2009 – Week 1








April 16, 2009:
Thursday, our day to leave, but things happen. We had the RV tested for leaks the first week of March, but when we put it out in the rain, it was almost as wet inside as out. Back to the RV dealer, but they were unable to find the problem. It rained again on Tuesday and Wednesday, and it still leaked. Now, if you’re ocean racing, you expect some water below and can sleep in your foul weather gear. However, in a land dingy (small RV) …… Anyway, we didn’t get away today. We did make arrangements to stop by the dealer tomorrow and give them a photo of areas of leakage.

April 17, 2009:
We left home at 8:00am and stopped by the RV dealer at 9:00am. They looked inside and out, but were unable to find anything so we gave them the picture for the files and left. We drove west on I-70, I-68, I-79 then back on I-70. Anything to avoid the PA Turnpike. We drove 407 miles before stopping at the Buckeye Lake KOA at 6:45pm. Susie climbed up on the roof of the RV and taped the front window, clearance lights and a roof/side joint on the left side. She saw a suspicious caulk joint on the top of the window. When it rains again, we’ll see if the tape job stops the leak. Cross your fingers! We have started to discover stuff that we left behind: tablecloths, hair shampoo. But we have a wonderful tulip plant given to us on Easter by Kimberly’s mother-in-law, Cindy. It adds a bit of home to the RV. Susie has started her work on her pictorial book of the trip.

April 18, 2009:
Up at 7:00am took Daisy for a walk and as we returned so Susie headed to the shower. She was a bit perplexed since the steps we closed off. She looked at the map and headed off in another direction to another facility, only to find that one closed off also. Big problem brewing! The office didn’t open until 8;00am, and I was standing at the door. A very cheery lady was standing there, asking if she could do anything. Anyway, it turns out that there was a 3rd facility that had showers, but they had put an incorrect symbol on the map. It would have been nice if the desk had told us of this when we checked in. Oh well, we had breakfast outside and left at 10:15am and headed west on I-70 through OH to Greencastle IN, the home of DePauw University. We met Meredith and had a great Mexican dinner. The old buildings around the Greencastle town square are wonderful structures with limestone and brick walls with elegant cornices. The only building in the center of square was the County Courthouse. For some reason there are no sidewalks around the Courthouse, making it impossible to walk across the square. After dinner we took Meredith’s car back to the RV Park. Rain started to fall as we drove.

April 19, 2009:
It rained all night, and every time Susie or I awoke we checked for leakage. We didn’t find any but are still keeping our fingers crossed. We had breakfast with Meredith and then took a walk along the rim and across the floor of an abandoned limestone quarry owned by DePauw University. The quarry and surrounding land was donated, probably because it was worked out. It rain rained lightly during the walk, but it was enjoyable for the three of us plus Daisy. Back to town for brunch after which Meredith drove us back to the RV. We said out good-bys, unhooked the RV and headed west on I-70 and then south on I-57 to the Steven A Forbes SRA. NOAA weather had warned about flooding along the Wabash River (the border between IL and IN and the time zone change line), and we saw that as we drove along I-70. Gabby Garmin took us on what we thought was the craziest route, but we arrived after driving down numerous farm roads passed fields soaked by the rains. It will be a long time before the farmers can plant this land. We approached the Park from the north, entered the east entrance and drove around the southern side, finally ending up at the northwest corner to camp for the night. We stopped at 5:00pm CDT, took showers and worked on the blogs. The Park is almost empty, but it is very large, and we think it must be full in the summer. Meredith had helped Susie with Photoshop so hopefully the picture taking of her drawings and then moving them to the website will be easier. That would be great! Daisy is into the trip, and her visit with Meredith was great tonic. The sky is a bit brighter, and we are hoping for drier days as we wander through southern IL and the Ozark Mountains in MO and AK for the next several days.

April 20, 2009:
It rained all night last night, but there didn’t seem to be any leakage. OK, enough talk about water infiltration! Daisy and I took our walk under windy and clear skies. We had breakfast and decided where we would go today. A lot of driving, but it was interesting to see the farmland, often with flooded fields. One farm had a large assembly of solar power electric panels to support is operation. We finally came to the fast flowing Ohio River, which was out of its banks in low areas. We stopped at the Cave-in-Rock State Park along the Ohio River. The cave was used during the filming of a Davy Crockett movie and the Huckleberry Finn movie. We had lunch overlooking the river and then pushed on to the Ferne Clyffe SP
near Carbondale IL, stopping for gas and a Dairy Queen. We took two hikes in this park, one to a waterfall and the second to open caves in the sandstone cliffs. We then moved on to the Giant City SP about 10 miles away. We checked in and spent time downloading photos, calling around to find an oil change facility, walking Daisy, etc. This SP has showers, a great reason for staying here.

April 21, 2009:
What a great day this was! The skies were clear, the wind from the west at 15-20k and low humidity. We left the campground at 11:00am and took 4 hikes for a total of 6 miles. The first was a 1/2 acre site that was used by native-americans during the period 500-1000AD as a security point. It is a point of land that is impossible to scale on 3 sides and the 4th side was protected by a tall stonewall. We could tell that we were in the east because the trail was classified as “difficult”. If this was difficult, the walks we take in the Patapsco Park behind our house must be “impossible”. After this walk, we took a loop-walk (classification unknown) along the bottom and top of a sandstone bluff that was covered with various spring flowers. Susie had her plant book out, but we couldn’t make a match. The third walk was through the “Giant City”, an area of very large sandstone blocks that looked as if they had moved in various directions to create a maze of stone.

There is a discussion as to whether the chunks had actually moved or if dripping water over thousands of years had eroded weakened areas to create the impression of moving blocks. The last was the Devil’s Tabletop, a column of sandstone topped by a different stone that had prevented the erosion of the sandstone below. We learned that the reason this southern tip of Illinois is so different from the flat farmland to the north is that during one of the ice ages years ago, the glacier had stopped before grinding all this sandstone to dust before retreating. It is really a different area and a pleasant surprise. There is also a wonderful lodge, built by the CCC in the 1930's. It is rustic as are most of the larger ones built during those times.

We left the park at 3:00pm and headed south towards the city of Cape Girardeau MO, the closest place to cross the Mississippi River. As we drove we had our eyes open for an oil change facility. We stopped at one place, knowing that the doors were too low, but hoping they could direct us to one that would work. Just down the street to Jim’s Tire. We pulled in and were concerned that they had too much work, however the owner told us to put the RV out front, and they’d do the change right on the ground. All of a sudden there were 4-5 different guys changing the oil, greasing the fittings, adding coolant, changing the air filter and checking tire pressure. They were done, and the bill was $44. I couldn’t believe it, and said that they had done all these things and made sure they were sure of the price. Yes they were, we paid the bill and off we went. Still couldn’t believe it. Over the Mississippi River, north through the city of Cape Girardeau and into the MO Trail of Tears SP. We are camped on the Mississippi River, and as we arrived, a pusher tug and three barges were fighting the current as they headed north. As most RV Parks, we also have a railroad track between us and the river. Earplugs tonight. A bit of a story about Cape Girardeau: when we were first married we were given a waffle iron. Susie was making waffles, and the heat was so great that it melted the finish on the dining table. I wrote the president of the company, and he had a check sent to us for the full amount of the repair. I cannot image that happening these days. Tomorrow we head west into an area known as the “Arcadia Valley” in southeast MO. I’m not sure if it is considered to be part of the Ozark Mountains, but is very close. We need to do a bit of shopping tomorrow to buy the stuff we left home.


April 22, 2009:
A wonderful morning! There were no trains last night, much to the surprise of the people who had camped here before and much to our pleasure. We sat at the picnic table, drinking coffee and watching the Mississippi flow south at an estimated 5 knots. We saw another pusher tug trying to move 5 barges against the current. Big bow wave and propeller wash, but not much movement over the ground. Susie discovered two Baltimore Orioles making a nest in a tree overhead and was told by the SP Host that they had just come back from the wintering grounds and that there were at least three pairs every year. Seems strange that it is hard to find this species in Baltimore, but easy in MO. Off we went at 9:30am, shopped for missing stuff, food and gas before heading west to the Arcadia Valley to visit 4 SP’s. First we went to Taum Sauk Mountain SP. Taum Sauk Mt is the highest point in MO at 1,772 feet (not much when you compare where we’ve been). Unfortunately, the trees were still brown, and the view was disappointing. We are hoping that this is the low point of the trip. Next stop was the Fort Davidson Historic SP located in Pilot Knob MO. This fort was the site of a Civil War battle that left 1,200 casualties on the Confederate side and 200 on the Union. Approximately 12,000 Confederates stormed a well fortified emplacement defend by 1,450 Union soldiers. The battle lasted about 4 hours. Not as bad as Antietam, but still pretty awful. According to the exhibits, MO had the 3rd most battles in the Civil War. From there we went to Elephant Rocks SP. This is the site of a granite outcropping with numerous rounded granite boulders.
Someone thought they looked like elephant ears and so the name. The granite was created 1.5 billion years ago and had about 3 miles of cover at the time. Over the years the cover was removed and the granite worn to its present condition. The granite was used for buildings in St Louis and is now used primarily for tombstones. It was getting late so we headed south to Sam Baker SP for the night. First we tried to teach Daisy how to go on a bike ride (pretty successfully) and then took a ride ourselves. It was a relaxing time. The day warmed up enough so that we ended up dressed in shorts and polo shirts. Somewhere during the drive, we saw a camel in a pasture. Tomorrow we head west to explore deeper in the Ozark Mountains.