Greetings from Shabbona Lake State Park!

And if you would like to learn more about who this park is named after you can click here (or copy and paste the link): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbona

 

How did I end up here? Well that’s a bit of a story.

 

I left Michigan on the morning of the 15^th as planned and headed southwest toward Goshen IN. Met my friend Chris there for lunch and, it being surrounded by the Amish who sell bakery goods in just about every restaurant, picked up a nice homemade caramel nut roll for a quick breakfast in the morning. I was almost late for our meeting as twice I ended up behind their slow moving, black, horse drawn buggies. We had a very nice lunch and Chris took some time to look at the camper. I have to say she, who works in the RV industry, was impressed.

 

Now it was time to head for my overnight stop before pushing on to Illinois. It was a beautiful day for a drive and I enjoyed the scenery, following the state / US highways and county roads to Tippecanoe River State Park near Winamac, IN. I arrived in the late afternoon and quickly discovered that the mosquitoes were going to be a force to be reckoned with. Luckily I had the back pack behind the front seat and inside was the jungle juice because I had to splash on a good layer before getting out of the truck to plug in the shore power. Leaving the camper on the truck, I ate dinner, used the parks shower facilities (dodging the bloodsuckers all the way), watched a little TV and hit the sack.

 

Deciding to leave early, I was up at 0600 and on the road by 7. That Amish sweet roll was a great way to start the day and I stopped at the local gas station for coffee. It was another beautiful day for my 5 hour drive to Green River State Wildlife Management Area in Harmon, IL where I planned to dry camp for 6 days and give the solar system a good run. Well, “the best laid plans of mice and men…..”

 

As I tooled along westbound on US 24 (I thought) I suddenly found myself going south on US 45. I was in Rantoul IL about 50 miles south of where I was supposed to be when I realized that I took a wrong turn in Gilman IL. Those 50 miles, and the 50 miles backtracking, cost me and extra $40 in gas and now I was looking at a 7 hour drive time.

 

After stopping at Wal-Mart in Peru, IL for groceries I finally arrived at Green River. I pulled into a vast, open field, strewn with a few picnic tables, marked “For All Campers”. The place was deserted. But I did spy a self-registration box next to the water pump. Pulling alongside I checked out the pump, only to find the diverter was busted off; no way to fill my fresh water tank. This wasn’t going to work. I saw another sign marked “OFFICE 1 MILE” so I started off down the gravel road, hoping that I would not meet another vehicle as I was taking up the entire, narrow road. Made it to the office and spoke to a person who informed me that the broken pump was the only water source on the property. When I asked about the dump station he said he THOUGHT it was somewhere near the shelter but he didn’t know if it was in working order. I politely said goodbye and ran like hell. By the time I reached the main road I had decided to make it to Shabbona Lake State Park which was only ANOTHER hour’s drive.

 

But my stay here has been very pleasant. It’s a really nice place with the best Musky fishing in the state, a camp store, boat rentals, shower house and restaurant. Unfortunately I didn’t get to use much of the facilities. Remember that pulled calf muscle? Well after seeing my leg and ankle turning all kinds of pretty colors I realized it was more of a muscle tear. Hey, it was feeling good until I pushed it a bit too hard on an uphill walk Saturday.

 

The good part is I have been able to sit in the shade for days, watch the birds, talk with the neighbors over the weekend, and entertain my sister and Karyn, a family friend, for lunch on Sunday. Ronna (an RN) came to visit for the weekend and put me back on track with the ice packs and ibuprofen. Two full days of rest and I’m gaining steam again.

 

The loop I’m in, Merganser, has about 40 camp sites and during the week it’s just about empty. But over the weekend I had neighbors. To the south were a group of boys with their dad’s and grand-dads. It was their semiannual camping (tent) and canoeing trip. They arrived in the rain and I helped them get a fire going and offered a hot pot of coffee. I have to say I have never seen better behaved boys. The men brought them each over to be introduced and each morning they would wave and say hi; great neighbors for 2 days. To the North was a large family from Chicago with a well behaved pit bull terrier (never heard a sound out of him for the entire stay). They kept to themselves.

 

By Sunday afternoon everyone was gone and I’ve had my half of Merganser Circle with its great tall Sugar Maples, Cork Elms and Green Ash trees all to myself. The only visitors to my campsite have been the Crows, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Downy Woodpeckers, Scarlet Tanager, White Breasted Nuthatch and Great Crested Flycatcher, among the others I can’t identify. There is a group on the other side of the circle that started to arrive on Monday. Their large flag says “LOW”, which I found on the Internet to stand for “Loaners On Wheels”. It’s a social group for single campers but it seems they aren’t too social. Most of them have come past my camp more than once while walking their dogs or taking a stroll but not even any eye contact from anyone, little yet a wave or good morning.  Oh well, to each their own.

 

Will break camp tomorrow and make the 1 hour drive to Ronna’s where I will visit for a few days and let the leg fully heal. Then it’s Lowden State Park in Oregon IL for 11 nights. I see the park is fully booked for the Memorial Day weekend.

 

Sorry about the lack of pictures but I wanted to stay off the leg as much as possible.