The Midwest US – It’s Not Just For Passing Through

We have begun our first big “trip” since launching full time RVing in July 2020!  Covid, state-based health insurance requirements and family needs caused us to tailor our early travels solely on the east coast between Maryland and Florida.  But finally we are vaccinated, we visited our families, and we are heading west!

The plan for this summer is Colorado, Wyoming, a sliver of Idaho, Montana and South Dakota – all squeezed in between early June and the end of September.  We are hitting all the “big” items – national parks and some of the most popular tourist sites in the US, including Pikes Peak, Yellowston and Glacier National Park.  We know it will not be the peaceful, easy-going pace to which we have become accustomed, but we also know that these are big bucket list items.

But first, we have to get there!  We left Lancaster, Pennsylvania on May 25th and are not expected to arrive in Larkspur, Colorado until June 8th.  That gives us time for a leisurely pace to explore the path to “getting there”.

Our initial goal?  Make no advanced reservations.  Well, we blew that plan, but with good reason.  Less than a week before our departure, I was reminded that we were facing Memorial Day weekend!  Ugh!  I scrambled to make reservations for at least two or three nights, and estimated where and when we might hit those locations.  In the end, it was a blessing, because it created some shorter travel days when we might otherwise have felt rushed to “get there”!  For the remainder of “getting there”, we made no advanced reservations, allowing us to drive at whatever pace we desired, stop as many times as needed for breaks, and really try to enjoy the journey!

Our secondary goals? The Rule of Threes:  Travel no more than 300 miles in a day, end our driving day by 3:00 pm and stay at least three days in any location.  We knew we would not hit every goal on the mark, but we wanted to try to benchmark our travels against these guidelines to ensure our pace was more relaxing.  It is an RVing “rule” we learned early on while preparing for full-time RVing, and it has served us well.  The trick is to not get caught up in “hurry up and get there”!

May 25, 2021 – 327 miles – Our first day on the road would be our longest, with our first stop at Spring Valley Campground, a private RV park in Cambridge, Ohio.  We called for reservations an hour or two before we arrived, got a 50 amp full hook-up site  ($34, a free upgrade from 30 amp because of an electrical problem that required we change sites upon arrival).  The campground was conveniently JUST off the I-70 highway, but felt more isolated than that, with less traffic noise than you would expect.  The staff and other campers were friendly and helpful.  There was plenty of open space, a big lake and a pretty setting.  The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the nearby Cracker Barrel and I got my fix of sausage gravy and biscuits!  So far, so good – Ohio was lovely, and there was much we could have visited and seen, but now we had those holiday weekend reservations that gave us a deadline.

May 26, 2021 – 215 miles – Our next stop was Cornerstone Retreat and Campground in New Castle, Indiana, yet another stop on the I-70 trail we were forging for ourselves.  A private, Christian campground, it was an immaculate campground with well maintained and decorated grounds.  You could tell that this would be a huge summer escape for families and was also host to seasonal campers.  The highway noise seems louder here than at some of our previous stops, but it was fine for an overnight stop.  We didn’t even unhook the truck from the camper and instead, took a stroll around the grounds, with Andy ordering pizza that was delivered to our site from their campground cafe!

May 27, 2021 – 154 miles – Our third stop was a pre-planned visit to Newton, Illinois, where we would visit the first two full time RVing friends we ever made.  We originally met Janine and Matt in a camper on the sales lot at Beckley’s RV Sales in 2017.  They had just listed their house for sale and were buying a new fifth wheel for their full-time travels.  We were also buying our rig, with plans to launch our full-time travels in 2020. 

Here we sat, two couples chatting in a fifth wheel that we BOTH intended to buy!  It worked out well – neither of us ended up buying that specific rig on that day, but from that day, an online friendship evolved and we caught up with them by happenstance again in January 2021 in Sarasota, Florida.  So when they invited us to stop by in Illinois on this trip, we were excited to do so!  They were spending a month “moochdocking” at their son and daughter-in-law’s home (for those that don’t know, that is when you pull up and camp in a friend or relatives driveway or property).  

Our reservation was at Casey KOA Journey, again, just off of I-70, but this time, for two nights.  The campground was exactly what you might expect from a rural KOA campground and while it was perfectly fine for an overnight stay, it was just as pricey as we have come to expect KOAs to be and still included that I-70 traffic noise (but it was a holiday weekend, so we took what we could get!).

On our “free day” we drove over to the town of Casey, Illinois (pronounced Kay’-Zee by the locals).  This little town’s claim to fame is being home to more than a dozen “World’s Largest” items and even a larger number of “really big things”.  What a day!  I am a sucker for many of these little roadside attractions.  We walked, shopped and photographed our way through this adorable town.  The town is special – the restoration of old buildings is well done and there is enough there that we could have spent an entire day, with lovely restaurants, stores and sights.  

But it was an evening visit with Janine and Matt that was our reason for arriving to the area instead of just passing through.  Any home cooked dinner when traveling is a special treat, but we also enjoyed great conversation and even did a little shopping of Janine’s gorgeous hand designed and created jewelry.  Janine is multi-talented – a jewelry maker, rug hooker and blogger (Visit her at https://www.etsy.com/shop/JanineBroscious or https://joyfulwonder.wordpress.com/).

After a great dinner and conversation in their 2018 Grand Design 310GK that is JUST LIKE OURS (it is always easy to find your way to the bathroom that way!).  We walked next door to share dessert and meet some of their beautiful family!  It was yet another great evening of meeting kind, fun, welcoming and interesting people as part of this way of life.  

We learned about their son and daughter-in-law’s adventures in their fixer upper home, with their busy children and foster child, a sister that also lives with them and their role in the community as a pastor’s family.  By the end of the evening, and the end of our visit to this part of Illinois, we learned that it was certainly a place beautiful enough and enjoyable enough that we should come back again and do some further exploration (after all, we didn’t have time to visit the home of Burl Ives!).

May 29, 2021 – 241 miles – As we added another state sticker to our travel map of the United States, we headed to Columbia, Missouri for our next night’s rest.  It was another planned visit – this time a welcomed invitation from a college friend that I haven’t seen in more than 30 years!  Another drive under our 300 mile limit and three three o’clock “curfew” found us stopping at Cedar Creek Resort not far off the same I-70 interstate we would be taking all the way to Colorado.

The campground was newer, and we were able to snag a pull-thru site.  We were greeted by the camp hosts, took the dogs for a walk around the loop, admiring the nearby fishing lake along the way.  Had we stayed longer, it was clear that there were miles of pretty country scenes to explore.  After a restful afternoon, we got into our “camping best dressed” (for me, that simply means nicer jeans, wedge shoes, a pretty blouse and some makeup, as well as my new necklace purchased from Janine!).  The visit with Lee and her wife Stacey was terrific and it was a treat to catch up in person after perhaps two decades of no contact and another decade of only a social media connection.  Laughter and joy seemed abounding, and the visit was comfortable despite Lee and I being the only two that had ever known each other before.  It was an evening that reinforced for me why this lifestyle is such a gift – to be able to “swing by” Missouri for a little visit on a cross country road trip!  These are opportunities that I treasure.

May 30, 2021 – 171 miles – With our holiday-restricted-visiting-with-friends stops behind us, it was time to move on.  Feeling excited, we knew that our next stop would put us somewhere in Kansas, which somehow felt like we were in the “midst of the middle”.  We opted for another short travel day so that we could boondock overnight at a Harvest Host location – Z&M Twisted Vines Winery and Vineyard near Leavenworth. For those that do not know, Harvest Host is a membership website we joined where we can camp (usually boondocking) overnight at no cost at any of thousands of various businesses in North America.  They ask that we patronize the business in some way as a thanks for the night’s rest.  We had a great experience, meeting a couple of resident chickens in addition to one of the owners, parking our rig in the middle of a 40 acre field and tasting food and wines, while relaxing and watching the sun set.  We settled on a couple of bottles to go home” with us, including a Jalapeno Wine named Hellfire!

May 31, 2021 – 230 miles – Having anticipated straight roads and corn fields throughout the state, we actually saw many beautiful scenes in Kansas with nary a corn field to be found!  With enough days to be able to slow down our pace even more, our next day’s travel took us only as far as Minooka Park COE Campground in Dorrance, Kansas.  Set on Wilson Lake, said to be the state’s clearest waters, we loved the views so much that we immediately extended to a three night stay!

With a pull-through site, expertly maintained grounds and views among the best we have camped this trip so far, our first Army Corp of Engineers campground did not disappoint!  We had cell service and shared our entire loop with only one or two other campers (and only $24 per night!)  Our first day was misty and raining much of the day, so we used the time to relax, read, catch up on bills and business and sit by the campfire with a blanket and a nice drink in the evening. 

When the sun shone the next day, we had by then discovered that in nearby Hays, Kansas, we would be able to lay eyes on our first bison, another key bucket list item for Andrew (nicknamed “Brave Buffalo” as a child).  The town of Hays has its own little herd of ten bison, including four babies, four females, including one that is a rare white in color, and one apparently busy bull!  While not the wild bison we aim to see later this summer, this little herd in Hays was a great way to whet our whistles and visit a town we really enjoyed!

Across from the bison herd is Fort Hays – a Kansas state historic site where there is great history of some difficult times in our nation’s history following the Civil War, including massacres, broken treaties with Native Americans and the birth and growth of a nation in the plains of Kansas.  There is a small museum and gift shop and a self guided tour of the grounds and buildings that remain from the 1800s.  

We then made our way a short drive into town, enjoyed some great BBQ at Blue Smoke BBQ and wandered through a few of the best little stores we have seen in  a while.  Thanks, Hays! Your brick streets, restored 1800s buildings, the train running through the center of town, your historic sites and yes, especially your bison were a great way to spend the day! On the way back home, we made another stop at Cathedral of the Prarie, AKA St. Fidelis Church. It was beautiful and a great moment to say a prayer of thanks and light a candle, acknowledging that Saint Christopher has been protecting us and to ask for his continued blessings.

June 3, 2021 – 240 miles – This was the final stop of our westward travels, and the first sticker from our list of targeted states, on the very eastern edge of Colorado.  Five nights in what really is beautifully in the middle of just about nowhere.  Painted Rock Park is a campground with full hookup but really no other frills.  We are one of only four campers in the perhaps 35 site campground.  But if you want an affordable place to settle ($38.50 per night), rest and have few responsibilities, this place is worth a visit.  We’ve  only seen the owner once – a day after we arrived.  He stopped by to say hello and see if we needed anything.  He is a rancher about an hour away who had purchased this land on a whim at auction, putting in the campsites two years ago, but also renting out a nearby community room and hosting hunting events.  

We have used this time as our last restful respite before the hustle and bustle of a crammed summer of being tourists and hosts, as we will also have some visits from family members  along the way (three kids, a kid’s significant other, and a brother and his family at least).  So this time and location is perfect for walks down country lanes, a stroll to see a sunset, time to pay bills, do laundry, stock up on groceries and do a little writing about our life adventures past, present and future.  We’ve seen a friendly snake in our path, watched the crop dusters fly in the distant fields and smelled the pungent odor of manure spread on the fields at night (thank goodness for air-tight windows and A/C!).  On a 30 minute trip down the road, we visited the Kit Carson Fairgrounds and rode their historic carousel before heading to the circa 1970s Safeway.  We also attended our first in-person Catholic Mass since before the pandemic, a promising sign of the world opening up to all of us.  This truly is a wonderful place with a very different look and feel from many other places.

As each day passed on this westward drive across Interstate 70, the scenery was ever changing and beautiful, from state-to-state-to-state.  It was clear that the midwest is named the “bible belt” for a reason – the faith, strength and kindness of the communities we visited were evident.  I can see a world in which the midwest might feel a little out of place in the middle, with the notable differences in values, culture and lifestyle from those that are generally seen on the east coast or the west coast of this country.

Each town we drove through and visited had its own special reasons to stop.  There were many things we would love to stop by and visit “next time”.  We were reminded that our “rules” to make few reservations and our “rule of threes” are good guidelines for us, as we kept finding ourselves feeling rushed to “get there”.  Slowing down a bit was a way to remind us that we are already there – wherever we are at this moment.  It only takes some billboard reading, map scanning or some Google searching to see that the midwest has a lot to offer – and certainly shouldn’t be for just passing through!  We will be back!