Day: 10

Date: 14 May 2001 (Monday)

Start: Rantoul IL

End: outside Bloomfield IA (303 miles)

We got up still on EDT so we had breakfast (watching a big reddish squirrel at work) and hit the road. We did US-136 west to Keokuk IA (except for a diversion to get fuel – US136 doesn’t have many stations). Much of the drive was done in light rain showers.

The bird sighting of the day was a male ring-neck pheasant.

In Keokuk, we headed down the hill to Victory Park & Hubinger Landing Campground, but found a city policeman and sawhorses barring our way. Just past the sawhorses was the Mississippi River, swirling through the campground.

The officer & I chatted for a while. He said the campground’s a very nice place, cool, scenic, only a couple of blocks from the downtown area. I believe it. The downtown area looked nicer than most we’ve seen this trip. We’ll have to come back here someday when the water’s lower.

In trying to continue on US136, we found our way blocked by high water and we were detoured north. We took this as an omen and abandoned our jog into Missouri. Instead, we got up to Iowa 2 and headed west.

Just before we reached Iowa 2, I noticed the truck’s battery voltage meter at the low end of the acceptable range. I stopped, found the alternator turning and no belt slippage. I disconnected the trailer with no effect, but when I plugged the trailer back in, it came up to almost where I’m used to seeing it. I’ll watch this closely and probably take action on it before we get into the boondocks.

We ran across IA 2 to Bloomfield, then north on US63 to a campground Dolores found in Woodall’s called Lakeview Village. It looked very nice, with a small lake (hence, the name). The operator said they’d had a lot of rain the day before, so please pull in at a site way down the row of full-service, beyond another 5er. The sites (all grass) looked really wet, so I circled around and found one that looked ok a few sites before the 5er. I started into it and immediately lost traction. I stopped trying to proceed because I’d only make it worse. In retrospect, I should have gone around to the front of the site and then backed the trailer in.

I told the operator about it and was told the owner would pull us out with his tractor as soon as he got there. While waiting, the owner of the other 5er stopped to chat. He’s a retired railroader who had done some army time at Ft Eustis VA. He was a railroader instructor at the railroad school there. It turned out the deep ruts in the site next to ours were made by him yesterday, and the owner had to tow him out also.

The owner came up with a John Deere tractor with chains on the tires, and a tow chain. I hooked up the chain and he pulled us until I waved to stop. The nose of the truck is at the very edge of the gravel road, so I may be able to pull out by myself in the morning. The trailer was very close to level as it was, so we didn’t unhook (second night in a row).

The owner stated they had received six inches of rain last night and four inches three nights ago, which certainly accounts for the very high water in the "lake" and the super-soggy sites.

Once we hooked up, Dolores made up dinner and we ate. We took a hike around the park and then settled in for the night.

Tomorrow ought to be interesting. Weather forecast is for 90f+.