Four Days and 1115 Miles

April 26, 2018

We are now stopped at the Apple Creek Campground in DePere, WI until Friday morning. We will then point the Stinger "B" North and travel the last 123 miles to our driveway in Escanaba, MI. Tom's sister  and husband live in DePere and his brother and wife live in Green Bay so the plan is dinner this evening. It has been a while since we have gotten together and it will be nice to catch up.

I am having trouble uploading pictures to the blog that I have taken with my camera. I am seeing the message, Upload failed...Server rejected, instead of pictures. Yet any pictures I take with the camera on my phone no problem. I have googled the problem and there are a couple of suggestions which I will be looking into once we are back at the house. (If anyone has had this problem and found a solution I would  really appreciate the input.) Part of the reason I blog, which is why I know we all do, is to remember the journey and pictures are a big part of it. So I am hoping I can solve this and add the pictures soon.

The journey we have made the last four days is below.

Sunday, April 22, 2018 (324 miles)

We pulled out of the City Park in Sayre, OK Sunday morning after mass onto I-40 and continued the trek East. The day started under blue skies with lovely white fluffy clouds. The crosswind was still with us and as the day developed the sky turned grey. 

After Oklahoma City we connected to I-44 and continued on our eastward quest. By Tulsa Tom was driving in the rain. It continued for several miles and then we could see blue sky on the horizon ahead. 

The day ended at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK. We had stayed here once before, October 31, 2015, and back then it was free to hook up to water and electricity; this time they charged us $15.00. Tom called earlier to see if they still had RV parking and they did not mention this fact or this stop may have been skipped as we were prepared to dry camp with water on-board. We did end up going into the casino were we had a nice dinner. After signing up for their players club and playing on their "dollar" we left with enough to cover the parking price.  

I took these two pictures just after we finished checking
lights and the jeep's roll.

 We use our phones to talk to each other when we do this.

Monday, April 23, 2018 (198 miles)

Up and moving Monday to continue the journey the sky was grey. In the short time it took to get back on to I-44 the sky ahead was blue and the sun was shining down on us. About 20 miles down the road and we were looking at Oklahoma in the rear view mirror and crossed into Missouri. Another 10 miles or so and we were passing by Joplin. Then we took the exit for I-49 and officially turned north.

As we got closer to Kansas City I made two phone calls; one to the Walmart in Raymore before and  one to the one in Liberty just after Kansas City both of which said they allowed overnight parking. Now the decision was Tom's to make as we were going to be driving through during the evening traffic rush. As we got closer to the exit for the Walmart in Raymore he decided to keep going. We were parked in the Walmart in Liberty and walking over to 54th Street Grill and Bar for dinner by 6 o'clock.  

Side note: we were now on I-35 North.

Leaving the Casino under grey skies and
then turning onto I-44  under blue skies.
Some yellow dandelions near where we were parked
and one ready for wishes.

Welcome center in Missouri. Starting from the top the wall left to right.
The arrow points to the Michigan Plate which was pretty much in the center.

We are officially heading north under blue skies.
I cannot help it, I do love dandelions. A bee was enjoying this one.

Tuesday, April 24, 2018 (330 miles)

We were up and out of the Walmart parking lot by 7:15 AM. The "plan" to get out of the traffic early and then stop at a rest area, I could see on the map just down the road, to make coffee and enjoy a quick breakfast. What I did not realize when I saw the rest area on the map was that it was the only one on I-35 between Kansas City and the border of Iowa. That information was on the rest stop sign.  (Side note: we only remember seeing two rest stops and two parking only areas from the time we joined I-35 in Kansas City until Des Moines.) As you can imagine there was no place to park; we barely made it through and around all the semis parked in every available space not only in the truck area but the car side, also. Several miles down the road we did come to a parking only area which is where we parked, finally had coffee, and a muffin. The nice part about being in the motorhome is we can stop, as long as we fit, and not have to worry if there are no facilities.

We stayed on I-35 until reaching Des Moines at which time with a couple of turns and changes we made it to I-80 going east. (Side note: there are plenty of rest areas on I-80 between Des Moines and Iowa City.) Deciding to avoid Cedar Rapids evening rush hour we stayed on I-80 to Iowa City were we exited onto Iowa State Highway 1 heading north towards US-151 and the Walmart in Anamosa, Iowa. 

Arriving at the Walmart we found that though we had cellphone service our 4G was not available so no internet. Surprisingly, for the first time we were the only RV spending the night in a Walmart parking lot. There were a couple of semis and for the first time they did run all night. It was a quiet night.

Yes, more dandelions.

We have now left Missouri in the rear view mirror and rolled into Iowa.

We may have left a few dollars here.

Next to the flag poles.
Top next to American Flag. Bottom next to Iowa Flag.

Wednesday, April 25, 2018 (263 miles)

Up early we had our first cup of coffee before heading out this morning. Tom fixed our second cups to go. We are now on US-151 which will take us all the way to I-41/US-41 just south of Fon du Lac, WI. (Side note: there are no rest areas between Cedar Rapids and the Wisconsin Border. There is one just past the Wisconsin Border but you have to pay close attention or you will miss it. We did. There is not another in Wisconsin.) Looking at the map as we left Anamosa I could see there were no rest areas ahead. As we drove along Tom did spot a truck stop ahead with a large parking area which is were we had an early lunch. In Dubuque we crossed the Mississippi River into Wisconsin and continued on US-151 through Madison. Before reaching I-41 we turned north on WI-26, a small shortcut to just south of Oshkosh. A "detour" in Oshkosh found us stopped at the Outlet Shops. Time for a short break and walk that may have included a little shopping. 

Continuing north past Appleton we are now parked in the Apple Creek Campground about 14 miles south of Green Bay. It is a fairly nice park and when our kids were younger this is the type of place we would have taken them camping. This is a family campground and we noticed they have several RV's parked for what looks like the season. There is a catch and release fishing pond, heated pool in season, kids activities, play ground, and recreation hall. All the stuff a family with kids is looking for when they are out for the weekend. We are up the hill from all this and being two retirees it is the best place to be parked. At this point in our life I would not want to be parked here in the summer unless we had grandchildren with us. 

Passing through Dubuque we can see the Mississippi River ahead.

Crossing over the Mississippi River.
Looking down the color reminded me of a song my mom use to listen
to called, "Mississippi Mud" when I was little.
 I wonder, if I still have that 78 at home.

We have crossed into Wisconsin.
 Last state before the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

When we turned north on WI-26 we started seeing patches of snow.
At this point I mentioned to Tom my choice of footwear
this morning, sandals, may not have been the best choice.
Though it was 55 degrees when we stopped this evening. 

The sun going down behind the trees across the road from where we are parked.

"The World is a book,

and those who do not travel 

read only a page."

                                                ~St. Augustine

The last four days have been long yet we enjoyed the journey. 

We are stopped for two nights to catch our breath and spend time with family.

Hope you have been enjoying days you will look back on with a smile. 

If you would like to leave a comment, we would enjoy hearing from you.

If not, we are still glad you stopped by to visit.