Rend Lake | RV There Yet?

It’s been quite a while since we’ve done an almost 1200 mile cross-country, gotta-get-there, drive-till-you drop road trip.Â So while we didn’t actually drive-till-we-dropped (we’re way too old for that!), we have had a couple of long days behind the windshield as we moved from our August SOWER project (Eastern WV) to our September project (NE OK).Â Â Wanna come along?
We set out from West Virginia, drove through the panhandle of Maryland on I68 (so beautiful – so HILLY).Â We actually drove the entire length of I68 and lost count of the runaway truck ramps that we passed. Geez, they make me nervous!
Over hill,

And dale

through cities

over rivers

and through construction zones.

And more construction zones.

(I’m generally too tense when we’re in the actual cattle chute type construction to snap pictures!).
All in all, it was more good road than bad, more light traffic than busy, and certainly more open road than city driving! The mountains eventually gave way to the corn fields of Indiana

and eventually we made it to a lovely Corp of Engineers campground (Rend Lake) where we are enjoying a quiet evening, an electric hook-up and air conditioning!

(These 90+ degree days are hard on everyone, but when you live in (essentially) a tin can – that A/C is critical!)
Here are some shots from our first two days on the road…..

One more full day to go (which involves getting through/around St. Louis!) and then a short day on Thursday as we move into the project – New Life Ranch, Frontier Cove, in Adair, OK.

Thanks for coming along! Gotta get to bed now – someone likes to get an early start!

Sweet Dreams!

September. Really? Where did the rest of the summer go? The last couple of weeks have been filled with family and friends and fun, and I’m going to do my best to catch you up on some of them (maybe even do a post a day for a while – whaddya think?). But for now, a little real-time update.

Today was a travel day. We left in the morning fog

and, (after a 60 mile (truck only) detour to retrieve Gary’s phone that had been left behind at Lara’s) we set our sights on points west and south. Although our next family stop will be in Lorena, TX, we decided to do a little bit of R&R camping on the way south. Destination for today was Gun Creek Campground on Rend Lake in Illinois. The spot was chosen because of it’s proximity to I57 (just south of Effingham, IL),about 400 miles into the trip and also the price – $13/night (full hook-ups) with our senior pass. Sometimes it really pays to be old!
Our drive was mostly uneventful – though it seemed like there was an inordinate amount of construction along the way

and way too many trucks on the road. But then again, I’m happy to see that America is still moving across the country!
The day ended with a bit of rain

but was clearing out as we settled into our spot for the next couple of days.

The lake is just through those trees at the end of the road. We’ll be exploring tomorrow for sure!
I am so thankful our safe travels today (something I never take for granted) and for this guy-

who once again got us to where we needed to be! Even with ALL those trucks!