The scenery was beautiful, and most of the towns we went through were clean and fresh looking. The roads were bumpy, and curvy, and a few were narrow too. Plus the wind was blowing again. So, our 3 hours of driving was quite an adventure. No major mishaps....although Chuck almost ran over a car that he didn't see enter a traffic circle from his left. The brakes work!
Today we are settling into our home for the month.
It's cool and breezy this morning, and we've had a few rain sprinkles. I did manage coffee on the "veranda" and am now sitting in the camper, windows open, watching them mow the grass in the campground. There are 74 campsites and only about 5 are occupied today, but they tell me the people roll in on the weekend. There is a lovely swimming pool I hope to spend a bit of time in. But I am waiting until it warms up past 70 degrees outside. Everything here at the campground is beautifully flat, which makes walking easy for my stiff ankles and knees. Jake and I took a good long walk yesterday and I think I will try to make it a daily occurrence.
I balanced the checkbook for the first time since about May 25 yesterday. The good news is we still have money in the bank. Bad news is we're going to have to be pretty frugal for the next 2 weeks until the paychecks arrive. But...we went to 5 places in 15 days, celebrated our anniversary, fixed a few RV - related things and had to buy a few things to get us on the road. So, I expect that with a little pre-planning, we should easily be able to fit within our budget for the future. Staying in one place for a month will help. No fuel for the RV needed, and you get a good price break as well, so we can stay in a place with level pads, amenities like swimming pools, and full hookups for the same per night cost of an electric only state park.
After we got here yesterday, we were starving, so we went to a local bar and grill less than a mile from here. The Good Ol' Boys Bar and Grill didn't disappoint. I had a prime rib sandwich and fries and Chuck got a 4-pc broasted chicken dinner. We met a few locals and chatted with the bartender/cook. We were invited back for their Thursday night bingo and their Friday night fish fry.
Then we took a drive up the road a bit to Plainfield to the nearest grocery store to get a few ingredients for dinner and to stock up on beer and whiskey. Their prices weren't that bad for a small town grocery. Except for the whiskey. The bottle that cost $18 in Arkansas and $22 in Iowa was $28 here. I may have to learn to like beer more.
Came home to the camper and started looking to see what we can do close to home this week. We found out that there is a celebration next weekend in Coloma (10 miles from here) called the Coloma Chicken Chew. Apparently, it is not to be missed. They have fireworks on Saturday, a parade on Sunday, and a big chicken dinner somewhere in the middle of softball tournaments, pickle ball tournaments, horseshoe tournaments and a bunch of other activities. So we know where we'll be going next weekend. There is also a "Dairy Breakfast" in Hancock on Sunday with pancakes, maple syrup, honey, ham, hash browns, cheese, milk, coffee, cranberry juice, ice cream and strawberries for $6 a person. We may have to make that, even though we can't eat everything on the list.
We are also a short distance from a few lakes with parks and beaches. So, we have a few places to explore close by this week. Next week, we'll look farther afield. I'm compiling a list of places my ancestors lived in the area and will probably make a trip or two down to Green Lake County next week.
