Settled In at Green Acre Park, Waterloo

We're all set up. Laundry is done and travel dust and grime cleaned up. The weather is pretty windy - gusts to 85 km/hour. So Wayne hasn't cleaned the outside of the truck or RV. Maybe Wednesday.

View from our dining room window

Wayne saw fish jumping in the pond at suppertime.  I believe the pond is stocked so the kids can fish.  Green Acre is a very pretty park and extremely convenient to Kitchener Waterloo.  But it doesn't have cable.  Boo Hoo.  Tomorrow we are going to try and set up our satellite.  Too windy today.


We went to Guelph and spent time with Mom and Dad. We also joined the library - only to discover that Wayne's new e-reader isn't compatible with their system. Apparently compatibility is coming - but when? For now, he can download to his computer and read from that.

Mom

Dad

Dad just recently turned 80 years old.  Man what a milestone.  He says he feels 80 too. 

Present from Dad

Dad carved this for us.  It is so cute.  It's about 2 feet tall and will look great at Doe Lake.  Wayne nicknamed him "Rat-bastard"  lol

We Made It!

Here we are at Green Acre Park in Waterloo

 After a short travel day, we are set up and settling in at Green Acre Park.  It sure feels good to have no more travelling for a few weeks.

Friday, we left Middlebury heading for Port Huron.  It was an interesting trip as we saw three accidents and at least six oversize loads.  Two of the accidents were transport trailer fires and the other one involved several military vehicles.  There were several ambulances and police cars.  I hope everyone is OK.

We weren't camping Friday night as there were no campgrounds open in the area.  So we booked into the Baymont Inn in Port Huron.  It is right across from an outlet mall with lots of room in the parking lot.  We left the truck and rig in the lot.  The location was very convenient and made for easy access to the border.

Customs was a non event.  Very short line and pleasant cheerful attendants.  Less than five minutes and we were back on Canadian soil and heading home.  All went well until Wayne said "Did you see that road closed sign?"  Well, no, I hadn't.  For some reason Highway 7 is completely closed.  Construction, I think.  Lola (GPS) told us to turn right to get back to highway but the road she chose was a dead end.  Wayne had to use a farm lane to turn around, backing into the road.  My ears are still ringing.

Once we followed the correct detour, the road led us through the small town of St. Mary's.  What a beautiful town.  The main street has fantastic architecture - mostly stone buildings.

St. Mary's

Main Street

Tomorrow, Kathy is bringing Mom and Dad over to see us.  We are going to have Sunday breakfast.  See you soon Mom and Dad.

A Day of Touring

Lunch was very special and lots of fun today. We visited our first DDD - South Side Diner. Very yummy.

Only some of the desserts

Guy Fieri had Philly Cheese steak and so did I

After lunch we toured the assembly line at Keystone RV.  They have 14 different lines.  We toured the Laredo, Avalanche and Alpine line.  The Alpine replaced the Everest (our trailer).  The RVs are built from the frame up and from the inside out.

Wayne checking out frame and levelling jacks

Installing cabinets and wiring 

Slides are fully assembled and then mounted on side rails

Finished Laredo and Chris - our guide

Pond side gazebo at KOA Middlebury/Elkhart

Our site

Supper found us at Das Dutchman Essenhaus. This is a large Amish complex with a restaurant, bakery, gift shops and a quilting store. It also includes a motel conference center.

You could order off the menu, dine family style or choose from the buffet.  We enjoyed the buffet.

Salad

Beef and ribs with sides

Table set up in buggy

We've enjoyed our time here in Middlebury.  But tomorrow we head for Port Huron, Michigan.  It's our last stop before Waterloo.  We're staying in a motel as no campgrounds are open yet.  

Northern Indiana - Land of the Amish and RV Manufacturers

We headed north through small town Indiana. Our destination - Elkhart/Goshen area. Many RV manufacturers are centered here. In addition Amish and Mennonite communities abound. There are numerous farms, furniture studios and tourist themed stores. Lots of quilts, crafts and baked goods.

Lots of construction zones

Great old architecture

Small Town USA

Well maintained farms

First of many horse and buggy rigs

Tomorrow we are going to tour the Keystone RV Plant. It should be interesting to see how they are made and what has changed. We will be seeing the Alpine line. The Alpine replaced the Everest. Our RV is an Everest. We will probably check out some of the craft stores and sample some Amish cuisine.

Tool and Die Factory - Huge and a beautiful property

Indianapolis, Indiana

Most of today's journey was across the state of Illinois. We are now just past Indianapolis, Indiana. We are getting travelled out. Feel slightly seasick from all the vehicle motion. We both seem to be developing colds or maybe allergies have kicked in. Anyhow, glad to be off the road for a bit. We are staying two nights here and taking it easy.

Lots of farmers working in the fields

The farms have changed quite a bit the last few days. Now the farms seem to be dairy farms or fields growing crops. Before it was mostly cattle ranches or crops heavily dependent on irrigation systems. Now the watering is done by Mother Nature.

Many small ponds or lakes along the side of the highway.  I wonder if they are spring fed as there didn't seem to be any linking rivers or streams.  Anyway they are very pretty. 

We came around a curve to see this huge cross.

Home for the next few days

Happy Easter From Granite City, Illinois

Spring Flowering Trees

We passed at least 30 churches along the highway today.  Most of the parking lots were full.  I'd have to say that Missouri seems like the most church going state we have ever visited.

One of the many churches we passed

Yesterday, while at Bass Pro Sports, we looked at Tracker pontoon boats.  Lo and behold, today we drove by the manufacturing plant.  Guess that BPS is keeping it local.

Boats as far as we could see

Waynesville - just east of Wayne's World

Hilly roads with lots of nice rock - I think limestone

Mississippi River

We crossed over the Mississippi River leaving Missouri at St. Louis and entering Illinois at Granite City. The Missouri side is very urban and the Illinois side is rural and industrial.  Our park for tonight is in an industrial area but very quiet.  I did however spot train tracks behind a wooded area.  I'm beginning to think that all campgrounds are either beside a train track or interstate highway.  Sometimes both.

Oops! No Battery In Camera

New State Added to Our Travel Map

Every time we spend a night camping in a new state or province we add that sticker to our travel map. This trip we have added Texas. Last year we drove across the Panhandle without stopping. Nice to fill in that gap. Sometime we'll plan a trip eastward and fill in some of those provinces and states. We haven't been East since we went to PEI with our tent trailer. Long time ago.

Springfield/Route 66 KOA - Our Site

This is a very nice park.  Lots of green trees and singing birds.  The trees are dropping keys and blossom petals.  Wayne is so...oo thrilled with the bits and pieces falling on to the truck and trailer.  This morning it looked like it was snowing.  There were so many petals falling.

After finishing the laundry and putting a roast in the slow cooker, we headed out to Bass Pro Sports.  This isn't just any Bass Pro Sports store.  It is the flagship store and head office.  Our first order of business was to find some lunch.  The restaurant is called "Hemingway's" and is on the fourth floor of the store.  It is very posh.  Not paper napkins here.  The restaurant includes a bar and a buffet.  The tables over look the sales floor.  The buffet area is circular.  Hot food stations are in the middle with salad bar, desserts and carving stations in an outer ring.  It is beautifully decorated with a mermaid about 4 feet tall in the center.

I tried to take pictures.  The camera wouldn't turn on.  Oh, oh - it's only about two weeks old.  What's wrong with my camera?  Well, cameras work better with a battery installed.  I recharged the battery last evening and forgot to reinstall it.  Oops!

Any how we spent the whole afternoon shopping and looking.  Wayne bought new shorts.  We also found thermocell bug repellent at a good price.

My new hiking boots

I've been wanting a pair of waterproof hiking boots since last winter.  Hikes will be a lot more fun with dry feet and good treads.

Now we are back at home relaxing and watching an old movie - Swiss Family Robinson.  Tomorrow, back on the road heading to St. Louis.  Why don't you meet me in St. Louis?

Springfield, Missouri

Today's colour is green

 Today we travelled from Oklahoma to Missouri.  We are now in the Ozarks, pretty close to Branson.  Passing by Tulsa we drove on a turnpike bypassing all of the downtown area.  Of course it was a toll road.  In all today we paid four different tolls.  I must say the roads in Oklahoma are in a lot better shape this year, but all the tolls are annoying and relatively expensive.  Not all the booths are manned so you better have lots of quarters on hand.

 Just over the state line in Missouri, we stopped at a huge truck stop.

Full size semi in sales area of truck stop

Huge wall of custom lighting options

Displays of yesteryear

This truck stop was so big it had four different places to eat. A buffet, a sub place, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut.  Amazing.  There were probably several hundred semis in the parking lot while we were there.  There are 450 parking spots in total.

We are now settled in at the KOA in Springfield.  They have a pizzeria on site.  We indulged for supper.  Very tasty.

Tomorrow is a rest day.  We are going to do laundry and make a visit to the Bass Pro Shop Flagship store.  Wayne has done research and has his shopping list ready.

Chandler, Oklahoma

They call Oklahoma the state of the toll roads.  Just today we paid 3 different tolls on the same highway over a distance of about 60 miles.  More to come tomorrow.

Texas - very flat and very green

 Last year it was very dry going through Texas.  Fire hazards and warnings were all over.  This year everything is very green.  I think the state is still recovering from the dryness of last year but the fields are looking good.

Oklahoma - lots of farms and ranches

Passed lots of cows

Check out the red dirt - so red its almost fluorescent

 This was the longest travel day of our whole trip home.  We got on the road by about 830am and were all set up by 4:00pm.  Traffic flow through Amarillo was excellent and we bypassed Oklahoma City on one of those toll roads.  So not a bad travel day at all.

Oak Glen RV Park is a small older park located on Historic Hwy 66.  We are on a cement pad. (nice and level) and the WIFI seems to work well.  We still have the truck hooked up so it should be easy to get going in the morning.   Two issues arising for tomorrow.  One, there are very few places to fuel up on the toll roads.  Secondly, being Good Friday - what's going to be open?

Our site

Oak Glen RV Park

Today is the first day we have seen real trees since leaving California.  It's so nice to see greenery again.