Camp Lowden

Just for your information: If any of you haven’t already discovered, you can enlarge the pictures posted on this blog by clicking on them.

My home, Camp Lowden as I call it, for the last 2 weeks lies on the eastern bluffs of the Rock River across from the city of Oregon which is the county seat of Ogle County in north central Illinois. With a population of about 5 thousand, it was founded in 1833 and probably named Oregon by one of the founders, John Phelps, who had visited the area on his way west and returned 4 years later. The name was changed to Florence (after Florence Italy) from 1839 to 1843 and then changed back to Oregon ( a change that I would have voted for). There doesn’t seem to be any large scale industry here and I would imagine that many of the locals are employed in larger cities like Dixon or Rockford, which aren’t too far away.

 

The campground here is nicely shaded by very large White Oaks, Basswood and Chinese Elm trees (among many other types) with 80 electrically serviced, mostly level sites, 2 dump stations and a shower house. Memorial Day weekend saw just about every site full but, as usual, the weekdays are quiet with only a handful of campers. The weather finally cleared late on the afternoon of June 1st after raining almost every day for several days in a row. A cold front came through, cleared the skies and lowered the temps. One day last week the tornado warning sirens sounded across the river in Oregon and we all headed up to the shower house for safety. It gave us a chance to exchange niceties and converse a bit while waiting out the storm which passed without incident. That evening the thunder rolled and set the coyotes howling somewhere in the bush just north of me.

Lowden Memorial State Park is named for Frank Lowden who served as Illinois governor during WW I. The place started out as artist colony named Eagles Nest which was founded around 1898 by Chicago attorney and assistant manager of the University of Chicago, Wallace Heckman. That closed in 1942, about 6 years after Hackman’s death when the last residents left the colony. Then in 1945 273 acres were added to Eagles Nest by the Illinois legislature and the park got its present name. The original 66 acres of the Eagles Nest site was transferred to Northern Illinois University at DeKalb. It was renovated by the Industrial Arts classes and renamed the Lorado Taft Field Campus. Year round natural science classes are taught there and the area is closed to the public, hence no picturesL.

 

“The Eternal Indian”, a 50 foot tall, concrete statue placed high on a bluff which overlooks the Rock River (inside the park) was designed and built by sculptor Lorado Taft between 1908 and 1911. It’s said to be the second largest concrete monolithic statue in the world. Although the artist stated the statue represented the spirit of the American Indian and not a specific person, the flyers handed out at the dedication ceremony had the word “Black Hawk” printed on them and it has become known as the “Black Hawk Statue” ever since.  Black Hawk, who was a leader (not actually a chief by birth) and warrior of the Sauk American Indian Tribe, is the namesake of the Chicago Blackhawks.

 

 

I can’t seem to find any information on these 3 foot tall “tree stump” carvings which lie in the park but outside of the original Eagles Nest boundaries.  I could only locate 2, both carved into mushrooms, and they appear along the road that leads to the old Eagles Nest area. Perhaps they are the work of the artists that left here long ago?

I had the most wonderful couple camp across from me over last weekend. Nick and Lillian de Clereq are from South Africa. They had their custom built truck camper and truck shipped over to Baltimore 2 weeks ago by ocean freighter and they followed by air. Nick is a retired engineer who designed the camper himself and then had it custom built. After exploring many areas of Africa they decided to come to the US to see the National Parks and monuments. They will spend the next 6 months touring the western US, Canada and perhaps Alaska before leaving the US via Mexico.

 

When they arrived last Friday I thought they might have had a long days drive and took over a few just baked cinnamon rolls. They invited me to have breakfast with them on Saturday morning and a friendship was struck.  As we shared meals and marshmallows over the campfire we swapped stories and laughed a lot, they are a happy, good natured pair. I attempted to explain the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday and gifted them my copy of the National Geographic Guide to the National Parks for which they were very grateful. I won’t need it for a few months when Ronna and I head west and can easily replace it before that.  They departed early Sunday morning for the Dakotas and I was happy to be up and around to say goodbye. They are a bit behind in updating their blog:
 http://www.oucruiser.com 


Just today a solo tent camper named Ron set up on the same site that the de Clereqs left on Sunday. He departed California on April 29 and drove to the east coast. Stopping here for the night, he’s headed for Wisconsin to visit family and will work his way back home from there. Ron’s retired from the camping industry, having worked for a company that manages private campgrounds across the US as well as a few government owned parks. 

 

The courthouse in Oregon, completed in 1891 in the Romanesque Revival style, was restored in 1981 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s no longer used for legal proceedings. The eastern entrance is graced by 2 Civil War cannons (just visible toward the lower right in the photo).  “The Solders Monument” in the foreground was designed by Lorado Taft and dedicated in 1916. It honors Ogle County's war dead from the American Civil War, Mexican War, War of 1812 and World War I, the last of which was added later.

 

 

One of Illinois’ last stands of native White Pines and one of the southernmost stands of White Pines in the United States can be found at White Pines Forest State Park, only 10 miles away. The lodge, restaurant and cabins there were built by the CCC around 1927. Its restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and is well known for its chicken pot pie. There is a small theater in the lodge that hosts entertainment and plays by local talent. The one room log cabins, which Ronna and I have had the pleasure to stay in during years past, are available to rent. The park has beautiful hiking trails and the campground, while very nice, has no hookups and finding a level site is all but impossible due to the hilly terrain.

 

Ronna came for a visit during my stay and we ate lunch at the White Pines restaurant (chicken pot pie of course and peach cobbler) and then stopped at the John Deere Historical Site, about a 20 minute drive, but found it closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. We did locate an old cemetery with graves dating back to the mid 1800’s. You can read more the John Deere Historical site here:

http://www.deere.com/wps/dcom/en_US/corporate/our_company/fans_visitors/tours_attractions/historicalsite.page

 

My next move is tomorrow, I’m headed off to Kettle Moraine State Forest in Wisconsin for about 2 weeks of “dry camping”. For those of you unfamiliar with that term there will no electrical or water hookups so will have to rely on the camper’s large fresh water tank and the solar panels to recharge the camper’s batteries. I’m staying in a “quiet” loop, meaning no music (except for earphones), no generators and no pets allowed.
Tomorrow will be spent doing laundry, getting the rig ready and plotting my navigation for the trip.

I hope you enjoy Red Headed Woodpeckers as the park here is loaded with them and I couldn’t resist snapping a few pictures.

 

 

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.

Time to leave

Well, my two week stay at Yankee Springs Recreation Area is about at an end. And while it’s been a productive stay, I didn’t have the time I thought I would to explore the park. But there was time for some photography, roasting marshmallows over the nightly campfires and some movies on DVD. Ronna and I have already agreed to return next May for another 2 week stay which should be a bit more relaxing than these past two.

 

Productive because I got a good handle on the organization of my new living space (which took longer than expected due to the many trips to the store).  Another goal was to give the camper a good shake out. I’m only 30 minutes from the RV dealer and could easily take the camper back if there were any warranty issues.

 

To that end I skipped using the parks “facilities”, shower and local restaurants electing to use the camper exclusively for all my needs during the past week. The large holding tanks have allowed me to go the complete time without dumping waste water or taking on additional fresh water. Never ran out of hot water and the fridge was plenty large enough to hold a weeks’ worth of food. The oven worked great for baking morning cinnamon rolls (all dinners were done on my charcoal grill). An all-day rain on Friday showed no leaks and the unusually cold weekend (in the upper 30’s on Saturday night and below freezing temps on Sunday night) allowed me to give the forced air propane furnace a good workout; there was no problem holding the indoor temps at a comfortable 70+ degrees. The thermo pane windows showed no sign of condensation or frost.  Propane has held up well as I’m still on the first of two 30 pound bottles. I’ve had a choice of over a dozen TV stations so it seems the amplified antenna is doing its job. Have to say that the camper met, and in some ways exceeded, my expectations.

 

Communications were no problem. My cell phone provided voice conversations and, using it as a hotspot, Internet service too for the laptop. Had good 3G reception without using the signal booster I installed during my stay but I’ll be interested to see how the reception is during my next two stops and how well that booster performs.

 

The last two days I’ve been laid up with a pulled right calf muscle. I was hiking one of the park trails on Sunday and stopped to take a self-portrait. Setting the timer I hurried to get to my position before the shutter released and, tripping on a tree stump, managed to pull the muscle. I did make the shot but the walk back to the truck was a long one, using my camera tripod as a walking stick. The leg still isn’t a 100% but is much better and thankfully doesn’t  affect my driving. The injury did allow enough down time for a “Sherlock Holmes Movie Marathon” all day on Monday, giving the DVD player a good workout.

 

I spent today doing laundry in Middleville MI, washing /fueling the truck and getting the camper ready for my morning departure to Tippecanoe State Park, IN, where I will spend one night.  On the way I’ll meet Chris, my Indiana friend, in Goshen IN for lunch. Thursday morning it’s on to Illinois for 6 days of dry camping (no electric or water hookups). Since most of the busy work with the camper is done I should have a lot more time to explore the area. And to try out the solar charging system.

 

So I will leave you with some scenic pictures of Gun Lake and Yankee Springs Recreation Area, as well as that somewhat disastrous self-portrait.  LOL

 

BTW, the shot of the Weeping Willow was taken by Ronna.

 

 

Birds, ducks, geese!

Trip to Holland MI

We got a bit of a late start on Friday; camping shouldn’t be lived on a schedule anyway.

 

The drive to Holland MI was a smooth and easy 1 hour trip. We had planned to tour the lighthouse at Holland State Park but ended up on the wrong side of the harbor entrance to Lake Macatwa. Rather than backtrack all the way around to the north side of the lake we took some pictures of the lighthouse and beach and then decided to visit DeKlomp Wooden Shoe & Delft Factory. Ronna was interested in picking up a small item of Delft china and I was interested to see how they make wooden shoes.

 

The advertisement suggested allowing 2 hours to tour the place but I don’t see how that possible unless you really, really like to look at tulips and Delft. But Ronna did manage to find a nice statue of a Northern Cardinal (but in blue instead of red of course) and we got to watch a pair of wooden shoes being made.

 

Both the shoe and Delft factory are in the same building along the back wall with glass panels for viewing. The rest of the large building is filled with Delft china pieces and mucho “tourist crap”. But we did spy some Dutch chocolate and, not having had any lunch, snapped some up.

 

The wooden shoe “factory” is actually a one room workshop and the shoes are made on special laths; takes less than 15 minutes to knock out a pair; of course than doesn’t include the final sanding and drying process. The guy giving the demo stated that a pair would last a Dutch farmer about a year if worn every day.

 

The Delft “factory” was actually 3 rooms with forms and kilns, but nothing was being fired that day and the rooms were vacant.

 

A second building is actually a store that sells every variety of Tulip bulbs one could imagine. It’s also the entrance to the Tulip garden. A sign at the register read “Admittance to the garden. $5 each or 2 for $10” What is that all about???? Anyway we stepped into the garden to get some pictures of the flowers and left.

 

Since the Tulip Fest didn’t get underway until Saturday, we decided to find a local place downtown for lunch. We found a place called Froggy’s in one of the tourist guides that served cheeseburgers and fresh cut fries; right up our ally!

 

Now I always thought the Tulip Fest was all about Tulips, but the place is a carnival. I mean the streets are lined with every kind of corn dog, cotton candy and elephant ear carnie wagon possible. I thought how much nicer it would be if the local food vendors set up shops instead.  And maybe they do but we sure didn’t see any. And later at Froggy’s I noticed a sign giving 10 good reasons for visitors to dine at local establishments.

 

We parked behind Froggys in a city lot (all public parking lots are free). As we walked around front many people we dining outside on the sidewalks at various eateries. We were eating our lunch inside the restaurant when a downpour started and I imagine a lot of tables and chairs were knocked over in the rush to stay dry. The burgers were good and the fries great! Filling our stomachs we started the hour drive back to the campground.

 

That about catches up the first few days of our trip. Ronna said goodbye on Sunday afternoon and I’ve been spending my time taking pictures and doing the small chores that still need to be done.
Updates will come less often now but I’ll let you know when the next post is up.

It’s about 3:40 in the afternoon on Tuesday; sunny and 78.

 

So back to the start of this adventure.

 

We arrived at Yankee Springs Recreation area a bit after noon last Wednesday, stopped at the Ranger Station and checked in. I had made reservations months in advance, doing a scouting trip to the park during one of my trips to the RV dealer last year. We stopped at the water spigot, filled our 55 gallon fresh water tank and found our campsite, right on the water’s edge.

 

Offloading and leveling the camper was a breeze with the electronic jacks and a remote control. We raised it off the truck, pulled the truck out, and lowered closer to the ground. Using a level on the bumper we got the camper pretty close to where it should be. Then we got inside and placed a 2 way level on the bottom of the fridge. Using the remote we didn’t even have to get back out of the camper. We just made minor adjustments of the jacks from inside the camper while watching the level. In a short time we had the shore power hooked up and the water heater going.

 

 We spent most of the afternoon off-loading Ronna’s car of all my gear. At first I didn’t think it was all going to fit, but with some juggling and moving things several times from place to place, we did get it all in. Some items were placed in the camper's outside storage compartments, others in the truck cabinets where they belonged. And there were a few items that I decided I really didn’t need or want to have onboard so those went into Ronna’s car to be taken back to Illinois. Actually I’m still moving things about and probably will be for some time.

 

As we worked we kept a list of things that were still needed; mostly small plastic storage bins, a paper towel holder and firewood. There are only 2 drawers in the galley, one shallow one for tableware / knives and a deeper one for utensils. Remember that junk drawer we all have at the house for miscellaneous items?  Well I still have those items but no drawer to put them in. We did some of the shopping but forgot to stop for firewood so it was an early night; we were both beat anyway. We had our first chance to use the shower in the camper which turned out to be a pleasant experience for us both. After our shower we slept great in the camper’s queen size bed.

 

Last Thursday is pretty much a blur now. I do recall driving to a few places to pick up miscellaneous items and we did finally get some firewood. It was a busy day but we did have a fire that night and roasted marshmallows (that became a nightly ritual).

 

The Holland MI Tulip Fest was starting on Saturday so we decided to avoid the crowds and go on Friday instead; more about that and some pictures from the trip on the next update.

 

Here are some pictures of the campground and views from the camper.

 

 

Camper pickup.....

 

Blog update: Sunday, May 5^th 2013 (Happy Cinco de Mayo!!)

 

It’s been a very busy 4 days but I thought it was about time I posted to the blog. So as I sit in the camper, a cool breeze coming through the window and the sound of a Cardinal singing in the trees across the water, I will bring you somewhat up to date.

 

While we’ve already been at the campground since Wednesday afternoon, I’m going to skip back to last Tuesday night when we arrived in Grand Rapids, MI.  I will write more about our camping experiences and visit to Holland, MI in the next blog post.

 

Ronna was good enough to follow me for the 3 ½ hour drive to Grand Rapids last Tuesday, her SUV packed to the gills with most of my gear. We spent Tuesday night at a Grand Rapids hotel, having a great meal at the local Carrabba’s Italian Grill. At 0715 on Wednesday morning we headed for American RV to pick up the camper. I have to admit I was a nervous wreck on the ride over. Yes, I had been very careful to measure the camper at least twice before having the service body custom built to my specs, but if the camper didn’t fit for some reason I was up the creek without a paddle.

 

Arriving at American RV we were met by a Welcome Sign and by Dave, the service rep who would do our walk through with us. He had a great smile and a laid back attitude and I was at somewhat more at ease. But in the back of my mind I knew eventually I would have to back the truck under the camper and the moment of truth was coming.

 

Dave took all the time we needed to explain the various systems on the camper and to point out important “tips and clues”.  There as a lot covered and I was just a bit overwhelmed at times but Dave was more than happy to clarify things and / or repeat instructions whenever I found it necessary to ask (and re-ask) questions. Being an RVer himself, he was very knowledgeable. And I found my boating experience to be more than helpful because some of the systems are very similar. I have the say that the most confusing item to set up is the rear awning. LOL

 

At last Dave spoke the dreaded words: “OK Dave, you can back up under the camper and we will lower her into the bed”. I swallowed hard, took a deep breath and got behind the wheel of my mule (as I call her), remembering that I only had about an inch of clearance on each side. My first attempt failed; a bit too far to the left and the second attempt was not quite straight back. But again, Dave was cool and laid back, encouraging me with a few tips and helpful instructions, never raising his voice or getting excited. The third try was the charm and the camper was lowered down into the bed. It fit like a glove and my universe was back in balance! We attached the turnbuckles to lock the camper into position and I drove it out of the service bay into the sunshine.

 

It’s about a 30 mile drive to our camping destination, straight south on Highway 131. With Ronna always following close behind, we exited at Waylen, MI and did the grocery shopping at the local Harding’s Market, collecting enough food for 5 days. Knowing that we had a full day’s work ahead of us of unloading and setting up the camper, we decided to stop for lunch at McDonald’s before arriving at Yankee Springs Recreation Area in the early afternoon.

 

We found our site and started to set up camp, but about that on the next blog entry.