploring the area with it's many attractions, including a casino.  Unfortunately, it looks like the holiday weekend may be a rainy one here.

UTICA, IL: Just Normal Living

There's nothing very exciting to write about....we're just enjoying life in the RV and going out to do errands such as shopping at Home Depot and Walmart as we leisurely work our way north to Gordon, Wisconsin.  The weather has mostly been either too hot or too wet for outdoor activity.

 On Saturday and again Monday, thunderstorms blew through the area with torrential rain and high winds.  More storms are in the forecast for the rest of our stay, but at least the temperatures are much cooler.  

Last night we walked to the Deer Ridge and Green Acres areas of the campground and were greeted by clearing skies and a beautiful sunset.  This part of the campground is surrounded by cornfields, which are about ready to be harvested.


Yesterday, we had a long phone call with an adviser from Aon Retiree Health Exchange (Aon Hewitt), the company that will be running AT&T's Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) that is replacing their traditional Health Benefit program beginning in 2015.  These calls are being made to each retiree to explain Medicare programs and how to use their site to shop from from over 90 plans and options.  This was basically an orientation to get us started looking at the mound of paperwork that is involved.  We will have another call for assistance with the actual enrollment in November or December.  Time will tell whether the plans will continue to be "benefits" or headaches.

This morning we had a phone consultation with our financial adviser.  We then took a tour of the area swinging through the outskirts of Ottawa on the way to Captains Cove Bar and Grill for waterfront dining at the Starved Rock Marina on the Illinois River, but we found they are closed on Tuesday's!  So we went to Delaney's Family Restaurant in Oglesby for a great buffet and met a soon-to-be fellow RVer from Marion, NC seated at an adjacent table.  After lunch we fueled up the car and went to a CVS in Peru before returning to the campground - all without a passport!

UTICA, IL: Moving North

Thursday evening, we went to dinner with Jim & Linda and Mike & Terri at the Blue Star Family Restaurant in nearby Fisher, IL.  The food was delicious, the prices were reasonable, but the best part of the meal was the company.

Yesterday (Friday) dawned wet and stormy.  By noon, we had said our goodbyes to our friends, pulled up the jacks and were heading across the Illinois prairie as we made our way north toward Wisconsin.  After about 120 miles and a 20 minute fuel stop, we settled in at the Hickory Hollow Campground in Utica, IL near I-80 on site D-5, a nice pull-thru with good hookups and a level concrete pad.  The free Wi-fi worked well until the campground started filling up - not unusual for campgrounds.  Our Verizon Jetpack helps us out most of the time.

 Since we hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch, we treated ourselves to an early dinner at Ron's Cajun Connection where we enjoyed a great dinner.  Hank had Crawfish Etouffee, Oysters, Gumbo and salad, and Selene had a Maque Choux Salad (pronounced moc shoe) topped with blackened chicken.  The owner sat with us for short time telling us about his history and the menu - quite a character!

We will be here for a week.  Our plans include some sight-seeing, shopping and two lengthy business calls, so the week  is sure to pass quickly.  The weather will be hot over the weekend with cooler temperatures forecast for later next week.

RANTOUL, IL: Enjoying Life and Friends

Our time in Rantoul will come to an end on Friday and we will continue our travels toward northern Wisconsin.  It's been a very enjoyable time at the Prairie Pines Campground, visiting with Jim & Linda and Mike & Terri, exploring a little of the surrounding countryside which is dominated by corn and soybean fields, and soaking up the relative quiet atmosphere here as compared to the very busy daytime environment we were in at Tom Johnson's. 


Monday, we went to Champagne, about 15 miles away, and visited a Meijer's store for the first time - very impressive. 

Monday evening, we all got together for grilled hot dogs and brats, and several side items, and finished the evening around a campfire.

The weather for the last 5 days has been gradually warming up with a few periods of rain, and there's usually a nice breeze blowing.  We're hoping for cooler weather once we get to Wisconsin.

RANTOUL, IL: New Territory

After enjoying several days of family fun and hugs, it was time to get Little House back on the road.  We left Shepherdsville, Ky at 10:00 A.M. EST to continue our journey north and west.  After enduring terrible road conditions on I-65 to Indianapolis, we continued west on I-74 -another bumpy ride. We arrived at Prairie Pines Campground in Rantoul, IL about 2 P.M. CST.  We selected this campground because two couples that we met through RV-Dreams, Jim & Linda, and Mike & Terri, are staying here.   The campground is on the site of the  former Chanute Air Force Base and has spacious, level sites with good hookups and some shade.

Tonight we enjoyed pizza and conversation together.  We'll stay here for a week before moving further north toward Wisconsin.

SHEPHERDSVILLE, KY: Family Time!

On Sunday we made the relatively short drive  from Renfro Valley, KY. to Grandma's RV Park in Shepherdsville, south of  Louisville, and enjoyed taking the non-interstate route.  We've stayed at Grandma's before - a basic, well-kept campground with gravel sites, good hookups and so far pretty good Wi-fi signals.  We'll be visiting with Joel and Jan, Mary Kay and Colleen, Carolyn and Sophie, Mary Kirk (Jan's mother) and a few other friends and family members while we're in the area. 

RENFRO VALLEY, KY: Moving On!

Yesterday, we said good-bye to the Tom Johnson management and  employees and thanked them for all they had done for us.

Today, as Little House took us through the campground gate,  we were glad to be moving on. We drove through some of the the Blue Ridge, Smokey and Cumberland Mountains before descending into the rolling hills of central Ky.....sometime in rain, sometimes in sunshine....before settling down for the night at the Renfro Valley RV Park.  Our journey today took about 6 hours, including lunch and fuel stops. The park is nothing fancy, but it does have  discounted rates and cable TV with lots of choices....a nice extra after watching nothing put public television for most of the last 3 months.

Tomorrow we'll finish our trip to the Louisville area.

MARION, NC: A Productive Day

Today we delivered Little House to the Service Center at 8 A.M. so we had an early start to our day. Several items were on today's schedule:

• Finishing the installation of the new/old A/C which included reinstalling the condensate drain pump inside the roof-top unit, and fastening the remaining bolts inside securing the drop-down decorative ceiling plate which conceals the A/C cooling vents and access to the ducts.
• Removing the bedroom window  treatment and restringing the day/night shade.
• Realignment of the patio awning arms and canvas, and securing some parts that had worked loose
• Replacing a turn signal control inside the steering column.  This item was originally scheduled for tomorrow but parts arrived yesterday so they completed their work list today!

While Little House was being patched up we got an interesting piece of information from Dale, the assistant service manager.  Dale said another dealer's repair shop had heard about our problem and contacted the service department here to see if a solution had been found - because they were having the same problem.  This confirmed a suspicion that Dale had previously voiced - that as these units aged they would  be seeing more of  this  problem.

Anyway - Our repair list is finally complete!!  The only thing left is to pay the bill, but most of that is either covered as repairs covered by the dealer as part of the sale, or covered by our extended warranty.

We'll stay here until Sunday when we'll start our journey toward Wisconsin. Since our route takes us through Louisville, we'll spend a few days there visiting with family and friends.  It will be wonderful to get these big wheels turning again.

MARION, NC; Toby is Our Hero

Our weather is still nice and cool, and we haven't had as much rain as was predicted,  The sun finally made an appearance late today, but  now the clouds have rolled in once again.  The forecast for the weekend includes decent rain chances and cooler-than-normal temperatures.

However, our mood is still sunny since the rear A/C continues to operate as it should.  We found out today that  one of the service technicians, Toby, came up with the solution on Tuesday to the puzzle that had so many others scratching their heads.  We had a chance to talk with him this morning and we thanked him for what he did.

Another high point to our day was learning that the extended warranty company had approved all 3 items we had submitted for repair and parts have been ordered.  You may remember that the warranty company we used for the Discovery was not always easy to work with. Due to the number of complaints received, the broker we purchased that warranty from no longer offer contracts from that company.  This is the first time to file a claim with the warranty company covering the Tradition so we weren't sure how smooth the process might be. We were happy to find there were no problems with the claim.  Repairs will be made as soon as the parts arrive, and we're still hoping to be back on the road sometime late next week.

Today, the Tom Johnson's Hitch Shop welded a receiver/mount in place for a low profile ham radio antenna that doesn't have to be taken down before driving the RV down the road.