After enjoying a very quiet night and the wonderful shower facilities at Cook’s RV Park, it was time to dump our tanks (no faecal matter on me 😎) and head back out onto the road.
Heading Southwest along US44 we soon arrive in Joplin, MO where we stopped to looked at a a Rt66 mural park that the city has installed.
Route 66 Mural Park
US44 beckoned and we returned to our Southwestern drive. The highway undulated with the landscape and soon we were nearing Tulsa, OK. The freeway had become a tollway and we were charged $5 to drive into Tulsa and then $5 to drive away from Tulsa towards Oklahoma City. The trees are fully leafed out here and the grass is starting to dry off as the sun is getting hotter as the days get longer.
Route 66 Historical Village, Tulsa, OK
After stopping for lunch in the van in Tulsa at the Route 66 Historical Village, we continued to Oklahoma City and then onto El Reno where we are staying at the Lake El Reno RV Park. This is a municipal park and is first-come-first-served. We had no issues getting a great campsite for the night. It is supposed to rain steadily tonight, but as you can see below we got to see a wonderful sunset from our site.
Sunset in El Reno, OK
Tomorrow we head into Texas. Good night all.
P.S. if you can think of a witty Oklahoma related catch-phrase for this post, send it my way & I might replace my placeholder above with it (giving you credit of course).
Despite reports of coyotes howling in the night, we slept well and did not hear any sounds at all. The Milddogs were up early and on the road by 9:00am heading toward their eclipse viewing location in Indiana. We departed the campsite shortly thereafter and headed towards St. Louis, MO.
The drive along the shore of the Illinois River was beautiful and in Grafton, IL it converged with the Mississippi River. Together these two waterways had created a wide fast following watercourse that from here winds its way Southward to New Orleans, LA. We soon spotted the bridge that we would take across the Mississippi into Missouri from Alton, IL.
Bridge across the Mississippi River
Our route took us around St. Louis and so we did not see the Gateway Arch. We will stop one day. Heading away from the Mississippi River you climb into hilly and treed country. It seems that Missouri has many caves in the limestone rock and they all seem to advertise using large roadside billboards. Many seem to also include zip lines and animal preserves, one assumes because not all people would like to crawl around in the dark underground.
Nearing Springfield, MO it was time to find a spot to stop while the solar eclipse reached its peak. It was supposed to be reaching 97% totality in this area and we didn’t want to remain on the road during the event in case others chose to take their eyes off of the road.
The eclipse came, the sky got dimmer, the lights in the rest area parking lot came on and then it got lighter again. The picture below was taken at the point in time that it was at its peak and as you can see, 97% totality is not nearly enough to really notice a change.
97% totality during the solar eclipse
After enjoying our break (and lunch) we returned to the highway and continued on to Buc-ee’s in Springfield, MO. This one is smaller than others further South and in Texas, but it still had 63 gas pumps and a massive convenience store. It was however missing windshield squeegees at the gas pumps. Yep, not one at any of the 63. This was sad.
A few more miles down the road and we stopped for the night in Springfield at Cook’s RV Park. It’s a small family run park that has the best showers we have ever encountered.
Campsite at Cook’s RV Park, Springfield, MO
We spent the evening relaxing in the van catching up on some YouTube channels that we subscribe to. Tomorrow we head into Oklahoma.
An early rise to the day as I watch the sun appear through the trees that line to Cracker Barrel parking lot. It looks like it will be a clear and sunshiny day.
A full host of campers spent the night at Cracker Barrel
We started with breakfast at our host location and were on the road by 7:45am towards Springfield, IL. The sun had disappeared behind a large and grey looking bank of clouds. The forecast was now showing rain moving in our direction from the SouthWest. A quick stop before Springfield for fuel and then onwards.
We had a reservation for 9:30am and we were cutting it close. Our route took us into Springfield past some lesser maintained residences and delivered us downtown. Waze (my preferred choice for GPS routing) let me down and tried to route us down a street that no longer existed. Barb with Google maps to the rescue & we soon were arriving at our destination.
Susan Lawrence commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build her a home in 1904. At the time it was audacious at 12,500 sqft and included running water & electricity. A first for Springfield. FLW designed the home in his ‘Prairie Style’ that he had been developing in recent years. It is a masterpiece.
Dana Thomas house entrance
The home was used primarily for the hosting of social events comprising of, at times, hundreds of guests. The dining table when fully expanded can seat 40 and guests were entertained by live music played from one of three musical balconies.
Susan Lawrence married and took her husband’s surname of Dana. when he died at a young age shortly after their two infant children had also died, Susan lived in the home with her mother. After her mother had died and the city stopped providing steam as a heating source to residences, Susan moved into an adjacent cottage deciding that installing an alternate source of heat would be too expensive and thus leaving the home empty for two decades.
After Susan passed away and there being no hiers, the city put the house up for sale and auctioned off all of the belongings. We were told that FLW designed dining chairs were listed for sale at 50 cents. Most of Susan’s jewelry and other personal items were purchased; however, luckily for us today, the furniture was not popular and did not sell.
Publisher Charles C. Thomas stepped in and agreed to purchase the home on the condition that all unsold household items be returned to the home. He ran his publishing company from the home for many years before selling the house to the State of Illinois for $1M.
The home is known now as the Dana Thomas house in recognition of the two individuals that owned the home. It is open to the public and tours are free (reservation required).
Being a fan of FLW architecture we just had to stop and take a tour & are both so glad we did, it is an amazing story and wonderful home to witness first-hand. Photography indoors was prohibited but I did snap a few pictures of the outside and purchased a small photo book that showed some of the interior spaces.
Leaving Springfield we provisioned at a WalMart and then head onwards towards our camping spot for the night near Grafton, IL.
The driving was hard today, winds were strong and persistent from the SE often with gusts catching us unawares and causing some swerving in the lane. Our route dropped us down into the Illinois River valley and out of the wind for the last hour or so of our drive. This was welcomed as it allowed us to enjoy the scenery and winding river road.
Arriving at Pere Marquette State Park we pull into our campsite and who do we find but Dave, Liz & Amy! The Milddogs.
CampsitesOut for a walk The Illinois River???A blogging collaboration!
They are at the end of their Spring one month tour and we are just beginning ours. We enjoyed a walk together down to the shore of the Illinois River and shared stories and swapped tales well into the evening. Tomorrow we will each head our separate ways, but know that we shall soon meet again and enjoy each others company while reminiscing about that time in Illinois we camped under the trees.
After a couple of nice days visiting family in S. Ontario it was time to really start our adventure.
10:00am and we’re on the road heading towards Sarnia and the Bluewater bridge as our entry point into Michigan.
Bluewater bridge, Sarnia, ON
My brother had suggested that I try jumping the small gap that remains on the Gordie Howe bridge currently under construction in Windsor. I gave that a pass and instead we find ourselves lined up at the end of the Bluewater bridge waiting for a US customs agent.
Trucks lined up for US Customs, our lane is empty
The traffic moved fairly well and the agent had no issues with letting us into his country. The journey was now really underway.
We headed towards Lansing, MI and witnessed too many outcomes of deer vs. truck. We lost count of how many deer lost their battles in the short 75 mile stretch we drove. 😞
We stopped at a restaurant stop for a quick lunch in the van and then returned to the highway heading towards Kalamazoo, MI. We turned South and made a detour into Elkhart, IN the home of most of the largest RV builders in North America. 🚐
Downtown Elkhart, IN
We missed seeing the biggest of the factories because of how we entered the town, but did see one of the Thor assembly plants and Forest River facilities as we headed South out of town.
Driving the back roads allowed us to slow down and enjoy our surroundings, but it did add more than an hour to our overall drive time for the day. It was worth it. I mean, did you know that “Tippecanoe” is a real town in Indiana? Well it is & we’ve been there!
Tippecanoe, IN
Our back roads drive resulted in us meandering along US25 towards Logansport which is part of the Historic Michigan Road that was built in the 1830’s to connect the Ohio valley to Lake Michigan.
Purple Deadnettle
Our day ended with a Westward jaunt along I-74 towards Urbana, IL where we stopped for the night at a Cracker Barrel restaurant (Yes, they allow overnight stays for RVs).
Arriving in Illinois at sunset. Apologies for the bugs on the windshield.
Our day tomorrow will be much shorter than today and will include a special place to visit and a meetup to conclude the day.
We’re off again. This time the plan is to get to California and then head North into the Sierra Nevada mountains before turning West to the Pacific coast and continuing North into Canada. The final leg will bring us back across the continent through the Northern states before again returning to Canada at Sault-Ste-Marie.
The van is packed and we’re on the road shortly after 10am. The weather forecast was for rain turning into snow later in the day, we are hoping to arrive in Southern Ontario before the temperature gets cold enough for snow to form.
The drive along Highway 401 started dry but before long the rain began and intensified significantly. By the time we arrived in Toronto, it was difficult to see more than a few vehicles ahead. Road spray did not help with visibility and driving slowed to a crawl.
We arrived at our destination by 5:00pm and settled in for the night. We are visiting family for the next few days and our plan is to cross into the US on Saturday, this will be our next post.
Looking forward to having everyone follow us again on our adventures via this blog.
It’s been a while since my last post in June. Since that time we enjoyed Summer at home while taking a couple of shorter trips with the van to local camping spots along the St. Lawrence River and Provincial Parks. We also headed to Southern Ontario on a roadtrip in September that included a week in Prince Edward County enjoying the beach and the local wineries and restaurants the county has to offer. We also visited the Kawartha region before heading to Georgian bay to visit family. Our three weeks ended with some driveway camping visiting family before we came home.
As you can see from the picture above, the van is now nicely tucked away for the impending Winter having had a service and all waterlines drained & winterized. This shelter has kept the van safe for the past two Winters and I hope that it will get us through another as the roof is starting to become quite worn from exposure to the sun. Fingers-crossed!
It’s been a great year of camping that started early in March and ran until late September. We are already making plans for 2024 so stop by again to see what we have planned and to catch-up with our travels.
It wasn’t supposed to be a long day but it turned out to be the longest of this trip. Here’s how it all came to be.
The day started with us enjoying a slow start to the day. We had a light breakfast and then went to the beach expecting to see the tide in but it was out again exposing a long stretch of beautiful beach sand. The pictures below are taken 15min apart and show the influx of elementary school children on the beach enjoying what we assume was an end-of-school outing.
New River Beach Provincial Park, NB
We left the campground at 10:30am and headed West towards St. Stephen where we turned North towards Fredericton. The pictures below show some of the backwoods beauty of this province.
After joining Hwy 2 and driving North for a few minutes, we decided to leave the highway and drive along the side of the Saint John River on the old highway. This led us to seeing a black bear cub as he climbed over the guardrail towards the road in front of us. Yikes! 😳 Brake hard, he sees us & returns to the safety of the trees. Phew. No pictures as it was all over in a second. We stopped in Meductic and ate lunch in the van overlooking the river.
Saint John River
Shortly after lunch we stopped in Hartland to look at the worlds longest covered wooden bridge. It was closed for construction and as no traffic was able to cross it gave me an excellent chance to view the inside of the bridge by standing in the roadway.
Hartland Covered Bridge, Hartland, NB
Just North of Hartland we passed a more modern crossing of the river and then we rejoined Hwy 2 towards Edmundston, NB.
Saint John River crossing, Perth-Andover, NB
We pulled into the Grey Rock Casino in Edmundston at about 3:30pm. We were supposed to end our day here and camp out in the parking lot for the night but decided that it was too early to stop and so just picked up a cup of coffee and rejoined the highway.
Our initial thought was to return to the campground in Rivière-du-Loup; however, as it was only 90min North and we were going to cross back into Eastern time, we would arrive at 4:00pm EDT so we looked towards Levis and found a Craft brewery near St. Pascal that welcomes campers. New destination entered into the GPS.
It was a short while later that I realized that rather than stop just to sleep and then continue, why not simply continue? Home was only 7hrs away. We stopped in Levis for fuel and then continued to Drummondville where we stopped at a rest stop and had a quick meal in the van. Still feeling awake and energetic, we continued onwards towards Montreal where we left autoroute 20 and joined autoroute 30 which would take us around the south shore of Montreal. Below are a few picture of the sunset that we saw shortly before Montreal.
By the time we get around Montreal and cross the St. Lawrence River we were just 90min from home. We turned West onto autoroute 20 towards Cornwall, ON. After Cornwall we continued to Hwy31 where we turned North towards Winchester. At this point we were almost home and would arrive by 11:30pm. It turned out to be a 12 hour day with time taken out for stops and eating. In all I figured we drove for about 10 hours in which time we left the Bay of Fundy and returned to Eastern Ontario. A distance of about 1100km.
This concludes our East Coast Tour for this year. We have places we want to go back to as well as places yet to visit, as such we will make the drive again, when? We’re not sure yet, maybe a year or so.
Today I celebrate the completion of 60 trips around the sun. I get to spend it near and on the ocean. This day will be epic.
We complete our morning routines and prepare the campervan for a day of travel and head out shortly after 10:00am. Our first stop is at the local fish market where Barb picks up a bag of frozen Digby scallops and haddock to take home. Then a short drive along Water St to the Admiral Digby Museum which is across the street from the Digby Baptist Church.
The baptist church sits on the site of a home once owned by one of Barb’s ancestors, William McDormand Jr. After his death in 1806, his 2nd wife opened their home to host baptist congregations. Eventually the hose was replaced by the church.
Digby Baptist Church
A guide within the museum showed us about their collection and then took to their genealogy archive where we spoke for a time with the archivist about the McDormand’s as they arrived in this area in 1761. There are now descendants across North America. We need to complete more research in Ontario in order to definitively link Barb’s ancestor, John Dorman to one of the McDormand family’s in Nova Scotia. Another reason to return to this area.
After getting a few groceries and filling the vans fuel tank we had time to take a short drive to Gulliver’s Bay (Hole). A small bay just a few miles West of Digby, it was here that the McDormand families first settled in Nova Scotia after coming North from New England.
Gulliver’s Bay, NS
After enjoying a quiet lunch in the van and doing a little reading, it was time to head toward our ferry. However, first a quick detour to Prim’s Point lighthouse that guards the entrance to the Annapolis Basin from the Bay of Fundy.
Prim’s Point, Digby, NS
After walking about Prim’s Point it was now time to head to the ferry that would take us across the Bay of Fundy to Saint John, NB.
Digby Ferry Terminal
We arrived at the terminal about 1 1/2hrs before departure (they asked for 1 hr) and boarding began at 3:00pm. The ferry departed at 3:55pm, 5min ahead of schedule. In just a few minutes the ferry had turned to face across the Bay of Fundy and we were out of the Annapolis Basin and on our way.
Views astern and of Prim’s Point lighthouse
We began by enjoying a little time on deck in the sunshine and took a few pictures (above and below).
As the ferry crossing would take about 2 1/2hrs, we decided to grab a light dinner onboard. Barb ordered fish & chips and I had a burger & fries. Whilst ordering I happened to mention to the staff serving us that it was my 60th birthday. This resulted in them singing “Happy Birthday” to me and then adding a piece of free mud pie dessert to my tray when they delivered it to our table!!!
After enjoying our meals we settled into one of the very comfortable lounges onboard and did some reading to wile away the time. Shortly after 6:00pm we pulled into Saint John harbour and drove ashore.
Saint John, NB
We headed West out of Saint John to our overnight destination, New River Beach Provincial Park. It was only about a 30min drive from the ferry and appears to be very quiet amongst the trees a short distance from the waters edge.
New River Beach Provincial Park
After setting up for the night, Barb wandered off to the beach while I wrote this post in the van. Here are the pictures Barb took before being chased from the beach by black flies.
Tomorrow we head North in New Brunswick, come back to see what we discover.
