Utica, IL to Monticello, IN

Yesterday, we prepared to move from Utica to Monticello. Sunshine ran into the bedroom and onto her bed at the foot of our bed. Said, "What, moving again?" and covered her head with her blanket. The rains that we had experienced overnight had stoppped and we were able to get ready to leave and stay dry at the same time. When she saw that we were, in fact, ready to move, she got excited and jumped right into the truck and let us know that she was ready to move. In order to not have to drive through South Chicago/Gary, IN on I-80, we traveled south on I-39 to US-24 and then took 24 east to Monticello. The river we crossed was The Illinois River. We much prefer traveling state highways over Interstates because we see more that way. We traveled through small towns and vast farmlands. We welcomed the lush greens of the trees and ground cover that we had missed since last fall. The only thing that we really missed was seeing the mountains soaring and canyons falling around us in the west. We were welcomed to Watseka, IL by a Smiley Face water tower and to Monticello by the friendly people in the West Oak RV Resort, south of town. It is storming with thunderboomers right now and Sunshine is doing quite well with the noise. We believe that she is more sure of us now and that we will not let any harm come to her. We are seeing more of her personality every day and we sure do like what we are seeing. She defininately has her own personality. She gets very exctited when we get to a new campground, wishing to see, smell and meet the newness of the new campsite. Tomorrow we are to move to our home park in Davison, MI. Storms are forecast for this and that area for tomorrow so we will play it by ear.

Des Moines, IA to Utica, IL

Today was probably the best day, weather-wise, that we have had in a long time - sunny and next to NO wind! In Texas, Arizona and the Plains, they call these 30-50 mph winds Breezes, and we do not quite agree. We had seen so many rest areas closed in the western states that it was a real pleasure to see that along I-80 in Iowa, there was a rest area about every 30 miles. My 70 year old prostate is very grateful. This one is even being modernized. After so long in the desert and mountains, which we loved, we are finally seeing GREEN grass and trees and loving it even more, now. We crossed the Mighty Mississippi and were welcomed to Illinois. Sunshine has gotten to where she can sleep more while traveling instead of whining every time we slow down. Here she asked "Are we there yet or should I just go back to sleep?" Progress, I guess! RoadsideAmerica.com calls this water tower coffee pot the Worlds Largest Coffee Pot in a truck stop near our present campground. We'll have to go there and see if large size equates to good taste. We will stay here for two nights and then probably to Monticello, IN for two and then probably to our home park in Davison, MI. Wont be as long as it has been!

Pender, NE to Des Moines, IA

Yesterday, we moved from the campground on the Blue Ox property to Cutty's Campground in Des Moines. The winds started gusting AGAIN up to 30 MPH or so to start. As we were getting set up, we told our new "friend," a bird that had been laying on either some rocks or eggs next to our rig. As we would approach, she would scream and splay her tail feathers telling us to get away and she was getting bigger to force the issue, if needed. When this wouldn't work, she would take off into the grass so that we would chase her instead of going near her "nest." Gutsy little lady! On our trip, we were even smiled on by a Smiley Face from a water tower in Adair, IA. The gusts picked up along our journey to over 40 MPH but at least the last half of the trip had the wind at our rear instead of the right side like it was for the first half. We got set up at Cutty's just before it started raining. The other day in Omaha at lunch with MOC friends, Ron and Mary suggested stopping at a dairy farm in Northern Indiana where there is a "milking carousel" and many calfs being born every day, among other interesting things. We will be camping nearby at Monticello, IN but, since we have not given Sunshine serious "separation training," we are not going to be able to see it this trip. We will work on that while home and hopefully see the farm in the fall, when we leave the MOC Rally in Goshen. Tomorrow we go to Utica, IL and then on to Monticello. From there, we head home. Looking forward to seeing family that we have not seen since the holidays.

We had a great day today!

Yesterday, the engineer from Blue Ox took our hitch and old bedsaver from our truck. We spent the night in their on-site campground. This morning, we were advised that our bedsaver was good to go. I took the truck to the factory they reinstalled it. We advised them that we had plans for this afternoon and were advised that we could stay the extra night, if we wished. This was done all for no added cost to us. We then drove to Fremont, NE and had lunch with friends from the MOC, Ron and Mary Lichtenberg and Paul and Jan Kelpe. We made it back to Pender late this afternoon and will leave in the morning for Des Moines, IA. We are now slowly making our way home to Michigan. All in all, a pretty good day!

Mitchell, SD to Pender, NE

Today we traveled from Mitchell to Pender. The first half was with a 30-40 MPH tailwind and then the last half was south with the strong winds coming from the west. We arrived at the Blue Ok hitch and tow bar factory. Since our 5th wheel slider hitch on our new truck would not handle the "bed saver" from our old hitch, they will design one for us, install it and we will have a new bed saver and Blue Ox will have the design for this hitch for future orders. We have used Blue Ox products in the past and liked them but this action really impresses us. They have a campground on their property with full hookups and will let us camp here until they are done on Friday. What's good about being in this area is that we will be having dinner with friends from the MOC that live in Omaha tomorrow or Thursday. Can't beat that! When we leave here Friday or Saturday, we will be slowly winding our way home to Michigan.

Sundance, WY to Mitchell, SD

We finally made it out of Sundance today. This morning we returned our truck to the mechanic who had "changed the fuel filters" because it was still difficult starting and discovered that he only replaced one of the two filters. Now, hopefully, it is good to go. The day was sunny and cool, finally rising to 66 degrees as we arrived in Mitchell. The winds that we have been having seemingly forever were relatively calm and it was a great day to travel. When we arrived at the Famil-E-Fun Campground said that he had just heard on the news that tomorrow the winds back between Rapid City and The Missouri River were to be 55 MPH SUSTAINED tomorrow. WOW!! Once again, our timing was quite good. Tomorrow we travel from here to Pender, NE, the home of Blue Ox hitches. They are taking our old "bed saver" that fit onto the hitch from the truck we traded in for this one in Texas but does not fit on the new slider hitch. They have not manufactured one that fits our hitch so they will design and manufacture one and give it to us for free, and then they will have a pattern for future savers for this hitch. This is great PR by Blue Ox. They also have a campground on their property that we will be camping at while there. The only cost to us will be time. We then will be winding our way home, probably arriving about May 14.

One more day in Sundance

The weather geniuses have issued a Winter Weather Advisory calling for snow and 25-40 MPH winds with 50 MPH gusts for today. Tomorrow should be much better so we will wait until then to leave here. This is the same campground that we were in last spring and stayed inside the Montana for a few hours with the slides in while 65 MPH gusts lambasted us. Is Northeast Wyoming trying to tell us something? Sunshine had a difficult time sleeping last night with the rockin and rollin that the rig was going through. Think we will let her sleep today and tomorrow will be a better day. We are warm and dry in here.