Another Month in the RV
We are at South Marcum Campground near Benton IL, 100 miles north of the southermost tip of Illinois. We've been here a week, and enjoyed very nice weather at the start. Then rain began on Thursday and continued nonstop for 48 hours, part of the northern lash of Hurricane Helene. We had planned to leave here today to head to our next stop, in Kentucky, but decided to stay until tomorrow to let the storm's intensity dissipate a bit. So we've been cooped up in our tiny house for a couple days.
So, camper, RV, or house? For us, it is a house, though the distinction blurs somewhat depending on how long we stay at any particular place. We try to find places with interesting things to see and do, but we don't necessarily spend all of our time "recreating". When we stay somewhere for just a few days, it feels more like a vacation stop, and our abode feels more camper-like because we don't have a lot of down time. But longer stays - at least a week - are more relaxed and our space is more a house than an RV.
Though our space is mostly "house", there are aspects of it that are most definitely not like a house. Rain, for example, is a quite different experience in the RV. The sound of rain on the roof reminds me of being in a tin-roofed machine shed in the rain. The roof makes a "ping" sound for each raindrop, and in a heavy rain, it becomes a mild roar that easily disrupts sleep (and I say this from firsthand experience!). We also need to keep tabs on our water usage to ensure that wastewater tanks don't overfill. To help manage this, we will use park bathroom and shower facilities when they're available and suitable (that is, clean and with hot water). And of course, the space in the RV is not large. Though Kristin and the dog and I usually coexist comfortably, we do sometimes bump elbows, figuratively speaking, but it's all ok. Another difference between the RV and a real house is that the RV wiggles and moves. It sits on leveling jacks, which are not perfectly rigid, so whenever someone, or some dog, moves, or if there is a stiff wind, the whole unit wiggles and wobbles a bit. Noticeable, but not bothersome.
Ok, switching gears, here's my update on places we've been and things we've seen in the past 4 weeks:
We stayed a week at Veteran's Memorial Capmground in West Salem, WI, just outside of LaCrosse. The main purpose for this stop (and really, for our entire loop around Lake Michigan) was to attend Brett and Kelsi's wedding in LaCrosse. Before the wedding, we went to Decorah to visit with Seth. At the wedding, it was fun to hang out with family, and we even hosted Karl overnight in the RV. We went to Grandad Bluff and had lunch with Karl at the Alpine Inn.
From LaCrosse we went on to Wisconsin Dells, staying at Holiday Shores Campground and Resort. Holiday Shores is a bit spendy, but I wanted to stay there to see the place where my family went in the 70's/80's for the annual Jaycee raft race. Though the place is the same, the scene is way different, as the resort is mainly an RV park now, and not the tenting campground I remember from the 70's.
We had a pretty busy stay in the Dells. We took a fun hour-long tour in an Original Wisconsin Duck, which I have always wanted to do. We went to the Baraboo Farmer's Market, then to the grocery store, where we found the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile and got a picture and a couple Wiener Whistles. We had guests twice while at the Dells. One night, one of Kristin's college friends and his wife came to visit for awhile. A couple days later we hosted Todd and Sophie, who brought their tents, and we had a good time hanging out.
Our next stay was at Starved Rock State Park in Oglesby, IL. Interestingly, this park is near Ottawa, IL, where we stayed in a Walmart back in July. This was a short 3-night stay. Besides the park, which has some nice hiking trails and views over the Illinois River, there wasn't much else we were interested in seeing.
As I mentioned at the beginning, we are now at South Marcum campground. We have not found Benton to be very interesting, so we've mostly hung out at the campground, taking walks and bike rides. We did go to the County Seat Antique Mall in Benton on Wednesday, and it turned out to be much more interesting than we anticipated; as antique stores go though, it doesn't justify a trip to Benton on its merits alone.
Last Friday we tried to do our Beer-n-Burger night, but could not find a suitable restaurant/bar in Benton, so instead we went to Seasoning Bistro. It was very good, but not quite our Friday thing. We stayed in yesterday due to the weather and the lack of suitable places to go to.
Back in Michigan we found a brand of potato chips that we have decided are the Best Chips Ever. Great Lakes Potato Chips are made in Michigan and distributed through the upper midwest. We discovered a supply here in Benton, and attempted to stock up on several flavors. Alas, the attempt failed, as we have already eaten them all and depleted our stock.
