Road Ramblin'

Saturday, March 16th

Today, we awoke and got started fairly early. Since we did not unhitch the Mammoth, it didn't take long to pull up the legs, unhook water and electric, and stow the gear. We pulled out of the Marion KOA at 9AM.

view of the KOA from the overpass

We stopped for fuel and ice right away before we got on the road, and then we started up I-55. Wow, what a rough road! The pavement was concrete, but the surface had heaved and every section was a different height, it seemed. The bumps seemed to fall at a triplet rhythm to the music we were listening to!

We had a pleasant drive through a small part of Missouri, then we crossed the Mississippi river into Illinois. Wow, what a bridge!

entering Missouri

approaching the Mississippi River

The state line, in the middle of the bridge

Welcome to Illinois

Temperatures were starting to change, as well. When left Marion, it was probably in the 50s. I don't think it got much warmer, as we went North.

As we approached Effingham, our next overnight stop, there was a lot of road construction, and our GPS did not match up with the roads. There was a detour for our exit, so we took it, and got a little turned around. We stopped at a parking lot and figured out where to go. After a round-about way, we made it to the Camp Lakewood RV Park.

The welcoming sign

In our site

The lake

Eileen at Camp Lakewood RV Park, Effingham, Illinois

They have recently been purchased by someone new, and there were various improvements going on in the park, in prep for the spring season. We had no trouble pulling into our site, as the new owner helped guide us in. The sites have fresh gravel, and seemed to be pretty level. They have recently installed heated faucets, but our site didn't have one yet... We stretched our hose over from the site next door. Not a problem, we had enough hose, and they even offered to bring us a hose extension if we didn't. Luckily, the temps were not expected to dip below freezing tonight, but it was going to be in the 30s.

They gave us some recommendations for places to eat, too, and we unhitched and headed over to the Niemerg's Steakhouse, a local favorite. It was getting busy, but we were seated in abut 10 min. This place was much like a "Sizzler" from our neck of the woods. Order your entreé, then visit the salad bar. We had a good meal at a fair price, and then split a piece of great homemade French Silk Pie!

The menu

French silk pie was yummy!

After dinner, we fueled the truck and headed back to the park. We re-hitched the truck, so it would be ready to go in the morning, and settled in for the night. The Park's wifi was pretty good, and we were able to stream and watch the episode of "Big Bang" we missed on Thursday.

The weather for tomorrow looks a little bleak. We hope that it will not snow/sleet on us tomorrow on the way to Elkhart.