Category Archives: RV camping

18 June Heading to Bismarck ND through Tornado Alley

Posted on June 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

We got in late & stayed overnight in the back lot of a Camping World store in Rogers MN thinking they would be able to work on the exhaust pile, but at 8am service manager told us they couldn’t help us and he sent us to another RV dealer nearby and we sent off to find Pleasureland RV in Anoka. Theyi in turn send us to a muffler and brake shop in Elk River. They told us they could help us but not until the next day *but* our current configuration is perfectly safe. So we are off to Bismarck to arrive Wed 18 Jun as planned. Perhaps we will get the tailpipe improved in Bismarck.

Camping in the back lot of a Camping World store

With a tornado watch in force until 9 pm and severe thunderstorms with baseball-sized hail possible, we headed to Bismarck ND. Got there with no problems.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Minnesota

17 Jun Rogers Minnesota

Posted on June 18, 2014 | Leave a comment

On the way to St Cloud we encountered a breakdown. The tailpipe broke loose and lodged between the right rear dual tires around 3 pm. Phone calls ensued trying to get roadside assistance via Good Sam and warranty coverage. After numerous circular conversations, a truck mechanic arrived at 7 pm to cut the damaged part loose and fasten the remaining tailpipe to the underbody.

We spent the night in the Rogers MN Camping World parking lot to be there at 8 am when service opened.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Minnesota

15 June Byron Illinois, 16 June Forest City Iowa

Posted on June 17, 2014 | Leave a comment

We had a lovely visit with friends Meredith and Brad in Byron IL and then headed west for Iowa. Western Illinois really is scenic. The town of Byron is dominated by the resident nuclear plant’s cooling tower that can be seen for miles.

Jessie, Brad & Meridith

Before we left Byron, Brad noticed that the tail-pile hanger strap was separated, which I thought that we could address at our next stop, the Winnebago factory. We could not, as it turned out, and this had consequences on the following day, June 17.

We arrived at the Winnebago Visit Center in Forest City Iowa late and got set up just as a “severe” thunderstorm arrived. It was rocking and rolling with wind, rain, hail, thunder and lightning. We abandoned our plan to cook outdoors and stayed glued to the weather channel. Although we had a tornado warning (a step up from a tornado watch on the Red Cross Tornado app I got for the iPhone) fortunately no tornado, although one hit Mason City about 12 miles from Forest City.

Tuesday morning we did the factory tour. It was interesting to see the scope and complexity of the mixed model production line. I’d like to get some information on the software that’s used to manage that. No photos in the factory but here’s one in the Visitor Center. It’s a 1967 model that was used for interstellar travel in Mel Brooks’ movie Space Balls. Interestingly, the interior RV layout was about the same as our new model.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Illinois, Iowa

13-14 June Hilton Garden Inn, Beavercreek OH and the Antioch Reunion

Posted on June 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

Since we did not have reservations at John Bryan Park for the weekend, we relocated to the Hilton in nearby Beavercreek. In retrospect, this was neither a convenient location nor an improvement over staying in the Navion.

We had to check out the Yellow Springs street fair, which is HUGE and generally a lower price point than Northern California events. The village of Yellow Springs swells from 3500 inhabitants to more than 30,000!!

The reunion was a chance to catch up with some old friend and meet some new ones. Campus tour highlights were seeing the progress on the Art and Science Building (studios and labs side by side), the Wellness Center (formerly Curl Gym) with the much anticipated fabulous swimming pool, the farm (aww lambs!), and beautiful innovative green facilities arising from the years of benign and not so benign neglect.

The grand finale was the State of the College address by Mark Roosevelt at the Celebration Dinner. After a clever and hilarious video on the accreditation site visit (featuring confusion about Japanese, Javanese, and bad knees), a visit from Horace Mann (back from the dead as is the college), we were treated to the decision of the accreditation board that Antioch College had advanced to candidacy *and* had fast track status (2 years instead of 4).

Next year will be graduation for the first class of the new Antioch and the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King speech at Antioch. It will also be the critical point in the accreditation.

No pictures of the reunion events!

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Antioch, Ohio

8-13 June John Bryan Park near Yellow Springs Ohio and the Antioch Work Project

Posted on June 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

We are here for the Antioch Work Project (9-12) and reunion (13-14). The work project was exhausting but great. John helped build a bicycle rack, benches, and a living wall. Jessie weeded, cleared the theater workshop (kind of demolition), helped build benches and the living wall. The volunteers are a great bunch of people and I’m sure we’ll be back next year.

John Bryan State Park is a beautiful with several full hookup spots. We would have stayed there the whole time but it was booked over the weekend for the Yellow Springs Street Fair.

Antioch work project.

Work-group photo

Building bike racks

John Bryan State Park, Yellow Springs

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Antioch, Ohio

6-7 June Grafton Illinois.

Posted on June 7, 2014 | Leave a comment

View from Gloria’s home, Grafton Ill.

Gloria shows the stage coach route in her back yard.

Lewis and Clark historic site – the starting place River Dubois

Lewis and Clark historic site

Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Model of Cahokia Mounds

At Cahokia Mounds

Ferry across Illinois River

View from the Aerie Wine Bar in Grafton, confluence of the Mississippi and the Illinois.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Illinois

05 june Lake Paradise Resort near oak Grove MO

Posted on June 6, 2014 | 1 comment

We stopped Lake Paradise Resort in Lone Jack MO for one night. A huge place with 250 full hookups, 250 partial hookups, some primitive sites, some tent sites, and cabins too, five lakes, and the largest pool in Missouri. We camped by the main lake. The pool was closed until the next day due to rain the previous day causing chemical imbalance. So we paddled around the lake in the early evening when it was cooler. Lots of Canadian geese, a crane, some turtles, and lots of grass for Molly to roll in. A charming place for which we paid $13 for the night with full hookup.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Missouri

03-04 June Independence MO

Posted on June 6, 2014 | Leave a comment

We stayed at the Campus RV Park in Independence MO. An urban park, kind of crowded, and the only full park we have encountered so far on this trip. It is close to the historic part of Independence. It was close to the old downtown area and near the large Mormon temple & other large & small churches. We visited the Frontier Trails Museum (next door) to continue what we started with the California Trail Interpretive Museum in Nevada. And we took a covered wagon trip with a focus on spots in town associated with Independence as the start of the Oregon and Santa Fe trails. Independence was a center for the outfitters of the wagons.

Campus RV Park

We ate a dinner at the Courthouse Exchange restaurant in a basement (cool) across from the courthouse with a statue of Harry Truman and a delicious lunch at Ophelia’s. We finished with lunch on the way out of town at the Smoke House BBQ and got takeout to take to our friend in Grafton. While in Independence, we were visited by the thunderstorm we fled in Nebraska. It is nice to be snug as bugs in the Navion while the rain pours down and the thunder pounds.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Missouri

02 June Mormon Island State Recreation Area

Posted on June 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

Mormon Island State park in Nebraska is a beautiful, well maintained public park on the North Platte River, close to I-80. We went from roaring river to roaring trucks. Stormy weather with baseball-sized hail and possible tornadoes forecast so we hit the road for Kansas City, Missouri or thereabouts.

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Posted in 2014 Antioch road trip, RV camping

Tagged Nebraska

1 June Camping in Medicine Bow National Forest, Wyoming

Posted on June 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

We dry camped at the Medicine Bow River campground, which was “near” to I-80. It took about an hour to get from the interstate to the campground, about 15 miles! June 1st was opening day for the campground and we were the only occupants of the 13-site campground. Beautiful and quiet. Lots of wild flowers and some snow patches. The river was roaring. Molly loved it.