Round trip, Branson to Wisconsin & back

September 18th saw us pulling out of our lovely campsite and hitting the road north. Hwy 65N to Hwy 44 to Saint Louis. I had been telling John how I'd like to see Cahokia (an ancient Indian settlement) but he said we wouldn't have time this trip. I'd been looking on the map for it several days prior to our departure and couldn't find it; and all of a sudden, as we approached Saint Louis, there it was, on the other side of the river in the midsts of the suburbs of Saint Louis. So much for a beautiful setting - it probably was, but - I'm not a city girl. We took the 270 bypass and left Saint Louis and Cahokia behind. It was a beautiful area though. Large hills and beautiful trees. From there we took 55 N up to Bloomington where we caught Hwy 39. We stayed at a pretty RV park just North of Bloomington called Hickory Hills http://hickoryhillscamp.com/ . It was quiet and very nice. Some new friends of ours said they lived there for 5 years before hitting the road workamping, and they loved it there!

I39 North took us up through Rockford and the one toll we had to pay. Then we took I43 from Beloit, WI to Milwaukee. Our daughter Katrina was key in helping us find the camp site, and in navigating us to my Aunt and Uncles in Wauwatosa - Thank you Kittie! I think we need to get ourselves an internet stick in the future to help with navigation and finding things while on the road. Going through Milwaukee took us within a few blocks of my Aunt Mary and Uncle Bernie who I haven't seen in oh so long, so with a couple phone calls and Kitties help, we stopped and had a wonderful visit. It was so good seeing them. I even finally got to meet one of my cousins Marylou!

 Back on the road we took 43 up to Green Bay and caught Hwy 57 to go out to Dyckesville and the Brown County's Bay Shore  Park right on Green Bay http://www.co.brown.wi.us/departments/page_fe2f0b71389c/?department=cb643ee48c55&subdepartment=dadc284c6c54. It wasn't as quiet as I remember, (4 lane hwy now goes by) but is was pretty, and the rangers brought campfire wood around for $5 a bundle each evening. John and I hiked the cliff trail down to the boat landing and beach. The last time I walked this was with my girls, many moons ago. Good memories!

The campground is first come first serve and has self registration - most sites are $25 per night. Large rigs need to be careful of the sharp curves and small sites, but there are sites to accomodate every size rig, and tenting is allowed also. Each site has water and electric hookups, and a dump site is located on the road out. Pavilions and a playground are near the entrance of the park. Although it's beautiful, it's 12 miles or more to Green Bay, and visiting family was an outting. John's cousin Barb, and Dan Weigert came out and camped across the street from us. Four-handed cribbage, cookouts and great visiting time were had by all!

Here's Barb and Dan.

We also had a family cookout,and even mom Peters came for lunch.

Ursula at 97 years old!I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful mom-in-law, and all the rest!

Dick and Gloria Peters

Sharon Goddard and John 

Barb & Joan

The only hitch to our trip to Green Bay was the heater going out. It blew cold air, but that was it; one minute heat, the next - not (and we weren't out of propane). After hearing good things about Van Boxtel's in Green Bay, we went there to get it fixed. http://www.vanboxtelrv.com/ . Yes, they fixed it, but is $100 an hour for labor normal??? a $21 part ran us $233. I'm grateful it's fixed, but......

A 3 1/2 hour trip west on Hwy 29 is the quickest route to Menomonie. Our great friends Jeff and Marlene Young let us park in their back yard for a week while visiting and celebrating my mom's 87th birthday.

Jeff & Marlene Young & Jeff's mom, Dorothy

We also celebrated Christmas with my mom and our girls, and met our youngest daughter, Krystal's boyfriend's parents,Marykay and John. What nice people!

Mom, Susu dog and Sasha cat

We did a little fishing at Russian Slough with Jeff and Marlene and enjoyed the beautiful countryside.

 Jeff and John fishing

 

 It's a beautiful state, but winter is a-comin, and we simply aren't doing winter in Wisconsin any more, so off we went. Down Hwy 25 to Nelson (one of our favorite road trips) (the cheese factory there has fabulous ice cream and great sandwiches along with great cheese) http://www.nelsoncheese.com/ be sure to stop if you're in the area! Then across the bridge to Wabasha, Minnesota, hang a left on hwy 61 then a right on hwy 42 all the way down to Rochester and I90 west to I35 south and into Iowa. We just love to see all the wind farms in this area!

It seems to us this is a very viable "green" energy resource that should be utilized more. They are so beautiful. This is one thing I wouldn't mind having in "my back yard" if I still had one of my own. Renewable energy is there for us, and it's an economical alternative to OIL. OK, I won't go on a rant!

We left Colfax/Menomonie around 2:30 after dumping in Menomonie and of course saying our bye-bye's and made Oceola, Iowa about 9pm. We stayed at Terribles Casino RV park.  www.terribleslakeside.com/ The positive was that full hook up was only $20. The negatives: As it was after dark, it was hard to see where to go, and the signage wasn't great.  The RV's were really packed in, and although it was quiet enough in the park-unlike the review I read online-we could readily hear the interstate noise, and it just felt very tense. Neither of us slept. Of course, the propane tank running out in the middle of the night  didn't help - John had to go out and switch to the other tank, (it was quite cold)...

Another place you can skip in your travels was at exit 106 - Eagleville's Dinner Bell Restaurant. Our waitress was about as friendly as a rattlesnake, and John said they need to fire the cook (maybe that's why she was so ornery) The bacon was undercooked, the hashbrowns were very greasy and the eggs were fried on too hot a heat. Also, RV parking was near impossible.  

On the bright side, we took a nice little break in Oceola, Missouri at the Cheese Store & gift shop. It was a very clean place filled with lots of nice things to look at, or buy as gifts... The cheese was made in..... Monroe, Wisconsin! We had a good laugh at that. There was plenty of parking there and getting off and back on was easy.

So onward with no further problems, and we made it back "home" to Branson at 3:30 pm! YEAH! We're home!