Lake Shabbona X2

 

It’s now Tuesday, July 2^nd, about 4:15 in the afternoon and I thought I would get this post done before grilling up a steak for dinner. I will be leaving tomorrow morning and heading for Paul Wolff campgrounds in Elgin, IL where I will spend 9 days or so

 It rained almost every day for the first 8 days of my 11 day stay here at Shabbona Lake. It got so humid in the evening hours I had to put on the AC, even though it was in the low 70’s. But Sunday, Monday and today were just beautiful, cool temps, nice breeze and no humidity.

 Last Friday I dumped the tanks and filled the fresh water (have to do that about every 7 or 8 days.). Either someone had an accident or it was deliberate but a black tank had been emptied out along the curb gutter next to the dump cap. On my way back I stopped and told the camp host that unless it was raining toilet paper and feces, someone had left him a present at the dump station. He said he would take care of it (another reason not to be a camp host).

 Had some interesting neighbors during my stay. There were 2 old Polish guys who arrived early one evening at the spot to my right. They never set up camp, just slept in their car and it looked like the beers were popping at 0700 the following morning (hair of the dog?). I saw a bunch of fishing stuff around their car, along with a lot of paper shopping bags. Who knows what was up with them? They were gone by 1000 hours the next day.

 On my left side was a couple from Georgia. Early one morning I saw the male getting out of his vehicle with a pillow and blankets. I thought perhaps there was trouble in paradise, but wrong, wrong, wrong. Seems they were out fishing till 0100 and when they returned they found the camp raided by the raccoons. All the eggs in the cooler were eaten and a full tub of butter was licked clean (animals after my own heart). One of the critters had ripped a hole in the side of the tent and made off with a loaf of bread. They decided to sleep in their car rather than in the tent which had been ventilated nicely by the bandits. First time I heard of raccoons tearing into a tent, but keeping any kind of food inside a tent isn't the best habit.

Ronna came out for a visit on Saturday and Sunday. It rained heavily most of the day Saturday so we sat in the camper and discussed photography. Sunday was much nicer and we managed to get out and practice with the cameras a bit.

Now that the rain has subsided and my leg is at 100% I’m able to get out and about, hunting for some good pictures; spent most of Monday and all of Tuesday morning doing that. On one of the trails I came across a bridge that almost got wiped out by the swollen Indian Creek. Huge trees had been washed down and slammed into the footbridge (picture below).

Other than that it’s been a quiet week here, just as I like it. The campground is about empty but I’m sure that’s due to change with the upcoming holiday.

 Oh, by the way, the restaurant (picture below) is named after Shabbona’s wife.