Quick trip from Utah to Ohio

July 2017

I mentioned in an earlier post that my Mom broke her hip in May. I flew out to help. Jim stayed home in Salt Lake with the dogs and the cat. In early July I flew back to Salt Lake  so Jim and I could drive the RV to my Mom's home in Ohio.

It was a quick trip by our standards: 1732 miles straight east along I-80 with 6 one night stops and a two-night stay in Lincoln, Nebraska, where my brother and sister-in-law live. 

There was not a lot of time to explore, but we made the following stops:

Little America, Wyoming. This is often our first stop going east. Since we’ve never figured how to get out of dodge early in the morning, we just drive the 140 miles to Little America, which is a huge truck stop/gas station/motel/restaurant, and at least we are on the road and moving in the right direction. RV’s can park overnight for free.

Laramie, Wyoming KOA:  We’re not KOA fans. They have amenities we're not interested in (like pools and playgrounds), are expensive, and usually feature lots of gravel. But there’s not a big selection of RV parks in Laramie. This turned out to be one of the nicer KOAs we’ve stayed in, with grass between the sites and a big dog run. And when we drove in to Laramie to get a quick look at the town, a celebration called Jubilee Days was in progress complete with carnival, art festival, and brew fest.

Lake Ogallala, Nebraska. I’ve always wanted to visit Lake Ogallala State Recreation Area in western Nebraska. Two lakes are side by side: the huge (22 miles by 4 miles) Lake McConaughy and, on the other side of a dam, the tiny by comparison Lake Ogallala (1.6 miles by .6 miles). I read a review that said Lake McConaughy was a "sweat and gatorade" type of lake while Ogallala was a "rag sweater and cup of coffee" lake.  Guess that's why we stayed at the latter. Lovely older campground with water and electric.

Camp A Way, Lincoln, NE.  This is a pricier but well run and maintained RV Park with huge trees. For being tucked between major freeways (I-80 and I-180) it’s amazingly quiet. Best of all, it’s close to my brother and sister-in-law’s home. We went out to dinner at a great pub one night; Trudy and Don made dinner the other. It’s always wonderful to see them.

Kellogg RV Park in Kellogg, Iowa. Reviews said the on-site restaurant serves “the best burgers in Iowa.”  We had them; I’m not so sure.  But it was a convenient, grassy, and clean location bordering a big soybean field. Worked for us.

Starved Rock State Park in Oglesby, Illinois:   A beautiful park on the Illinois River near the small town of Utica. According to legend, an Indian tribe being pursued by another tribe fled to a sandstone butte in what is now the park.  The pursuers kept the butte surrounded until the Indians on the big rock died. Hence the name. History is brutal.  Like a lot of state parks, its facilities were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's. Thank you, CCC.

Manago Park, Orland, Indiana. The area is great:  Lots of lakes and farm fields, a great brew pub nearby and interesting history: Orland was founded by settlers from Vermont and was once a stop on the underground railway. The RV park, however, was a disappointment. It’s a run down “resort,” and I use that term loosely, where people park RVs year round. There’s a swimming beach and a fishing lake, and I’m sure kids and people with friends in nearby rigs have a great time.  But as short timers our spot was in a bumpy field near the boat storage. Not on our favorites list.  On the upside, our next stop was home with my Mom in Ohio.

Nebraska's Lake Ogallala and Lake McConaughy are known for bird habitats, but we saw these guys/gals instead when we took a long walk. 

We were greeted by a crop duster at the Kellogg RV Park in Kellogg, Iowa, a town right along I-80 with a population of about 600 people.

Jim taking a photo of the Illinois River at Starved Rock State Park  in Oglesby, Illinois.  Jim is standing on a large deck built on the sandstone rock where legend says one Indian tribe held another until the second tribe starved to death. And no, the deck was not there at the time.