20 DAY 103 – 106, OCT 20 – 23 ~ CENTRAL US

IOWA

It was still raining on the morning of our departure.  So we carefully and slowly drove through the rest of Indiana and into Illinois on Interstate 74.  Upon entering Illinois, we entered the Central Time Zone and we lost an hour.  Now we are two hours ahead of home time.  The rain had stopped, but the skies remained overcast and it was cold.

We continued driving on Interstate 74 through Illinois and at Galesburg we left the interstate and drove onto state roads through the rest of Illinois into Iowa.

We have visited and explored Iowa in a previous trip.  This trip we will just be staying overnight will drive into Nebraska the next morning.  After 5 hours and 283 miles we arrived at Crossroads RV Park in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.

CROSSROADS RV PARK

This is what an RV Park is supposed to look like.  This place was small (less than 50 sites) and was laid out in even rows.  It is a clean, well maintained RV park.  All the sites are identical and are pull-thrus.  Interior roads were dirt as well as the site pads with a lush, manicured lawn on both sides of the pad.  A big rig along with a car could fit into any site.  The sites are spacious, but if each site had a big rig, it could feel crowded.  Smaller trailers could pull up or down on the site and not have to look into the neighboring RV.  This RV park would have been perfect if it had not been so close to the highway or had the constant noise from the train yard nearby.

 

NEBRASKA

The day started out bright and sunny.  But it was so cold.  We woke up to a temperature of 34 degrees.  It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas....  We continued on state roads through Iowa and at Des Moines we got onto Interstate 80 and stayed on 80 into Nebraska.  Just outside of Nebraska we stopped for lunch at our last Cracker Barrel.  After Nebraska we will no longer see our dependable road side eatery and our favorite stop on the Interstates.  Cracker Barrel does not do business in any of the lower parts of the central western states.

This will be our very first visit to Nebraska, and our first visit with the trailer; 11 down and none to go.  This means we have trailer traveled through every state in the United States of America!!...except, of course, Hawaii.

Unfortunately, because we are out of time, we will not being doing any real exploring of Nebraska.  We will be staying one night each in two different cities.  And because of long hours on the road, there will be no time for exploring.  The exploring will have to wait for a future cross country trip.

After 6 hours and 307 miles we arrived at West Omaha KOA in Omaha, Nebraska.

WEST OMAHA KOA

This is a small RV Park with about 40+ sites.  They sites are laid out in neat rows and are mostly pull thrus, but they are narrow and too close to the neighboring sites.  The park was pretty full during our stay, but a lot of the trailers were seasonal and empty.  There are trees on most of the sites but do not provide a lot of shade.  The sites have dirt pads and dying grass between the trailers. The park was fairly neat and maintained.  I did not see a lot of junk lying around.

 

Omaha is a big city and I wish we had time to explore it.  Because this is an overnight stay, we did not unhitch the trailer.

Early the next day we continued on Interstate 80 across Nebraska and entered Mountain Time Zone.  We lost an hour and we are now one hour ahead of California time.  After 6 hours and 307 miles we arrived at Country View Campground in Ogalala, Nebraska.

COUNTRY VIEW CAMPGROUND

This is a highway RV park and was empty when we arrived.  By late evening, there were five other trailers that pulled in for the night.  The RV park is okay with 44 sites that are in even rows and level ground.  Most of the sites are spacious pull thrus.  They are long but a bit narrow.  It would feel real crowded if there was a big rig in each site. 

 

OGALALA

Ogalala is a very small cowboy town.  From 1875 to 1885The town reignedas Nebraska’s “Queen of the Cowtowns”, as it was the end of the Texas trail drives.  We decided to unhitch the trailer and go into town to check it out.  It took about two minutes to see the whole town. There is not much to see. 

I had a craving for a good piece of steak for dinner, so we looked for a beef place and in this town it was not hard to find one.  We found Front Street Steakhouse & Crystal Palace Saloon; “Nebraska’s finest western and historical attraction”, yeah right.

Actually this place is probably a fun attraction during the summer.  There is a free museum and there is a nightly revue at the Crystal Palace Saloon during the summer.  And apparently there is an annual cattle drive down Front Street during the summer as well.  The place was pretty dead when we visited it so we did not go into the Saloon or the museum.  But I had a delicious steak dinner in the Café.

COLORADO

Our last stop in Central US will be Colorado.  This will be the longest drive in one day that we have done on this trip.  We got an early start and at 6:00am it was still dark outside, and very cold.  We continued on Interstate 80 through Nebraska into Colorado and at Denver we got on Interstate 70 and drove through the rest of Colorado to Grand Junction, a few miles from the border of Utah. 

Interstate 70 goes through some barren country with desert landscapes and high cliffs.  Then we started climbing the Rocky Mountains and saw snow on the ground and views of snow capped mountains.  We saw Aspen and Cottonwood trees in full color.  A beautiful bright yellow.  It was a pretty drive with lots of scenery.

After 8.5 hours and 456 miles, we arrived at Grand Junction KOA in Grand Junction, Colorado.

GRAND JUNCTION KOA

This is a nice RV park.  There are several permanent trailers, but it is not a junky RV Park.  There are about 75 sites.  Most of the sites are pull thru and long enough for a big rig and car.  There is space between trailers, but it could be crowded if there are big rigs side by side.  The interior roads are gravel and the sites have gravel pads and grass on both sides.  It near the highway, but not close enough to have traffic noise.

GRAND JUNCTION

We settled into our campsite and unhooked the trailer.  We drove a few miles to downtown Grand Junction to find a place for dinner. 

This is a nice city and a fairly large one.  We drove down Main Street where all the nice shops and restaurants are.  Unfortunately, being a Sunday, and late afternoon, everything was closed, including most of the restaurants.  We did find one place (which was recommended to us) that was open; Rockslide Brewery.  It had a nice atmosphere and the food was good.  Main Street is nicely landscaped and an inviting area to stroll around, which we did after dinner.  There are several statues and sculptures on exhibit.  This is an annual exhibit of outdoor sculptures that has been managed by the Downtown Development Authority since 1984. 

John Otto - Man with a monumental vision

Chrome on the Range

The exhibit is called “Art on the Corner”.  Some of the sculptures are permanent structures; others were on temporary exhibit for this year and are for sale. 

Charm ($50,000)

Shamon ($10,500)

The next day we head for the central western states for the last portion of our cross country trip.  Six more days to HOME SWEET HOME!

19 DAY 100 – 102, OCT 17 – 19 ~ MID EASTERN US

PENNSYLVANIA 

There will be no exploring of this state.  We visited the Gettysburg area last year and the Dutch Country several years ago in a car trip.  We still need to visit the capital and other parts of the state, but that will wait for a future cross country trip.

We will only be staying overnight in Elizabethtown.  After 5 hours and 169 miles we arrived at the Elizabethtown KOA. 

 

ELIZABETHTOWN KOA

This is a fairly nice RV park.  We wanted a pull-thru site so we were put way in the back where the pull-thrus are and we had the area to ourselves.  There are lots of empty seasonal trailers in this park, so this is yet another park with full time trailers.   We got settled into our site when we started hearing gun shots.  Several of them and they were very loud; so loud that I found myself jumping every time a shot was fired.  I asked a staff woman cleaning the bathrooms where the shots were coming from and she said the large forest next to the KOA property is privately owned.  It is hunting season and the owners like to hunt in their forest.  So sadly, every time a shot was heard, did that mean a Bambi was dead!? :o(

INTERCOURSE / BIRD-IN-HAND

By the time we got settled into our campsite, it was lunch time.  We still had several hours of the day left so we drove a short distance through Lancaster into Intercourse and Bird-in-Hand. 

These are two small towns, side by side, in the heart of the Dutch Country.   We explored some of the Amish country and looked for a place to eat.  We checked out several shops that had unique home décor and Amish crafts.

 

Driving into Lancaster we spotted several of the Amish traveling the side of the road in their horse and buggy.  We past several beautiful farms and you could see the Amish working out in the fields.  One farm had the whole family including the children out in the field putting potatoes into baskets.  It was very picturesque.  We also saw Amish riding bicycles.   And the kicker was sighting a long covered stall for parking a horse and buggy in the Costco parking lot!

 

INTERCOURSE’s original name is Cross Keys.  It was changed to Intercourse in 1814.   A theory for the name was two famous roads that crossed here; Philadelphia Pike ran east and west through the center of town.   The road from Wilmington to Erie intersected in the middle.  The joining of two roads is claimed by some to be the basis for the name Cross Keys and eventually Intercourse.  Another theory is the use of language during the early days of the Village.  The word ‘intercourse’ was commonly used to describe the “fellowship’ and ‘social interaction and support’ shared in the community of faith which was a big part of rural village life.

The legend of the naming of BIRD-in-HAND goes back to the time when the Philadelphia Pike was being laid out between Lancaster and Philadelphia.  Two road surveyors were discussing whether they should stay at their present location or go to the town of Lancaster to spend the night.  One of them said, “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” and so they remained.  By 1734, road surveyors were making McNabb’s Inn their headquarters rather than returning to Lancaster every day.  The sign in front of the inn is known to have once portrayed a man with a bird in his hand and a bush nearby in which two birds were perched.  The Inn was later renamed to Bird-in-Hand Inn.

 

OHIO

We left Pennsylvania very early this morning because it was going to be a very long drive to our destination in Ohio.  We drove through Pennsylvania on the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate) and saw lots of fall foliage in the hills.  The color was peaking and it was beautiful. 

 

We crossed the border into Ohio and saw more color, but not a much as it was past peak and a lot more trees were bare.  Ohio is one of the states we have not visited with the trailer.  However, we will only be staying overnight and not do any exploring in this state.  We will count it, but we will be returning to explore more of Ohio in future cross country trip.  So, ten down and one to go.   Actually we did explore the Cincinnati area during our 2008 cross country trip, but camped just over the border in Kentucky.

 

After 7.5 hours and 310 miles, we arrived at Spring Valley Campground in Cambridge, Ohio.

 

SPRING VALLEY CAMPGROUND, Cambridge

This is a nice campground with about 200 sites.  The sites are not crowded, but spread out over a large property that is fairly level and the sites are laid out in nice even rows.  There are trees surrounding the property and several trees inside the campground.  The sites are spacious and very level.  The interior roads are paved and the sites are gravel with grass on both sides.  All the sites have a picnic table and fire ring.  It is an impressive campground and has a comfortable feel to it.

 

 

INDIANA

We had another long day and a long drive leaving Ohio.  And it rained all day (in Ohio and Indiana) and all night.  We stayed on Interstate 70 and 74 and we hit some major gridlock driving through Zanesville, Ohio.  There were some wide loads on the highway and hundreds of big rigs so it was slow going and the traffic came to a complete stop a few times. 

We also passed the signs along the road in Zanesville, Ohio flashing “Caution, Exotic animals, do not leave your car.”   We heard on the news last night about a jerk who owned many exotic animals (lions, tigers, bears, wolves, and monkeys) had killed himself after opening all the cages and letting these poor animals loose.  All, but about 5, were killed (48) by the police.  A very tragic story.  When we passed by the area, they were still searching for more animals.

After 6.75 hours and 105 miles we arrived at Sugar Creek Campground in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

SUGAR CREEK CAMPGROUND

This is a very small campground with about 44 sites.  More than half the sites had seasonal trailers on it.  The campground is laid out in even level rows that run along Sugar Creek. Interior roads are dirt, sites are dirt and grass with a picnic table and fire ring.  There are both pull thru and back-ins.  There is free WiFi with a good connection.  There is no cable TV, but you can get several local channels.   The bathrooms are in poor shape; old and in need of maintenance.

 

We had visited and explored Indiana on a cross country trip in 2008.  So there will be no exploring on this trip.  Since we arrived at the campground late afternoon and only we’re only staying overnight, we did not unhitch the trailer.  It was raining very hard and it was cold (in the low 40’s).  So we stayed put, turned the heat on, and got out the laptops.

The next day we continue on through Illinois and into the Central US states of Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. 

18 PART IV ~ EAST TO WEST

PART IV

We now have less than two weeks left in our cross country trip. We plan is to be home by the end of October. We will be driving through nine states to get to California; Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. We will be driving straight through, staying overnight in each of the states except for 3 nights in Utah. We will not be staying overnight in Illinois, but driving through. That will be a very long day; 3 states in one day.

We will only have time to explore 2 of the states; Pennsylvania and Utah. It will be our first visit with the trailer for Ohio and Nebraska, but unfortunately there is no time to explore those states. We will do so in a future cross country trip. In Utah we want to spend time at Zion National Park. This is one of our favorite places and we want a chance to relax a bit before heading home to the busyness of unpacking, cleaning up the yard and house and getting ready for the holidays.

We will only have time to explore 2 of the states; Pennsylvania and Utah.  It will be our first visit with the trailer for Ohio and Nebraska, but unfortunately there is no time to explore those states.  We will do so in a future cross country trip.  In Utah we want to spend time at Zion National Park.  This is one of our favorite places and we want a chance to relax a bit before heading home to the busyness of unpacking, cleaning up the yard and house and getting ready for the holidays.

Regarding the other five states; we have already visited and explored them.  However, there are still lots to see and do in all of these states.  Hopefully we can keep our health and energy to do more cross country trips and revisit all 50 states and explore new areas in each of them.

PART III SUMMARY

We were too early for the full glory of the fall colors in the New England area.    We did see a lot of color, but we were out of the area before it reached its peak.  We saw signs of fall everywhere with pumpkins, scarecrows and ghosts decorating storefronts and peoples homes. We enjoyed many sights in the area.  We saw the rocky shores of Acadia National Park and walked the streets of quaint harbor towns in Maine.  We visited Concord, the capital city and home of Christa McAuliffe in New Hampshire.  We spent some time visiting with good friends in the Albany area of New York and explored an underground river inside Howe Caverns and shopped at some quaint country stores.  In Massachusetts we visited the Kennedy family home town of Hyannis and explored the Cape Cod area and saw Provincetown, the first stop of the Mayflower.  And we saw the “rock” where the Pilgrims made their home in Plymouth in 1620.   We stayed in the smallest state of the US and toured some mansions (summer homes) of the rick and famous in Newport, Rhode Island.  We went back into history and walked the streets of 19th century Mystic Seaport in Connecticut and we walked the famous boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey.  We rode the ferry at Cape May and crossed the Delaware Bay where the Delaware River meets the Atlantic Ocean.

REVIEW

So far on this trip:

We have traveled for 99 days and driven 12,404 miles.

We have visited 17 states, and 5 Provinces.

We have visited 94 towns, villages, cities.

We have visited 12 National Parks, Monuments, etc and 8 Historical sites,

We have visited 7 Gardens, 8 Zoos, 4 Aquariums, 12 Museums and 50 other attractions.

We have attended 5 Events,

And we have had 3 crises:  Broken Axle on trailer (delayed trip for 6 days), lost cat for 6 days (Crystal), 3 emergency vet visits for Crystal (became critically ill).

Now we are heading west; California here we come!

17 DAY 96 – 99, OCT 13 – 16 ~ NEW JERSEY and DELAWARE

 

DAY 96-97: OCT 13-14 ~ NEW JERSEY

In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano makes landfall in this region.  Henry Hudson claims the region for the Netherlands in 1609.  In 1664 England seizes control of New Netherland, renaming it for the island of Jersey that lies in the English Channel.  In 1776 George Washington crosses the Delaware to defeat the British at Trenton.  In 1787 New Jersey becomes the third state to ratify the US Constitution.  In 1870 the boardwalk is invented in Atlantic City.  In 1937 the Hindenburg crashes at Lakehurst.  In 1998 the US Supreme Court rules that most of Ellis Island is in New Jersey.  The population of New Jersey is 8,414,350 and is 7,417 square miles.

Other facts for NEW JERSEY are:  Nickname; "Garden State", State Motto; "Liberty and Prosperity", Funny Motto; "What Smell?, State Flower; Purple Violet (1913), State Bird; eastern Goldfinch (1935); State Animal; Horse, and State Tree; Red Oak (1950). 



We had to drive through New York to get to New Jersey.  We will be spending a very short time in the Atlantic City area; only two nights and one day.  So we will make the most of sightseeing.  After 5 hours and 246 miles we arrived at Bakers Acres Campground in Little Egg Harbor.

BAKERS ACRES CAMPGROUND 

This is a very large campground with about 300 sites.  The place is dense with trees and the roads are narrow and all sand.  The map clearly marks the roads, but the roads are narrow and blend in with the sites, it’s hard to find the road.  All roads are one way and it is confusing as to which way the road goes.  We actually got lost trying to find our way out.  We did not even attempt to check out the rest of the campground as it really goes deep into the forest.  We did see a lot of permanent trailers that were empty.  It was a nice relaxing campground.  However it is probably really crowded and busy during the summer.
  

LONG BEACH ISLAND

After we settled into our campsite we had a few hours left in the day so we drove over to Long Beach Island and looked for a place for dinner.  We drove all the way to the point of the island to Barnegat Lighthouse to just take in the sights.  This is a narrow strip of land with views of the beach on both sides of the main road.  Most of the accesses to the beaches are private roads.  There are a lot of “rich” looking homes on this strip; large and very beautiful.  There was no traffic on the main road and the towns we drove through on the strip looked dead. These must be summer homes and most people who are seasonal have left.  We found a place called The Plantation to have dinner.  The food is pricy, but excellent!  It was after 6pm when we walked out of the place and it was very foggy (pea soup thick), but it was warm.  Around 68 degrees.  The fog felt more like humidity than cold fog like San Francisco.  And it was windy.  You cold see the fog moving past you, but it was warm and sticky.  Weird. 

ATLANTIC CITY 

Atlantic City is about a 30 minute drive from where we are staying. The “Queen of the Coast” emerged in the mid 1800’s as a popular seaside summer vacation playground.  In the late 1900’s Atlantic City grew to become one of the hottest year-around gambling destinations in the East.  This place is what Las Vegas is to the west coast.  Except, Atlantic City is next to the ocean, where Las Vegas is out in the desert.  The boardwalk alongside the casinos and hotels is a couple of miles long.  We walked part of it.  In between the casinos are shops and restaurants.  Most of the shops are tacky souvenir shops and the restaurants are fast food places. The nicer shops and restaurants are inside of the casinos.  We visited Caesar’s and Bally’s.  In Caesar’s there is a large fountain where there is a light show every hour.  We had walked upon that fountain just in time to see the show.

 

The Boardwalk from Caesar's

I was not impressed with the boardwalk area.  It was very dirty, trashy, seedy and very uncomfortable.  We walked out onto the beach a few times and when you looked back you could see under the boardwalk.  It was full of trash.  The homeless must hang out there.  We saw some homeless wondering around the boardwalk.  I also saw some vendors slipping trash in between the boards on the boardwalk. You can just imagine how much trash is underneath.  I wonder how often they find dead bodies under the boardwalk.  The area also smelled.  Yuck.  We will never return to this place.  But now at least we can say “been there, done that”.

 

Trivia note:  Did you know that the original game “Monopoly” was based on actual streets in Atlantic City?  Charles Darrow, the game inventor, had a fondness for childhood vacations spent in the beachside city.  He originally called the game “The Landlords Game”.  The game board reflects the actual condition of the real streets in Atlantic City with Boardwalk and Park Place being the nicest and most expensive and Mediterranean and Baltic being the slums.  Atlantic City gladly embraces its Monopoly heritage and there are Monopoly landmarks, photos and plaques located throughout the city.

Next stop is Delaware.   We will be spending two nights and one day here.  This will be our very first visit in this state, and our first visit with the trailer; nine down, two to go.

DAY 98-99: OCT 15-17 ~ DELAWARE 

Early explorations of our coastline were made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the sixteenth century, by Henry Hudson in 1609 under the auspices of the Dutch, by Samuel Argall in 1610, by Cornelius May in 1613, and by Cornelius Hendricksen in 1614.  In 1631, 11 years after the landing of the English pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first white settlement was made on Delaware soil.  December 7, 1787, whereby Delaware became "The First State" of the new Federal Union. Proud of this heritage, Delawareans continue to honor the traditions which made them the First State to ratify the United States Constitution, the document that continues to protect our nation's justice, strength, and liberty

Other facts for DELAWARE are: Nickname;  “First State”, State Motto; “Liberty and Independence”, (funny); “Everything is Smaller Here!”, State Flower; Peach Blossom (1895), State Bird; Blue Hen Chicken (1939), State Tree; American Holly (1939), and State Gem; Sillimanite.

We drove to Cape May and took the ferry across Delaware Bay.  The Delaware River flows into Delaware Bay and that bay flows into the Atlantic Ocean.  The ride across the river takes about an hour.  This is a small ferry and the car deck is open on both sides and you are allowed to wander that deck, stay in your car, or go up top.  After 4 hours and 89 miles we arrived at Tall Pines Campground in Lewes, Delaware. 

TALL PINES CAMPGROUND

This is not a campground, it’s a trailer park.  It is huge with over 300 sites and 80% of the sites have either permanent or seasonal trailers parked on them. A lot of the trailers looked trashy. The roads wind through a forest of trees and the sites are odd shaped and every which way. There are no even, neat rows.  None of the sites have sewage.  There is a truck that comes around and pumps out the sewage tanks for all the permanent trailers.  There is no internet at your site or cable TV.  The shocker is the price overnighters are charged; $61. That is outrageous and you get nothing for that price.  Most of the RV parks we have stayed at average $35 to $45. 

LEWES

Historic Lewes is a small harbor town.  We walked down 2nd street where all of the quaint shops are.  These shops are great!  No souvenir shops on this street.  Good quality home décor, fine clothing (some very unusual and beautiful scarves, blouses, jackets, etc) and lots of Americana décor, beautiful jewelry and glass.  We had lunch at a great place called the Buttery, a beautiful Victorian house converted to a restaurant. 

REHOBOTH BEACH

Rehoboth is a short distance from Lewes.  We drove down to the beach area and checked out the shops and boardwalk.  Rehoboth Avenue is where most of the shops are.  There are lots of souvenir shops; lots of T-shirts, shells, plastic lighthouses, etc.  The restaurants are mostly fast food with lots of pizza places, hot dogs and French fries and many ice cream shops.  Rehoboth Avenue ends at the beach and boardwalk.

Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk is another place similar to the Atlantic City Boardwalk, except there are no casinos.  We walked the boardwalk for a short time.  There were lots of shops and eateries along the boardwalk, but there was nothing different from the shops along Rehoboth Avenue. You wonder how they make money with so many shops with the same stuff and so many eateries serving the same foods.  But with the crowds that must invade the area during the summer, you probably need all these places to support the hungry crowds.  The beach along the boardwalk looked very inviting.  It’s a wide beach with smooth clean sand.  And the water looked enticing and relaxing.  Although there were lots of signs warning of rip tides.

Tomorrow we leave the New England area and the east coast.  We will turn westward and head for home.  Twelve more days.