Welcome

Welcome to our travel blog

May 11 Day 2

We went for an early morning walk down the Mag Mile.  It is cold enough to see your breath but there is little wind, thankfully.  It’s sunny and this main Chicago shopping drag is empty, it is surreal. Nice clear shots of Trump Tower and various skyscrapers.  They are renovating the Wrigley building, so thankful they are not leveling this icon. There are thousands of tulips lining the street along with other spring plantings.  Chicago is gearing up for Mother’s Day Weekend and Spring. This little hotel is a great find.  Good location for walking reasonably priced and excellent complementary self-serve hot breakfast with all the trimmings.  The beds are not so comfortable but passable.  We leave just before 10AM heading West on I90.  The sky grays off and on and the temperature is in the 40’s.  All day the temps hover high 40’s, low 50’s.  As we drive west and then diagonal north across Wisconsin on I94 it is clear we are going back in time for Spring.  They are not bloomed like Ohio and much is still brown.  (Remind us why we left our beautiful blooming yard and sitting on the deck)  Passing out of Illinois we know we are in Wisconsin because there are signs for cheese everywhere.  This is a big state with dairy cattle, cranberry bogs, sandstone towers from ancient seas (the Dells).  We stop in Eau Claire at Red Robin for late lunch.  We cross into MN, Minneapolis/St. Paul, and go directly to the airport.  The Mississippi River is meandering nearby.  It is so much easier having done this before.  We drop the car and take a quick walk to elevators and Lindbergh Terminal.  There are others waiting there for the bus.  We have a lot of luggage but that’s seems to be the rule for everyone.  Once people found out we had done this before we are asked a lot of questions, Chuck is happy to oblige.  We’re all coming from around the US.  We are on the young side of the group but there are two families with young children this time.  It’s a time of anticipation and excitement.  We still feel it but not quite the same as previous unknown.  The 2 and a half hour bus ride delivers us to the Winnebago field.  Our short ride through a corner of Mn. reminds us of why they call it land of a thousand lakes.  This area and our travel through Iowa show thousands of acres of crop farming and channel drainage.  Upon arrival, thankfully it’s sunny but it’s cold with wind.  It’s always amazing what these tour buses can carry in cargo.  Unfortunately there is something wrong with our propane tank and it is our unit that passes us leaving the field. Sun setting, not happy with the unknown and freezing.  They had 8 inches of snow here just a few days ago.  None now.  We wait about 15 minutes and our unit is delivered.  Chuck heads to the small grocery and Pat heads for bed.  It is freezing. The heater, water pump/heater are working.  We are dry camping meaning they want us to check all operations without hook-ups.

        We are in a Class C RV meaning cab overhead.  We opted for the 25 footer again to reduce our fuel consumption and it’s big enough for we two.  These units just rolled out of the factory.  Queen bed, dinette, shower, toilet, sink combination.  Microwave, large refrigerator/freezer, gas cooktop and stove, double stainless sinks, hot/cold running water.  The frig/freezer is amazing.  Very large and operates well.  We have a wall mounted flat screen TV and control panel for radio, DVD’s and TV.  There are ceiling mounted speakers.  There’s an AC unit atop, but it is redundant as far as we’re concerned. Power sources include battery, gas powered generator, and electric hook-up. The cab looks the same as last time but only time will tell once we start driving.  The interior is extremely fancy.  Cherry cabinets, fancy fabric patterns.  The privacy curtains look like satin or silk. The window blinds are good quality with privacy and sun screens.  In a small workhorse unit like this we would prefer function and sturdiness over design.  So far, we do not detect any issues.

Good night!  Brrrrrrrr…… down to 34 degrees

Mileage: 400 miles

Time: 7 hours

No comments:

Post a Comment