Bailey

We’re surprised how well we managed our black & grey tanks for the last 5 days.  The owner told us to dump the gray at the site, Allan really didn’t want to do that, we were entitled to one clean from the park but didn’t need it.  This photo doesn’t show the angle we were at to dump, but here we are dumping. Because of the narrow road in/out our plan is I’ll go first in Bob and block the road so no one can come until we’re back on a real road.  Turns out no one was coming but there were a few leaving with us.

This guy is ahead of us, great reminder.Got the Illinois sign   

Followed quickly by   

It’s too bad we can’t send some of this flood water to Alberta & BC to combat the wild fires.

Rockford, think this is the quietest Love’s we’ve ever been toThe day has almost arrived… @ Sunny Island RV for the repair of the clothes washer.  Our appointment is at 8am on the 22 so we are overnighting in the empty lot across the street. The view from our Captain seatsStill loving my funky Crocs

July 22nd:  She’s in and being looked at.  We wondered why the ladder, turns out they had to remove not only the washer but the dryer.  The option was to remove the dryer or the toilet, dryer was easier.  The ladder was for something with the venting outside.

Bailey being looked after it’s time to explore Rockford.  Michelle, our service rep, tells us of Prairie Street Brewery downtown Rockford.  You can sit outdoors overlooking the river.  We all know, those are words Allan lives by.  Allan loved his amber, the margarita was pretty good too

Quesadilla was one of the best   

Turns out the clothes washer water pump requires replacement.  Part will take 2-3 days to arrive.  The lot across the street is OK for one night but let’s search for a campground.

In case you wonder what we look like now

We find Blackhawk Valley Resort just 9 minutes away.  We drive to it in Bob to check it out.  The roads required to get there, and mostly everywhere, are tree covered, many branches overhanging the road. Will Bailey clear them? It makes me nervous.  I’m not surprised to learn Rockford is nicknamed “The Forest City” for its heavily forested residential neighborhood.  Also much to Rockford’s chagrin, it was once known as the “Screw Capital of the World” because of the billions of screws, bolts, and fasteners its factories produced for the manufacturers of the world. Back to the campground…

We chat with Susan in the office and learn It’s a members only, Venture Out campground.  Most members only campgrounds still offer a few sites to non-members.  Susan tells us we can stay for up to 7 nights FREE if we do their “2 hour tour”.  This is like a time-share.  We’re not keen to do this, Michelle, our service rep, tells us of a State park about 20m away.  Off we go, the highway is under construction, we’re OK going but coming back it’s stopped traffic. We bail.

Allan thinks we’ll be good travelling to Blackhawk Resort, he calls and tells our story and asks about the 7 free nights.  The first rep takes our information, they will process it and call back within an hour.  We are now enjoying the above bevies when they all back.  We’re IN!  Susan was surprised we got it done so quickly, Not sure why she’d be surprised the grounds are more empty than full.   

There were 2 wicked rain storms and a tornado that passed though the area.  The one storm was the day before.  Trees are down, the roads are more like off roading.  The first site they bring us too is, why don’t they train their folks..  I wish photos would depict slopes but my don’tAllan is standing on the slope where Bailey’s front end would be.  No way we could level

This would have been the view, but not really cause this was is a back in site. 

We get another site and have to travel the entire park, the road was washed out.  Bailey did well off roading..  At our stop!

Trees down, just good they didn’t hit an RV

Today we explore the town that’s closest to us.  First Allan makes us an omelet on our new omelet maker.  Extra cheese goes on top for cheesy goodness.

Welcome to     Appears the entire town is under construction

The painted rock in the centre of town

    Another clock tower that keep time

Love this sense of humour 🙂

Fire time 

We’re a little weird!  When we drove by the World’s Largest Truck Stop we knew we wanted to come back to it.  We choose the Hidden River Campground cause it close by.

Here we are!“It’s the Iowa 80 Truckstop, which, according to every sign and souvenir on its perimeter, is the largest truck stop in the world. Part trucker base camp, part wacky tourist attraction, Iowa 80 is so much more than a place to get gas. It’s a 24-hour megacomplex that opened in 1964 and hasn’t closed its doors since. There are 900 truck parking spaces available. The store carries over 62,000 items, and they currently serve an average of 5,000 customers per day.”

We start our day with a delicious skillet breakfast.

Time to explore the 130,000 sq ft building.

A Jeep of yesteryear   

This is the biggest cherry pie I’ve ever seen.A little crazy we were excited about being at the truck stop, but that’s just us!!

Not a long drive today so we’re not rushingI was indoors when Allan decided to go hook up Bob.  “I’ll come and help” as I mostly always do’ “No I’m good, keep doing what you are doing” Allan says.  Allan comes through the door saying “I need help!”.  Allan did what he “almost” never does and instead of walking around Bob he tried to step over the tow bar.  His foot got caught and down he went.  I should have taken a photo of my amazingly professional bandage job!!

Onwards to Hidden River Campground.  Not a fan of  not being able to map to where we are going.  Google & Apple maps have no idea where this place is.  Allan finds a fuel station he knows is close by.  Strangely, I ask if this is fully service (electric, water & sewer). We decided to be here for 5 days so all is a must.

The get there instructions “Get off off on exit 267 go north on Highway 38 1 mile and a quarter turn left onto Cemetery Road it is a gravel road go 100ft turn left into Housing Development go straight up on to Cottonwood Lane follow the signs down to the campground”  Suspect it will make sense when we get there.

Directions say “go straight up on to Cottonwood”  Straight even if it doesn’t feel right. What the heck are we getting ourselves into.  We did ask if they were big rig friendly, should have paid attention to the fact he didn’t know what a big rig was.   Next a sharp left turn.  We’re committed now…

More twists, what if someone is coming the other way.  We can’t back up with Bob hooked  This road is narrower than these photos depict!

Around another corner and we’re here! 

Over there, that’s   

The in/out is sketchy but we made it.  Next surprise, no sewer and we’re here for 5 days!  Owner dude says, don’t fret – I’ll pump you out once.  We really wanted a full service park as from here we’re going to the RV repair place and want to go in tanks empty.

Once you’re in the park its nice (except for the little gnats & mosquitos, so annoying).                                    The view from Bailey

Fire time!One of the neighbours!                            Would have liked to watch this guy level, It’s hard to see in the photo but he’s using blocks under his pick ups wheelsJuly 17th:   Lucky us, another laundry mat day!

Back at Bailey Allan repairs the towel rack that fell during travel.  There is always something that needs fixing

We put the “Check Engine” light out of our minds as best we could for race weekend.  Monday morning is here and we get to worry again.  The repair place is an authorized Freightliner Elite dealer, Trunk Center in Altoona.  Fortunately it’s only a 27 minute, a loonngg 27 minutes.  From experience a heavy tow takes about 7 hours to arrive; doesn’t seem to matter how far you must be towed.

We made it, what a relief!!!

They do not take appointments, it’s first come first serve.  We arrive at 933, Bailey is in at 1154.

We go for breakfast, then hang out at Bass Pro; score cargo shorts for Allan and super cool crocs that are on sale and sandals for me!!  Allan finds a bear!

Then off to the casino, Prairie Meadows.  We joined the loyalty club, you get $5.00 slot play and get to spin a wheel.  Yahoo I won an omelet maker, Allan’s spin won him an additional $10 in slot play.

Forgot to mention we got DUCKED at the race track.   Thanks Kris for the big smiles!

We DUCKED a Jeep at the casino

Back to now, Des Moines here we come!  It’s super hot      Let’s have a beer before we explore

Des Moines

Whoops, didn’t take photos    EDIT!!  I knew I took more photos…

Not sure how this bridge collapsed

At 330, as we are on our way back to Altoona for an early dinner, we get a call, oh no, this can’t be good!  But it was!  Bailey is ready, this doesn’t happen to us.

Issue:  The valve-heater urea tank required replacement.  Total cost $2,130.57

We hoped to stay at the repair place overnight but the story is their insurance doesn’t allow it so off we go to Adventureland RV Campground 6 minutes down the road.

We’re set up and the nice weather day turns quickly.

It got real when we heard the sirens. So scary but happy all ended well!

What’s the photo in my FB post?  It’s a girl in the Pro Bass large aquarium cleaning the glass.

07/13 Today’s race doesn’t start till 8:00 PM – 10:00 PM ET, which is 7 here.  There are concerts and NXT qualifications and race, action packed day.

Race 1 top 3:  Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Josef Newgarden (not bad as he started 22nd)

07/14:  Fly by race 2   

Oh my!  Turned out I’m a loser 🙁

It’s a little hot, feels like 42 = 107.6f 

Race 2 Results

1. (22) Will Power
2. (2) Alex Palou
3. (1) Scott McLaughlin
Miss a few…
6. (7) Pato O’Ward
7. (14) Josef Newgarden

Last lap of the race, Will Power had already taken the checkered flag, Alex Rossi on the back stretch ran out of fuel and slowed considerable.  Stingray Rob (named after the Corvette) not anticipated the slow down ran into him.  His spotter, D’Wayne, who is a FB friend of Allan’s should have warned him.  The result…Thankfully he’s OK.

Next up…   Post Malone concert

We’ve recovered from yesterday’s anxiety and are ready for an exciting weekend!

Today is explore the track to get familiarize with where stuff is.

We are right next to an small airport; Newton Municipal Airport – Earl Johnson Field

Being in Iowa there are corn fields galore.  Fun fact: “Corn has been the top crop in Iowa for more than 150 years running! And that’s not because Iowa farmers just can’t think of anything better to grow. It’s because Iowa is the best place on the planet to grow corn. Iowa has a growing season that is long enough and warm enough to suit corn production.”

Oh, I wish I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener,
That is what I’d truly like to be-ee-ee.
‘Cause if I were an Oscar Mayer Wiener,
Everyone would be in love with me.

Track side spots were sold out, Allan spoke to a Hy-Vee dude who said the tickets went on sale at midnight and were sold out by 1am.  We didn’t stand a chance.  We “settled” for Club Seats, ours are in the orange section further to the right. We get food/drink and an air conditioned room

Around the grounds

Entrance to the paddock area

Other side of the tunnel, the grass is red!

The paddocks

Tram/Tractor ride back 

Next up; the Pit Stop challenge between 6 teams.  Poop!  The winning team, Will Power, one of my least favourite drivers. Back to Bailey where we re-watch the practice.And that’s the day wrap up 

    Today’s steps.  Will sleep well tonight 🙂

Along the route there is a flood advisory in effect, hope we luck out.

Driving into clouds   

Back through Peoria we go!

We get the warning                       Fortunately all is good, no flood

1121a We cross into Iowa and EDT, now it’s CDT

Up & down the hills we go, we just passed a semi, still in the passing lane when we approach a hill and the semi passes us.  Allan says, that’s unusual.  The engine light has been continually on.

Not my photos as we came across it too quickly but it looked so interesting.  It’s the World’s Largest Truck Stop!  It’s about 2h from here; not sure where we’re going next but it would be fun to visit.

There is a Love’s right by the track; we stop to fill up.

Allan starts up; now the error is “Stop Engine”  Yep, stuff can always get worse!  We are a 3 minute drive to the track. Why us?

We pull into a spot; will have to unhook Bob cause we can’t back up.

Bob’s temp when we unlooked   

Our newest error codes!  One thing to retrieve another to understand, which we don’t.  This Love’s has a repair garage, Allan goes and chats with them.  The mechanic says he likely won’t be able to repair but does hook up with computer.  Nope he can’t help but did give us a print out of the errors.  When Allan restarted the “Stop Engine” light was off.  Allan makes the scary decision to do the 3 minute drive to the track.

Here we are!!   “The Fastest Short Track on the Planet”

Wish us luck!!

We are so excited to be here and secure in our spot!Our road         

Our neighbours decoratedIt’s stinking hot and humid, we’re happy our generator and air conditioners haven’t let us down.

The next 3 days will be packed with excitement.  We decided to choice a driver in the leader series named Indy NXT.  The drivers compete to be offered a ride in IndyCar.  I choose Jacob Abel car 51; Allan’s dude is Caid Collet car 18. Our end of the season reward for winning = breakfast at your choice of restaurant.

Current points standings Jacob 345, Caid 315.  The cars race by so quickly, it hard to capture a photo.  This is my best attempt

One of these guys is heading the wrong direction… the one on the right in the first photo

One of us isn’t happy with qualifying, Allan 2, me…

Saturday night fire works 🙂

“R” (race) Day, yahoo!!

This is the debut of their new (Allan you may be interested in this link) hybrid engine.  Let’s see how it does.

“The strength of this uncharted partnership between Chevrolet and Honda has pushed this innovative project to the grid in 2024,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “The INDYCAR-specific hybrid power unit will bring a new and exciting element to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with additional energy and overtake options. We cannot wait to see the start of this new era at Mid-Ohio.”

No more photos, going to be concentrating on watching.  🙂

One of us isn’t happy with the results.  Allan finished first; me 25th or 3rd from last and one lap down. Why?? What the heck happened??

Josef Newgarden explains his penalties

Newgarden was slapped with a trio of penalties late on. The first was for speeding in the pits, and the second for failing to heed instructions from IndyCar.

Bizarrely, the 33-year-old took another punishment for speeding in the pit lane whilst serving a drive through penalty for his previous offence.

What seems like an amateur mistake has been explained by Newgarden as an error on the part of the technology.

“Another tough weekend for the books,” he wrote on social media.

:Lucky Allan gets to make his victory dinner, and you know you’re slumin it when dinner wine is being drunk from “O” glasses. July 08th: Sunrise, nice in the East but much nicer in the West

Travel day

Bye bye Ohio.   I rarely get leaving or entering a State sign.  Got this one.

About 20 minutes before we get to Love’s Travel Center to fuel Allan goes “Oh fuck” that’s never good. He doesn’t follow up with what the “oh fuck” or perhaps I just ask too quickly… “What?”   This light is on

Otherwise known as “Check Engine”

All the gauges look good, pull over and fret or try to make it to Love’s.  Love’s it is.  Will Bailey start after we fuel?  YES!!  We find an area to park in so Allan can retrieve the error code.  I’m all primed to write it down, we get No Error. Off we go to the campground. Wish we’ll have one leg of our trip with no oh shit moments but that may just be boring.

We’re here!

​

Home for a few daysA walk around the park…

The sign says watch us turn trash into treasure, or something like that.  Wonder how long it’s been here

July 09th: Our favourite day of the week!!

It rained most of the day so hopefully it will be nice tomorrow to explore the area.

Where’s Bailey… here she is.  Strongly dislike who’s #1

Here we are in New Paris, population 1,474 not much to do but our check in host says to go visit the Amish store so that is where we are headed.

Corn, corn, everywhere corn!  We’re right in the middle of corn country!!

Fortune Acres Amish Store

Stuff, they have lots of stuff along with food and corn.  Yes we bought corn and hot peach salsa.  We should have bought 2!

Cash only as Amish do not embrace technology, I guess at least until it suits them.  They do use cash registers, suits them, no credit would suit us.

“The Amish have a complex relationship with technology. Historically, they have been known to reject the use of technology and rely instead on manual labor and traditional values. While some Amish communities still follow this tradition today, plenty of Amish people use electricity.  Amish technology restrictions vary by order, but many Amish groups believe that technology can undermine their traditions and values. They may prohibit technologies they believe are antithetical to their values, while choosing others that they believe will strengthen them.”Back at the ranch, the grounds are very nice.  Let’s be swingers!

Our view        Quick game of corn hole, ya ME!!

Firewood here isn’t amazing 

July 03rd:                              Yahoo for laundry day!!

Today’s reward, a walk through Greenville, OH

Just a random flower on our site 

And the winner is!! 

Fireball for price; Fire for sugar content.  Confused about the calorie count though.