RV ALASKA - Working Our Way West, One Mile at a Time

Life on the road.  I don’t want to say that you love it or hate it.  I think it’s more that you take to it – or you don’t.  Alan and I must be kindred spirits; we’ve been roadtripping together forever.  There’s a certain rhythm to life on the road, with responsibilities and routines falling into place.  Because we don’t camp at all from late fall until spring, the first outing of the year always involves a little bit of discombobulation – for me, anyway.  Inevitably, I make rookie mistakes – turning the water heater on LP gas when we’re plugged into electric.  Failing to get the black tank chemicals and two gallons of water we add to it after we dump prepped before we need them – nothing serious, just annoying.  Then, we fall into the rhythm of the road, and all is well.  I love life on the road.

Date(s) – May 28^th – May 30^th

Wildlife to Date – 5 bald eagles (including 2 fledglings), 2 great blue herons, dozens of American white pelicans, at least a half dozen families of adult geese with goslings, a number of ducks and 5 adorable ducklings

Highlight(s) – We snagged the best site in the RV lot at the Middle Ridge Service Plaza on the Ohio Turnpike!  Seriously!  The first site is angled along the edge of the grass, making it a bit wider than the other sites.  That allowed us to leave the trailer hitched to the truck for our brief overnight stay, saving us a little bit of time on both the afternoon of our arrival and the morning of our departure.  We enjoyed our first ride on the Mississippi River Trail, starting at Credit Island Park in Davenport and biking to Riverside Park.  The trail was closed due to some type of construction at Riverside and, rather than bike surface streets we weren't familiar with, we turned around at that point.  Next time, we'll go farther.  The best highlight of these few days, though, was spending two nights at Shady Creek Recreation Area, an Army Corps of Engineers (COE) campground in Muscatine, Iowa.  Luckily, I was able to reserve our favorite site, and we enjoyed both the pelicans and the barges plying the Mississippi River.

Lowlight(s) – Hmm.  Not sure our EZPass transponder recorded our entrance to the Ohio Turnpike.  Wonder if that’s going to be a problem.

Campground(s) – Eight service plazas on the Ohio Turnpike (four eastbound, four westbound) have dedicated RV parking lots with roughly ten parking places in each lot.  For twenty bucks, we get a safe place for a quick overnight, electric service, potable water and a dump station.  A short walk across the parking lot to the service plaza building provides access to restrooms, coffee and fast food for those in need.  We truly appreciate these lots, and I wish more states would be as considerate of RVers.  As for Shady Creek, we love its location directly on the Mississippi River, and I have a real affection for “the Ghost Train.”  Alan, not so much.  The first time we camped at Shady Creek, we kept hearing the train, but never saw it – despite the fact that we had to cross the tracks to get into and out of the campground.  Even though we finally spotted it toward the end of our last visit to Shady Creek, the nickname stuck and it will always be “the Ghost Train” to us.

Laugh of the Day – The Ghost Train nearly got us!  Just as we were approaching the tracks to hit the road on our day of departure, a blast from the train horn stopped us in our tracks.  Luckily, in our tracks, not on the tracks, and the train sped by right before our eyes.  A fond farewell to – and from – the Ghost Train.

Pic(s) of the Day

Site #3 at Shady Creek Recreation Area

 

The John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Illinois - always a favorite stop!

Biking the Mississippi River Trail - you know how we love our waterways!

Comment(s) - No, I don't know why the caption in the John Deere photo printed in bold.

Special Message(s) – Gotta say thanks to Kyra, our daughter and a licensed master barber.  She’s my stylist, and she worked exceptionally hard to deliver a cut that would travel well for five months.  Thanks, KJ – you done good!

Up Next – ”The best laid plans” and all that.  Nothing like the threat of severe weather to mess with your plans – and your head.