We got a much later start to leaving the townhouse than we had anticipated. We hadn’t started to pack up at all – clothes, dog stuff, kitchen stuff, food, and then we had to put everything back into our storage area and pack up the bikes. We finally got out of there about 1:30 which put us over the pass and down into Westminster around 3pm. After transferring everything from the truck to the coach we headed over to see Ari and Rylan at their house. We stopped at Torchy’s Tacos to pick up dinner so that we could eat in. Rylan wasn’t feeling great, probably picked up something from school – ah, the swapping of colds begins for the young family.
We stayed overnight at the Elks and finished putting everything away. We left late morning and only planned on driving about four hours to North Platte, NE to stay at a Harvest Host called Pal’s Brewery. We had stayed there a few times before and loved it there because of their food (and the beer is good too). I changed it up this stop and didn’t order the Wisconsin pizza (mustard based with bratwurst and sauerkraut) and got the Nebraskan, basically a meat lovers pizza. It was so good! The best part was that I had plenty of leftovers to take on the road. Since we had been there multiple times with didn’t take any more pictures.
The next morning we headed out with our destination planned for Davenport, IA to stay at the Rhythm City Casino Resort. It was a longer drive than we had anticipated because of a couple of events that happened along the way. Within a mile of leaving I had to slam on the brakes as a pickup truck pulled out in front of me. Everything went flying including Katrina as she was still putting a few things away. Later as we were going through construction and having to switch between the old lanes on the opposite side of the road and the new lanes (you know, going across the median) a semi truck was next to us and the top of his cargo trailer and the top of our coach collided. We took pictures of the trailer and their license plate and then found a safe spot to pull over to assess the damage. We only saw a minor scratch at the top end of our slide topper cover. Not too bad, although later we discovered a pretty big dent on the cover but not bad enough that the topper didn’t work properly. We finally got set up in the casino’s parking lot and when we put the full wall slide out we heard a huge crunch! Our photo picture frame had fallen down and the mechanism crushed it! Had to throw it away, but it didn’t hurt the coach at all. We had gotten dinner reservations at Ruthies Steak & Seafood on the top floor and had a wonderful meal!
At least the day ended well (except for the $50 I lost at the craps table)!
The following day we had a short drive over to Starved Rock in Illinois, so before we left we decided to give Bear a bath at a local place down the street. What did I find across the street?
I ordered a big beef with cheese and peppers! Yay! More yummy leftovers! Anyways, With Katrina and I both hailing from Illinois we were surprised that neither one of us had ever been to the Starved Rock State Park. We got the Busse Bus II set up at the Starved Rock Family Campground
before heading over to the state park to do some hiking and exploring. Having never been there I stopped at the Visitor’s Center and asked the nice folks there where two retirees with a nine year old dog should hike. She stated that since we had an older dog that we should avoid the stairs and stay on the flatter paths. I told her that we had an Aussie and that he would do fine climbing. We took the harder path!
We went up and down the canyons and really got to see a lot even though the water wasn’t flowing this time of year. The bluffs along the Illinois River were very nice and the hike was great!
Why is it called Starved Rock? Well according to the ranger:
”The name “Starved Rock” comes from a dramatic Native American legend dating back to the late 18th century. According to local lore, during a conflict in the 1760s, a band of Illinois Native Americans sought refuge from their rivals, the Potawatomi and Ottawa tribes, by climbing to the top of the massive 125-foot sandstone bluff. The opposing tribes surrounded the base of the rock, trapping the Illinois group at the summit. Unable to secure food or water, the trapped group ultimately starved to death on the summit, giving the landmark its somber name.”
And now you know too!
The next day we had another short drive to the KOA in St. Joseph’s Michigan. The KOA was nice and we stayed on a Paw Pen – the first one we ever saw:
So cool, being able to let Bear sit outside without a tether. We went into town for a little shopping and then went to The Archive, which is a speakeasy, for a cocktail.
What a neat place! Small and intimate! Just opened a few weeks earlier.
Another short drive the next day to our destination – Roger and Wendy Hockstra’s house on Blue Lake in Mecosta, MI.
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