Bailey and coffee to start the day. What’s broken now? The coffee maker 🙁 It made a few cups then shut off, I turned it back on it made a bit more. Had to turn on 4 times. We need a few one, we’ll pick it up after breakfast cause there is a Walmart right there.
Allan’s choice for an eat out meal: breakfast at Pancake Café in Stoughton, IL a 12 minute drive. Forgot food photos, oh well. Think this is the first restaurant we’ve been in that has a swing. Sign behind Allan reads “Welcome to the Good Life”
Our Swinger!
We need a pot with a thermal carafe. None at Walmart, next stops Aldi’s, Ace Hardware, Pick & Save, another store who’s name escapes me. In this store, when we asked another customer said Macy in Madison. We would have never thought of there.
A flower bed @ Pick & Save
Home to search online. Shouldn’t be doing this on Allan’s birthday but what if the coffee pot totally craps out? Search & search and finally find one on Amazon. Hoping ours holds out till we pick up in Madison. Scheduled delivery Friday.
We spent a quiet day just hanging out and playing, what? Of course Kings Cribbage until it’s fire time!
Hope everyone had a great “Allan’s Birthday” Day!!
07/29: Because there is always something new breaking…. Today’s installment, the dishwasher. Allan takes it apart as best he can, noise still there.We’ll have Sunny Island look at it when we go back for the W&D installed. Fires make everything better, let’s have one.
07/30: What else can break? Our bathroom scale! Gotta get that replaced.
We’re back at Sunny Island RV for the reinstallation of the clothes washer & dryer. Here we are Here are the appliances 🙂
After dropping Bailey, it was a productive morning, I got a pedicure-Allan a hair cut. No, not at the same place 🙂
Our self improvement chores done it lunch time at Prairie Street Brewery. The food is delicious and Allan loves their Altbier, amber beer. They do can their beers so we’ll buy some. Love the wrench taps.
Just Allan’s luck, no they don’t have any of Altbier canned. Boohoo
After lunch we head back to Sunny Island. Much to our surprise Bailey’s slides were closed indicating she was done or they gave up. They are installed and back hiding behind the cabinet.
We’re overnighting in the “Concrete Jungle” across the street for zero dollars. Allan says “should we run a load to test the machine” I say “No, Steve (the Service Manager) said they tested and all works, we’ll do a load at the campground tomorrow.”
The campground is only an hour from Sunny Island chosen because we’ve ordered a replacement dishwasher and it will be here Friday (we hope) so we’ll be back to SI
We had to jury–rig the dishwasher cause after SI looked at it, the lock doesn’t work. We’re ingenious, place the chair against the dishwasher and back it with our yoga mat against the dining room table. SPOILER alert; it worked, d/w didn’t open.
We’re here
Love our site, it’s pretty large
A walk around the grounds, there’s a mini beach
Still loving our sign & Dancy
Laundry time, yahoo!! Load it up, add detergent, push the start button and no lights, no spinning, no nothing! Should have listened to Allan and did a load yesterday. Super hero Allan springs into action in short order electricity to unit is back. 12 minutes till our first wash is done!
Of course our day ends, whenever possible with a fire. Notice our wood stack?
Another beautiful, sunny day, 84F (29C), let’s head to CherryVale Mall thinking it was an outdoor mall. Turns out it is mostly indoors, but we’re here let’s check it out. It’s a large mall complete with a Macy’s and JC Penny.
It also has the Corner Store, I think you gain weight just walking in. Some of the goodies…
What did we buy? Nuthin honey!
We’re having such an exciting day, next stop Woodman Market Allan is almost out of amber beer and that will never do! When I looked online they seemed to have the best assortment. These are the ones they show they have, don’t really believe it but checking.
Turns out this is the largest liquor store we’ve been to in forever. Their shopping carts have a spot for your cell so you can read your shopping list easily. And rows and rows of everything you can think of liquor and then some!
Best price!
Did we buy anything? Bet your ass we did but you already knew that. Got a few different ambers for Allan, a few bottles of wine and the BESTscore. We’ve been looking for this in every liquor store we’ve been in since Wisconsin. Burnt sugar whiskey
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!
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.
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
Still loving our sign & Dancy
no lights, no spinning, no nothing! Should have listened to Allan and did a load yesterday. Super hero Allan springs into action 
in short order electricity to unit is back. 12 minutes till our first wash is done!
Got the Illinois sign 
Appears the entire town is under construction
Another clock tower that keep time
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 wheels
Let’s have a beer before we explore
Today’s steps. Will sleep well tonight 🙂