After breakfast, Marsha and I took a walk and explored the campground, stopping along the way to visit with new rally arrivals and others who were enjoying the fantastic fall weather. By the end of the day, there were 32 camping units in attendance at our rally with more scheduled to arrive tomorrow. There were four Aliners and 28 Scamps and Casitas.
Dennis and Suzie hosted a clam chowder dinner for all attendees followed by the traditional gathering around the campfire. We visited with many people whom we hadn't met in the past. There are people here from Florida, up-state New York, and many places in between.
Marsha and I left the campfire about 9:45 and headed for the shower and a great night's sleep.
We left home this morning at 7:30 and arrived at Piney Campground at 2:00. Not bad for what Google Maps said was a six-hour drive, and we stopped three times. Anyway, we arrived to find eight egg-shaped campers (Scamps and Casitas) and one other Aliner (Paul Chapin) from our Illinois group.
We got set up and roasted some brats at our campsite before going to Dennis Archer's site to join others around the campfire. The rally doesn't officially start until tomorrow (Thursday), so stay tuned for more activities and pictures.
He won't be two until October 5th, but our grandson, Grayson's, party was today. It was a small affair with mostly family and just a few of the kids' friends. Grayson wasn't impressed with the underwear, T-shirt and book that we got him, but he liked the drum set from mom and dad.
Not too much more to say. Hope you enjoy the pictures. We think he's a pretty cute kid!
Well, this was kind of a short trip, so I'm doing it all in one post. We left home a day early and met our camping buddies, Joe and Loretta, at Clark's Ferry Recreation Area in Montpelier, IA for a quiet night of camping on the banks of the Mississippi. We finished the drive to Wisconsin the following day. We got to Clark's Ferry, checked in, and paid the $8.00 fee. Our National Park Senior Pass was good in this Corps of Engineers park, so we camped for half price!
We bought some firewood, and cooked some brats over the campfire. Then we realized that there was a very active train track 75 yards from our campsite! We slept pretty well, even though we were awakened a few times during the night by a speeding train. Once, we thought it was thundering, but when we were totally awake, we discovered that a few rail cars were being parked on the siding about 50 yards away! So much for a quite night of camping.
The next day, we slept a bit late to make up for the loses suffered at the hands of the rail engineers. We left Clark's Ferry about 10:30 and arrived at Blackhawk Park in De Soto, WI about 3:00. It was a lazy trip with a stop for lunch included. The rally at Blackhawk actually started on Thursday, but we arrived on Wednesday because we can. About six units arrived that day, with several more coming in on Thursday and Friday. In total, we had 23 units there at one time or another.
Thursday, we had 50mph winds due to a cool front moving through the area. As you can see from the pictures, there was some damage, but nothing serious. Our car even suffered a couple of small dents in the roof from a falling branch.
Marsha and I left Blackhawk at about noon today (Saturday) so we can go to our grandson, Grayson's, 2nd birthday party tomorrow afternoon. We're looking forward to the party. Keep an eye on the blog. There just might be some pictures.
We'll have a couple of days to recover from the party before leaving for Tennessee next Wednesday for another camping rally.
Stay tuned!
After a 352 mile drive, we arrived at Cliffside at 3:45 to find Loren and Cindi all set up and waiting for us. We set up right across the road from them. After a guided driving tour of the highlights of Racine's lakefront and marina, we went back to camp where Marsha and I took showers while Loren and Cindi prepared dinner. Now that's the way to camp!
After a great chicken dinner with all the trimmings, we relaxed around the campfire built from wood supplied by Loren from home-grown trees.
The next morning (Monday), we dragged the camper to Loren & Cindi's house to pick out some goodies, including three good-sized pumpkins, from their garden before heading for home. We arrived at home at 3:15 and it's back to the old grind of retirement.
Isn't it great?!
