20 Nights/10 States

20 Nights camping in our 560 Ultra and traveled through 10 states outside of SC. Put 3400 miles on the car on the trip. Mary Ellen turned 62 on the first day of the trip and got to buy her Senior Pass for the Fedaral campgrounds.

We did have one night at the Necedah Motel while the good folks at Camp Inn had our camper doing updates and/or fixing some things on it. The biggerst thing we had done was adding the Autowbrake trailer mounted electric brake control (it's wireless) in the camper. And it was nice having working brakes again after we left the factory. Most of the rest of it was little stuff except we were told we are the first people to have to get the sink remounted. Don't wedge stuff under the sink is good advice to follow. The only thing they found we didn't realize we needed was the regulator on the propane was leaking so that was replaced. And we did add the diffusor to the AC & we can tell a difference with it added, so we are glad we did that.

Took offon June 14 for Cumberland Gap National Historical Park at the point where Virginia, Tennessee, & Kentucky. Wilderness Road Campground is in Virginia barely. We've twice over the years camped within a short walking distance of Tennessee, but s0mehow have not managed to camp in Tennesse yet. Mary Ellen had a birthday here and she was able to buy her Senior Pass for the National Parks & Federal Recreation Lands so cheaper camping is on the horizon. The first thing she got a discount on was for the Gap Cave tour in the park. Nice on a hot day, but the tour is worth doing anyway. The other ranger talk we did was about Dulcimers or Hog Fiddles at the Visitors Center. We enjoyed this one and we had met the ranger back in March when we stopped by on a non-camping trip in the area. Definitely heading back there as we liked it and the park is only a little over 3 hours from our house.

A couple of nights in Lexington, KY camping at Kentucky Horse Park. Our daughter moved there in January. We celebrated with a cake from a local bakery, Spalding Bakery (Good doughnut too) & some good Indian food for Mary Ellen's birthday. Ended up a few spots away from some people from our hometown who were starting their own 3 week trip.

Jumped up to Illini State park on the Illinois River for a single night. Got to see some barges get pushed through the lock there which was pretty neat to see in person. I show my classes that by video, but the only one in SC is 3 hours from our house.

Got to Necedah late on Sunday afternoon to camp at the Camp Inn factory. This was the first time we have used the screens with the doors all the way open. We've opened the door up with the side tent on but for one night we didn't fool with it. First thing we did when we arrived was take a picture of the new sign with Jeremiah posing on the road. ( I like the one I saw on a social media post the other day with the family jumping, but my knees are shot, so nobody is jumping in ours). (See our pic below).

Handed the camper over to Craig/Cary the next morning. We had discussed by phone what we wanted/needed with them weeks ahead and they had us go over the list to make sure we all understood what needed to be done. We took off for the Necedah Motel and spent most of the time hiking in the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge and eating our way through Necedah. If you are going to Necedah, go check it out. Worth the trip and the trail by the Visitors Center is a pretty easy walk. The volunteers at the desk told us an area where we might see a bald eagle and he was right. (See pic below). We took time to do laundry in Necedah and bought some New Glarus beer. A liquor store next to a laundromat is a genius idea.

Got the camper back after lunch the following day and backed into the Camp Inn camping area for another night. We did have the room at the motel for another night, but we slept in the camper. We did get up early to go back for one more hike at the Wildlife Refuge. Since we had paid for the room at the motel, we stopped by there after the hike for a shower and check out. Turned our key for the bathroom after hours at CI and headed out once more on the road.

Perrot State Park was our next stop for 2 nights. Trempeleau Bay is beautiful and were greeted by a host of mosquitos there. Did some short hikes here and found amother lock to see, this time on the Mississippi River. Better viewing here as they had an elevated platform for viewing. Took a drive over into Minnesota up to Lake City up to Lake Pepin. Grabbed some ice cream up there before heading back. One of the things I like about the Midwest is there is good ice cream every where. Got more New Glarus beer, but should have bought more. Oh well, another trip.

Met up with Ron & Missy who also have a 560 that was picked up pretty close to the same time we were in Necedah 7 years ago. Jeremiah is #720 and their WALL-E is #735. Missy and Mary Ellen had connected on Facebook at some point and Bellevue State Park was not far from their hometown. We had a great time getting to know each in real life and they camped 2 of our 3 nights here with us. Grabbed some beer at a brewery in Bellevue that was right on the Mississippi River and later had some good BBQ at Potters Mill. And there was ice cream.

Part of the reason I wanted to get into Iowa was I once lived there. My father's first job after college was in Cedar Rapids. I don't remember living there and always wanted to see the city I almost grew up in. My parents liked Iowa except for winter which of course happens in Iowa. Had a good time checking out Cedar Rapids and we are now dreaming of a Menard's in our hometown. Our aparment from 1968 was still there.

Moraine View State Recreation Area in Illinois was our next stop. Great campground and we made this our chill out part of the trip. We never left the park for the 3 days we camped. Did a lot of walking, reading and we did rent the worst kayaks ever to go out on the lake there. We had nice Iowa family across from us. One day we had sat down to eat our PBJ sandwiches for lunch. Looked up and the Iowa folks from across the road were walking over. They had plates with food and we thought they coming over to eat with us. Turns out they were feeding us. Gave us some really good Turkey/Dressing and bun they had heated. Said this was a NE Iowa tradition people used a lot of functions and some people ate as a sandwich. That is what we did and they said they just wanted to share an Iowa thing with us.

Final stop was back in Lexington, KY and we camped at Fort Boonesborough State Park this time. With our daughter there we wanted to try out different places to see which one we liked best in the area. One day we drove to Newport, KY just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, to have lunch with Mary Ellen's brother and his wife who live in Dayton. We found a German place there and it was the first time we had seen them in 5 years. Our daughter took us for ice cream at a place called Crank & Boom in the Distillary District in Lexington. Go with Bourbon and honey flavor. Mostly making sure things are going alright for her as she has only been there 6 months and this is her first job after college.

Next up is camping at Lee State Park to be at the Southern 500 NASCAR race in Darlington Labor Day weekend. Would like to one more short trip, but I'm starting at a new school for me and we start up on July 25 because this school is on a modified calendary. But I have the whole first week of October off. Unfortunatley, Mary Ellen does not. If we get back out in July, it will be at a high elevation either in the NC mountains or Georgia mountains to escape the heat.

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Three weeks is just the right amount of time. Long enough that you don’t have to count the days yet not so long that it goes on and on. Sounds like you two had a blast. Thanks for taking us along.

 

What he said Looks like a grand adventure The cave - was that unregulated -- It looks prety untouched

One point --- to you older CI Owners --- if you have AC, you may not know it --- but you NEED the diffuser. I'd say it drops the temperature 3-4 degrees easily, and it much more evenly spreads the air throughout the cabin - A totally worth it item.

Zippered door screens -- I love 'em. Just to be able to open the door and look at the night sky without skeeters. We added them "just becuase we might use them" and I found that at last for a few hours on every trip, we do. That 1:00am wake up - just to be able to look outside and hear the variety of bugs (safely kept AWAY from them) usually brings me back to a slumber state in a few minutes. Certainly a lot less than worrying about work in the sterile nearly sound proof cabin.

It still surprises me how little outside noise gets in with our doors closed, and the AC running...

 

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You have 2 guides with you. They give you flashlights with a strap so you can put around your neck if you want to. The only light in there is these flashlights. You are on sidewalk the whole time & stairs with handrails.
Used as a hospital during the Civil War by the US. College students from nearby Lincoln Memorial University used to party in it when the school owned it. They also used one area to put on plays. Look for the stairs here, it was used to for the balcony scene in Romeo & Juliet. View attachment upload_2022-7-8_11-18-24.png
US 25 used to go within feet of the entrance of it. Road was pretty dangerous then, it averaged 12 deaths a year.
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