With no more commitments this summer and all our projects completed, we are heading north to Door County, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

It took longer than usual to get things ready to travel given 4 days of rain this past week; satellite and electrical cables were dirty as were the hose and water softener, and all needed to be cleaned before stowing. A few sprinkles fell this morning as I loaded the bicycles.

We departed Quarry Park at 9:05 AM, drove to Mountain Home, then north a short distance on Arkansas State Highway 101; it was hilly and crooked, slowing our speed considerably. At West Plains, Missouri, we continued north on US Highway 63 towards Rolla, Missouri, stopping only briefly when the auxiliary brake in the towed Honda, the Brake Buddy, failed. It worked flawlessly for 4 years, but I did not unhook it a couple of times when we stopped overnight, running the battery down in the Honda, and it hasn’t worked since. It’s been back to the factory, I ran a separate line from the car battery to the Brake Buddy, and friend Wayne ran a separate line from the motorhome to the battery. I’m not giving up quite yet, but getting close! After the brief stop, we continued through Rolla, and then Interstate 44 east to St. Louis. We saw a small bobcat crossing the interstate just east of Rolla, a real treat. The traffic was horrendous, with vacationers and weekenders heading home to the metro area. And, we were surprised at the poor quality of the roads in Missouri. Crossing the Mississippi River on Interstate 55 in St. Louis into East St. Louis, Illinois, we found the roads to be the worst we have ever driven on, with the only exception being the Top of the World Highway in Canada and Alaska. We arrived at our destination, the Casino Queen RV Park about 3:15 PM, set up on a narrow site with low-limbed trees.  The RV park is situated immediately adjacent to the Metro, and we could hear it passing by about every 5 minutes. After a late lunch, Kay deposited her weekly allowance in the casino’s one-armed bandits, while I remained in the motorhome editing photos.

We both caught up on news and email, and I published the blog for last week before calling it an early night. Tomorrow, we drive to Loves Park, Illinois.