It's taken us since 2005, but we are able to say we have hauled an RV to all 48 contiguous states! We entered our last state - Iowa at 9:45am today. We've been to Alaska and Hawaii - but by cruise ship. We are very excited to have completed our goal.
Last night we didn't have a strong enough cell signal for the hotspot to work - it kept shutting down on us. So, no blog for me and no woodworking videos for Roger. I had enough of a signal I could play Word with my friends, but that was about it. Even the news apps wouldn't load. Tonight, we have a nice strong wifi signal and so I should be able to load lots of pictures taken yesterday and today.
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Yesterday we crossed the Mississippi River and drove south about 20 miles to Hannibal, MO. My book group is reading a Mark Twain book for our July classic so I had to go as we were so close. Roger was kind enough to haul me over there and then walk around with me while I played tourist. We had lunch in a coffee and juice place - old unmatched furniture making little conversation areas as well as a few tables for eating. We stopped for an ice cream cone on the way back to the truck. Main Street in Hannibal is for the tourist and there were a few of us but not as many as I expected. We walked the three blocks of shops and then went down to the river landing.
We went early morning as it was predicted to be a 90+ degree day - and it was! It was 94 and humid. We didn't do a whole lot of sightseeing. Just enough to get the flavor of the place.
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| Main Street, Hannibal, MO |
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| How can Becky have a house? She was fictional. |
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| The levee next to the river. They must slide in a cement wall |
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| A Purple Martin House with some Purple Martins. I'd never seen them before. |
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| I don't remember Aunt Polly owning a store. |
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| Peace Post on the river with a different language on each side. |
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This morning we crossed the Mississippi River with the RV and officially got Missouri on the map. We headed north along The Mississippi for a short while before we crossed the Des Moines River into Iowa. We went from flat farmland to rolling hills farmland. The southeastern part of Iowa is just beautiful with large farms dotting the landscape. What I noticed was that the farm houses were either white, beige or made of brick and all the outbuildings were red. There were a few exceptions - some white barns and one dude who painted his house a bright yellow. Wonder what his neighbors thought of that. It did look quite out of place. We exited Iowa at Dubuque, having traveled through Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. Once again we crossed the Mississippi River! It's becoming a habit.
In Pennsylvania the Pennsylvania Dutch put "hex" signs on their barns. They are round and folk arty with symbols that mean prosperity, or luck, or good things. I believe that the symbolism dates way back to the old country. I noticed in Illinois and even more so in Iowa that some barns had huge squares on them and they looked like a quilt square from an Amish quilt. Not all barns, but a lot of them especially on older looking buildings. Well, curiosity drove me to Google. They are called Barn Quilts and they have only been around a few decades, but they are only put on barns that are at least 50 years old. They are quite striking geometric designed quilt blocks.
We were on a road that we kept seeing signs saying that we were on the "Highway of the Saints." Now, these signs had a fleur-de-lis on them, like the football team logo. That didn't make sense to me, what do the New Orleans Saints have to do with this road? Then I thought, it could be that this is the route the Mormons (Latter Day SAINTS) followed out of Illinois when they were driven west. Again, curiosity got the best of me and I had to do another Google search. The road is called the Saints Highway because some businessmen got together in the 1980s and lobbied the states involved for a four lane, interstate-like road between St. Louis and St. Paul so they could transport goods more easily. Hence, the Saints Highway. Not as historical as I was proposing.
We are staying in the Rustic Barn RV Resort in Kieler, WI. Note it is not a campground it is a resort. Thus the $50/night charge. It is a beautiful campground, though, set in the rolling hills with farms on one side and what used to be a farm but is now a subdivision on the other side. The place is well maintained, the setting is lovely, the owners are nice, so what could be wrong? Flying insects - fly-like things that are small and just encircle you in clouds when you go outside. Must be from the farm with the cows? We couldn't sit outside or even take a walk tonight. I noticed that some campers had their screened enclosures set up around a picnic table and some chairs. Another thing of note - when was the last time you saw a campground with it's own chapel? It's got one! Cute little thing. They apparently do weddings here as it is a lovely location with a great view.
We woke this morning to very cool temps and dry air. It was 64 in the RV when Rog got up at 6:15 and he turned on the space heater to get warm. What a difference from the day before when we woke to 76 degrees. Today the temps never got above 77 and there was a northwesterly breeze. Tonight the forecast is for 52 degrees at 6am. Things have changed. We have four nights reserved in Houghton, MI in a park on the water and not one day we will be there will reach 70. It's quite a change from hot and humid. Long pants and long sleeved shirts and shoes will be the uniform of the day.
Finding a place for the night is becoming a problem as we get further north in Wisconsin. We tried for an hour this afternoon to find a place half way between here and Houghton, MI. There are some campgrounds but not anything for the traveler. I finally called a place that looked like it might be ok and they did have a pull through available and the woman who I talked to said she could accommodate us (our length). No sewer, no 50amp electric, no wifi. It's definitely going to be a campground. Fortunately, we can make do with the 30 amp because we won't be needing our AC!! I'm not sure we will even have cell service back in the woods, so I'm sure there will be no blog entry.
The further north combined with summertime the later the sunset. It's now 8:30ish and it looks like it will still be light when we go to bed at 9ish :-)
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