From El Paso
Surprised??? Ok – El Paso, Illinois. We also passed Peru and Mexico – in Indiana.
Karl and I are on the roll west. It was a hard start, leaving my dear friends’ home but headed for the place I – and I think Karl – love best…
We rolled at just before 9 a.m. with 9 as the target departure time. It was cool at just above freezing but got to 40 in short order and above 50 through the day and still 52 now at 6:20 p.m. CDT in El Paso.
It was a different drive than my norm as I was determined to skip Chicago and the Ohio-Indiana-Illinois turnpike. I took Route 24 which was mostly a 2 lane – sometimes 4 but NOT limited access. We cruised through town after midwest farm town – nearly all quaint, beautiful old homes, gorgeous farms, farmhouses and barns. It is not the quickest way to go but it was pleasant – under a blue sky dotted with fluffy white clouds. No motorhome glitches, no operator error – a good travel day and we rolled into Hickory Hills Campground in El Paso at just after 4:00 p.m. CDT having gained an hour from our EDT start.
Tomorrow is a bit of a question – high winds are forecast…I thought to head for northwest IA which is a 452 mile day …10-12 hours depending on how many breaks I need. I have enough daylight and that gives me a really short weekend the following weekend to Spearfish, SD… The backup plan is Iowa City, IA and a rural campground where I spent a week last trip east. The sticky point is the high winds – gusts to 40 mph are forecast for afternoon- more stress than is “fun” to drive a high profile vehicle. I’ll stop in Iowa City tomorrow and evaluate.
But to wrap up – photos, of course!
Karl – last evening in Ohio
That barn again!
The road…I had been wanting to get a photo that illustrated exactly how narrow these rural roads are…and how DEEP the ditches! No room for error – corners are fun…
The site at Hickory Hills. Karl and I had a wonderful long walk along the rural road that accesses the campground. Post walk – a few treats for Karl, a glass of wine for me and some outside time. We actually had a lot of walking today – normal long walk this morning before leaving, nice long walk around a Wal-mart stop midday and the evening walk. We should both sleep well.
Farm scenery from my site picnic table.