Day 33 September 6, 2024
Today is travel day. We pulled out at 8AM for our 230 mile drive that turned out to be about 250 miles. We are not traveling the major roads. We are mostly following what is named the Great River Road. It somewhat follows the Mississippi River and we did get to see the river several times and ride along side it for many miles. We got to see a few of the 29 Locks and Dams on the river.
The group stopped in Wabasha MN to visit the National Bald Eagle Center. We all parked in a large dirt parking lot and most of us walked the 1/2 miles to the center which sets on the banks of the Mississippi River. We looked at all the exhibits and then went into a room where they had two of the Bald Eagles that they are caring for. They can’t be released to the wild because one has a wing that prevents it from flying and the other is blind in one eye therefore it has no depth perception. Without depth perception it would not be able to land in a tree.
Then we went across the street to listen to one of the staff give our group a talk about Bald Eagles. One thing that amazed the group is each of a grown eagles four toes has 400 lbs of gripping/crushing strength, enough to crush a grown humans femur bone with just one toe. We were also surprised to find out their beaks does not have much crushing strength but is very sharp and is used to tear meat from a fish or animal. Every state in the USA has Bald Eagles except Hawaii. Of course Alaska has the most. It has more than all the other states combined. Wisconsin is second, Minnesota is third and Florida is fourth. They like to be near large bodies of water because they like fish. Alaska also has the largest Bald Eagles.
After telling us a lot of interesting things about them he took one out of a cage after warning us they can project their poop about 12 feet and sometimes are messy eaters.
He had a protective glove on his hand and arm when he got the Eagle out. He was also blind in one eye. After eating a few pieces of meat (a rat) the Eagle pooped on the floor, a splat about 6” across. “Cleanup in aisle one”.
From there we walked back to our motorhome and continued on our way towards Boulder Creek Campground out in the country in Bagley, WI. Most of the roads were good but one section about 20 miles or so almost rattled our fillings out of our teeth. We had a lot of turns to make today and missed a few of them but soon got back on the correct road and arrived safe and sound.
The campground was a nice campground, our site not so much but we are only here one night. Mrs. Wagonmaster set out a selection of snack food, taco salad, chips, etc about 6:30 in the meeting room. Then we had our drivers meeting before we called it a day.
Day 34 September 7, 2024
It was 47 degrees when we got up this morning at 7am. We had breakfast, packed up and departed just after 8am for our 190 mile drive to Camelot Campground Quad Cities in Rock Island IL.
We left Wisconsin, drove through parts of Iowa and ended up in Illinois today. We were riding along part of the Mississippi River again. We have lost count of how many times we have crossed it so far. We drove through some of the most beautiful Iowa farm land you can imagine. There were beautiful rolling hills with lush green corn gently waving in the wind, beautiful farm barns and houses all kept up and very well cared for outbuildings, yards, etc.
Then we went through an area that made us think we were in the mountains. Mostly good roads today and a few less turns except in a couple of towns. And the way some of these towns name their streets is sometimes confusing for county hicks like us. And some of the streets didn’t have signs up with the street names and our trip book indicated turn on a certain street and there was no street sign there.
When we got close to our campground we were supposed to turn right onto 10Ave W street but there was not a sign with that name to be found. So we used our RV GPS to get us to the campground. When we got setup in site 7 I looked at Google Maps. It showed the street with the names 10th Ave W, 78th Ave W and Andalusia RD. But the only street sign was Andalusia RD. And that was not in our Trip Book, only 10th Ave W. Why would the town give the street three names? Isn’t traveling fun. 🤩
We rode with Gregg and Judi to the docks along the Mississippi River to board the river boat Celebration Belle for a group night time dinner cruise. Our group was not the only ones on this boat, there were probably 300 people on it. There was a young musician playing but with 300 or so people carrying on a conversation the music was mostly drowned out.
We were curious how they were going to feed this many people quickly but we were amazed how fast we were served. They had two tables set up in the middle of the floor with the same food on both so there were four lines. We went up by table and in no time everyone was served. There was salad fixings, green beans, red potatoes, butter, rolls, pasta, chicken and prime rib. And then cheesecake for dessert. Our table had a really good waiter. He was very efficient and attentive. After the fireworks he played the tambourine to some of the music and then danced with one of the ladies and then with one of the waitresses. He was having a good time.
We found out there was going to be fireworks over the water at 9:30 so we went to the upper deck to watch. They were supposed to have them on the 4th of July but the river was flooded so they were postponed until tonight, lucky for us. They lasted 20 minutes.
We got back to our motorhome just before 11pm.
Day 35 Sunday September 8, 2024
We boarded our White Chariot at 8:30. This bus was almost new. Mike, the driver told me the company had purchased 70 new buses in the last 2.5 years. They have 130 buses and about 300 full and part time drivers. The bus company has branches in several states.
We had about a 45 minute drive to the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in the small town of West Branch Iowa. Our campground is in Illinois but we are just across the Mississippi River from Iowa.
We saw a video about President Herbert Hoover. I guess I have always had a negative impression of President Hoover. Never heard anything positive about him since he got the blame for the Great Depression. But he had a remarkable life, especially since both his parents died by the time he was 10 years old and he became an orphan. His stern Uncle and Aunt took him in and raised him.
He actually did a lot of good for this country and also for other countries before he was elected as the 31st. President. The Midwest drought that happened during his term and the crash of the stock market severely damaged this country but President Hoover got the blame for things that went wrong that was out of his control.
After the video we toured the museum and then his childhood home which was really small, only two rooms, for 5 people to live in. His family were Quakers. We also got to visit his and his wife’s grave on the hill behind the museum. They both had college degrees in geology and by age 40 Hebert Hoover was a millionaire gained from his expertise in mining.
Some of the grounds near their graves have been reverted to the wild prairie grasses and flowers before the land was developed. His boyhood home and the museum is just a short distance from an interstate highway. It was kind of odd to look out over the land that had reverted to natural prairie grass and flowers and see the top of the Golden Arches of the McDonald’s at the interstate exchange nearby.
When we departed the Hoover hometown I had a more positive impression of President Hoover.
Our next stop was to Iowa 80 Truck Stop, the largest Truck Stop in the world. First we toured the Iowa 80 Truck Museum that was at the truck stop. There was no charge to tour it.
They had an amazing collection of everything truck. I had never heard of some of the truck manufacturers. Most had been restored to their original condition and all had a fact board in front of them with a short story board about the truck.
Then we walked over to the truck stop building. There are 900 parking spots at the truck stop. We have been in many truck stops since owning a motorhome but not on the scale of this place. There was 5 fast food businesses, a coffee shop, a full set down restaurant, showers, a dentist, a chiropractor, DOT Physician, a barber shop, laundry, pet wash, vinyl & embroidery shop, plus all kinds of tshirts, jackets, toys, movie theater, atms, UPS/Fedex and US Mail Drops, Church Services on Sunday and about any kind of supplies for trucks you could imagine. Plus onsite mechanical repairs, tire replacement and truck wash. Not to mention numerous diesel fuel and gasoline pumps.
We returned to the campground about 1:30 and then everyone departed again about 3 pm to drive downtown to the Circa 21 Playhouse for the Dinner Show “The Addams Family”.
We had a choice of one of four entrees plus dessert. Lena and I got Chicken Fried Chicken that was overcooked. The desserts were very good. The play was also very funny and well acted. The 9 year old boy that played Pugsley did a really good job but my favorite was Uncle Fester.
We got back to the motorhome about 8:30.
Day 36 Monday September 9, 2024
We were back on the same bus that we rode yesterday at 8:30 this morning with Chuck as the driver. He drove us about an hour and 15 minutes to The Amana Colonies. The German people that setup the colonies lived a Communal Lifestyle. They originally lived in New York but moved to Iowa in 1856 and purchased 26,000 acres of land. They set up 7 colonies all a short distance apart. They gradually moved away from the communal lifestyle in the 1930’s
Most of the original houses and buildings are still standing and the houses are still occupied either as a home or a business. We didn’t realize the Amana Refrigerator was made by the residents of the colonies until today as we drove my the plant. Now they are labeled Whirlpool and still in business. There is also several thousand acres of farmland with corn and soybeans growing on them. The workers are all hired hands now not members of the colonies.
We picked up a local guide Nona (sp) and as Mike drove us through all the 7 colonies she talked to us about the colonies. Our first stop was to view a video about the colonies. She didn’t grow up in the colonies but was raised on a farm just outside the colonies and married a man from the colonies. We stopped at a gift shop and then at Schanz Furniture and Refinishing. They had some really nice hand made furniture and other handmade wood items in the woodworking shop. They also do a lot of furniture repair and chair caning. Several people came out with some of their hand made items. I think they would have sold more if the people in our group had some way to transport it. There was a really nice handmade walnut rocking chair that I liked that was priced at $1,200. It takes a lot of skill and time to make that kind of rocking chair.
Then it was lunch time so we stopped at the Ox Yoke Inn for a family style lunch. This was the best meal we have had on the caravan trip so far. The food was really good, I think everyone really liked it. We had roast beef, fried chicken, fried ham, cream potatoes and gravy, sour kraut, slaw, two kind of locally baked bread and rhubarb pie for dessert.
Then everyone went into several shops and helped the local economy before getting back on the bus to return to the campground.
At 5:30 we had our drivers meeting for our next travel day on Wednesday to Hannibal MO.
Day 37 Tuesday September 10, 2024
Today is our “free day” in other words no planned group activities so we decided to go to downtown Moline IL, to a cafe we saw across from the Circa 21 Theater. It boasts cinnamon bun pancakes so we were curious as to what exactly that was. We invited Bob and Peggy, from our group, to go with us. They had to leave their tow car in Hannibal MO due to a brake issue so they have no transportation except their motorhome and that would be an issue in downtown streets. They will pick it up tomorrow when we get to Hannibal.
We all ordered the same thing, the cinnamon bun pancakes with bacon and coffee. If we had of known how large the serving was we could have just ordered one order per couple. The pancakes were almost as big as a dinner plate and there were five on them, plus 3 strips of bacon. They were very good but way two much for one meal so we all got a takeout box.
Our next stop was The John Deere Pavilion a couple miles away. Moline is the home of the John Deere Company. They had a huge new tractor out in front of the building and a 16 row harvester inside plus some of their older tractors. We were allowed to climb the stairs and get into the harvester so of course I took the opportunity to do that because I have never been in one. The technology of the new farm equipment is just amazing. They are even making remote control tractors now. The farmer can set in his office and control them with a remote control.
We checked out the gift shop next door and then drove to the John Deere World Headquarters a few miles away. We couldn’t go inside the beautiful building but we could drive through the property. It was almost like a park setting and the grounds were manicured of course with a John Deere mower.
We all needed a few groceries so we stopped at a Walmart before returning to the campground to prepare for our travel day tomorrow.
Day 38 Wednesday September 11, 2024
Today is travel day again, so we packed up and departed for Hannibal MO, the boyhood home of Mark Twain, about 8:20 for our 187 mile drive.
Even though we had to make numerous turns, today’s travel was not as stressful as what we had a few days ago. We crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa after a few miles, stayed in Iowa for several miles and crossed back into Illinois over the Mississippi River. A lot of our driving today was down beside the river. After 120 miles we took a break in a roadside rest stop beside the river.
We are still seeing lots of corn and soybeans. Before we got to Hannibal we began to see a few fields where they were harvesting corn. I checked a few days ago and Iowa harvested 13.1 million acres of corn in 2023.
There was a known detour just as we got to Hannibal and we got a little mixed up due to the detour signs. We knew we were supposed to take the detour for South 79 and we did but when we got to the end of the off ramp the sign had detour for North 79. But I turned on our GPS and it got us on the correct road to get to our campground, Mark Twain Cave Complex. The Wagonmasters sent us to pull through site D7 and we were soon setup and having leftovers for lunch.
Our group split up into two groups, even # rigs and odd # rigs and took a guided tour through the Mark Twain Cave which is right out the back door of the campground office. We watched a 7 minute video and then Logan our guide took us into the cave. The caves were discovered in 1819 when a local hunter followed his hunting dog into a hole in the side of a hill chasing a cougar. For several years local people explored the sandstone caves. The cave has been mapped and there are 260 passages that is over 3 miles of passage ways but our tour was less than 1/2 miles. Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) explored the caves. Also Jesse James hung out in the caves. Per our guide Logan there are 1/4 million signatures on the cave walls. Now it is a $10,000 fine to write on the walls of the caves.
Several caves in Missouri claims to be where Jesse James hide out but the Mark Twain Cave is the only one that has his signature carved on the walls. Samuel Clemens also wrote his name on the walls.
There has been a few weddings in the cave and the last one was in 2021.
Logan gave us a good tour even with his corny “Dad jokes “.
Sadly a few people in our group have been diagnosed with COVID but they don’t seem to have a bad case of it. They were able to leave the last campground and drive here today but are staying away from the rest of the group.
Day 39 Thursday September 12, 2024
We boarded a Trolley this morning at 9:00 with half of our group for a tour around the historic town of Hannibal, the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). It was 60 degrees this morning so we wore a lite jacket because the Trolley had the side windows removed. The lady driver of the Trolley gave us a good tour of the historic town. She had a running commentary of the town, even had a few corny jokes. She pointed out the best ice cream shop in town where they have huckleberry ice cream and also the best coffee shop/cafe in town, Java Jive. When we returned to the campground we got off and the other half of our group boarded for their tour.
Then we rode with Gregg and Judi back to town to tour the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens, Huckleberry Finns home, Becky Thatcher’s home and several others buildings associated with Samuel Clemens. We walked down main street and took several pictures of murals, the historic buildings and then decided we needed something to eat so we went to Java Jive. I got a pumpkin spice latte and a panini, Lena got a regular latte and a tiramisu and we split each. Really good.
Then we toured the Mark Twain Museum. There were three floors of Mark Twain related information. As we were about to leave the third floor, we stopped to talk to the handy man that we had met earlier at the boyhood home of Samuel Clemens where he was painting a white picket fence behind the house. As we were talking to him there on the third floor he was standing beside a red velvet high back chair. He said they had recently discovered something significant about that chair. He turned it around and there was the signature of Hal Holbrook on the back. He was a fairly famous actor and was also well known for his impersonation shows of Mark Twain and had done his show at this museum. Hal Holbrook was married to the actress Dixie Carter that stared in the TV series Designing Women.
The handyman’s name was Tim Carpenter and he had family in South Carolina. When I commented about his last name he said his father was a carpenter and one day someone asked him how long had he been a carpenter and he said “all my life”.
We did some more walking, photo taking and ended up at Becky’s Old Fashion Ice Cream Parlor for the Huckleberry Ice Cream. It was really good.
Then we drove through the neighborhood called millionaires row where there was some really pretty old homes from the late 1800’s. Some of them have been painstakingly restored, some are being restored and some are needing to be restored.
We all had the same opinion that Samuel Clemens fame as a gifted writer really made the historic town of Hannibal Missouri a tourist destination. While we were in town there was a Riverboat Cruise Ship docked in town at the port. We really enjoyed our time in the town.
We returned to the campground and stopped at the winery on the campground grounds. Lena and I tried a Missouri Mixer. It was like a frozen slushy with four different wines in it that the winery sells. It was really tasty. I asked the young lady at the counter did they sell it by the gallon. She laughed and said they should. The Trolley driver told us about it this morning. Gregg and Judi did a flight of wines to see what they liked and then bought one bottle of the one they liked.
At 4PM we had our driver’s meeting for our drive tomorrow to the St. Louis MO area. Then the Wagonmasters and Tailgunners treated us to a meal of hotdogs with all the trimmings, potato salad, pickles, popcorn and cookies.
Then most of the group played a game that the Tailgunners introduced to all of us. I don’t think anyone but them had ever heard of it. It is called baseball beanbag. You probably have heard of the game cornhole. This is where two teams of two players each toss two beanbags each to a board that has a one hole cut out and you try to get the beanbags in the hole or have you bags the closest to the hole. Whichever team gets 21 points first wins.
The board for baseball beanbag has 15 holes in it, six of which is an Out if one of your 3 bags goes in any of the Out holes. There is also a hole for a Walk, one each for a Single, Double, Triple and three holes for a Home Run. The odd numbered rigs played against the even numbered rigs and we played 9 innings. Each person on the teams in turn tossed 3 bean bags toward the board.
Our team was the even numbered team and we lost 11 to 4. It was a lot of fun and everyone really got into the game. It also helped with learning everyone’s name because they were called up by name. We all wear a packet around our neck with our names and hometown on it when we are together so we are slowly learning everyone’s name.
Day 40 Friday September 13, 2024
Since we only had 97 miles to drive today we slept in until 8AM. We had plenty of time to have a leisurely breakfast, do some housekeeping, take out the trash, etc. and departed at 11:15.
It was a good drive, part of it was very curvy and hilly going through what looked like the mountains, then we came out onto mostly flat farm land. Some of the corn in this area was being harvested. We had a short detour in one small town. I had to really be on the alert. The streets we were detoured on were very narrow and we had to make about 5, 90 degree turns. The other traffic was patient with us as we made the turns.
We got to our campground in St. Charles Missouri about 1:30 and got our assigned site 73. This is a nice campground, with paved streets and all campsites are full hookup and concrete parking pads big enough for our motorhome and a full patio space the full length of the site. Very rare. While we were setting up a big tabby cat came by for a visit. I don’t know if it is the official greeter or not. We tried to call it over to us but she did like most cats, she just gave us the eye and walked away.
This is the Sundermeier RV Park and we will be here
4 nights. St. Charles is just outside St. Louis MO. I spent 2 weeks in St. Louis in 1967 finishing up my computer school. I took the train from Wallace NC to St. Louis.
The wagonmasters said the lady that owns it is very particular about her campground and she has a right to be. It is very nice and very clean as they all SHOULD be.
