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Clair & Sandy's Home Away From Home |
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Wednesday Sept. 1st we left Hart Ranch and traveled to Wall SD. We stayed at the Arrow Campground just down the street from the famous Wall Drug Store. We had our lunch there and did some shopping. Later in the afternoon we took the car and traveled the Badlands Loop which is approximately a forty mile route through the South Dakota Badlands that is scenic and filled with wildlife.
 Friday we did the Corn Palace in the morning and Cabela’s in the afternoon. Mitchell is a real nice little town, very clean and neat.
Saturday we took a ride north of town. There is a lot of farming in this area. We can tell we are moving east, things are getting greener.Sunday Sept. 5th we traveled east through Minnesota to Spirit Lake Iowa. We stayed in a real nice campground. Cutty’s Okoboji Resort which is a membership owned facility and is very nice with lots of amenities and activities for everyone. Monday we looked around the area and discovered that Polaris has a manufacturing plant in Spirit Lake where they assemble Victory motorcycles and the Polaris ATVs. This is called the lake country of Iowa. There are three lakes in the immediate area and a lot of boating. All in all a real nice area. Tuesday Sept.7th we left Spirit Lake and moved to Forrest City IA, home of Winnebago Motor homes where we took the factory tour. We enjoy these tours, as it is really interesting to see a bare chassis come in one end of the building and a finished motor home come out the other end. From Forrest City we traveled on to Charles City IA where we stopped for the day.
Wednesday Sept 8th we traveled to Kieler WI. On our way we stopped at Dyersville IA home of Ertl Toys and toured the Nat’l Farm Toy Museum. This is an awesome collection of toys, most of which came out of the neighboring Ertl factory. After the tour and lunch we went on our way. Dyersville is known as the farm toy capitol of the world. At Kieler we stayed at a beautiful little campground on the edge of town, but when we looked out the front window of the motor home we were looking down at a real nice farm with lush green hay and corn fields.
Thursday we headed for Elkhart IN area where we will attend the Escapee Escapade in Goshen from Sept. 12 through 17. We needed to get to the area a little early so we can go to the Escapade with a full fresh water tank and empty holding tanks as there are no hook-ups at the fair grounds where the escapade is held. We stayed at the Elkhart Campground just off I-80.Friday Sept. 10th we took a ride down to Nappanee and Wakarusa for sightseeing and a tour of the Monaco Plant where the build the Holiday Rambler motorhomes. Saturday we went to Wal-Mart and did a little more sightseeing then just loafed around the campground. Sunday Sept. 12th we moved down to Goshen and the Escapade. We thought we may have to wait to get parked. We were amazed at the organization of the parking crew and were in our space in about five minutes. We parked in the generator area and were allowed to run our generator between the hours of 7 am and 10:30 pm. We found later there were 905 RVs at the Escapade. After registering and the opening ceremonies there was an ice cream social. (We like them.) Monday through Thursday it was a constant blur of seminars, programs and entertainment. Some days we barely took time to eat. You could pick the seminars you were most interested in. The Escapade was very well organized and informative.
Friday the 17th there was a hitch up breakfast and everyone was on there way. We decided to move to a hookup site on the fairgrounds and stay another day to do some more sightseeing in the area.Saturday it was time to move east. We traveled to Conneaut OH. and stayed at Evergreen Lake Park. We wanted to look around the Lake Erie area for couple of days. Sunday we moved on to Erie, PA and Hills Family Campground. We took a ride out on Presque Isle State Park and looked around part of the city. Monday Sept.20th we moved south to Conneaut Lake, PA to visit with Wayne and Connie Koch. Tuesday Sept.21st we left Kochs and headed for Montoursville on the final leg of this journey. We will remain in Farragut until around the first of November when we will head for warmer weather.
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