September 8, 2004

September 8, 2004

DAY 83

 

 

Happy Anniversary, Dee-Dee. We bought Dee-Dee the one ton diesel dually truck one year ago today, in Perth, Ontario.

Well ... gee ... uhhhh ... how can I best describe Illinois ? If the United States was a chandelier, Illinois wouldn't be the brightest bulb ?

We left Illini State Park this morning continuing east on I-80. We exited I-80 at Joliet, a southern suburb of Chicago, and where < snicker > Jake and Elwood Blues did their prison "hard time". We stopped for groceries and then continued east on State Hwy. 30, which we had planned to take all the way to Goshen / Elkhart, to avoid the Interstate maze on the south side of Chicago, and around the bottom of Lake Michigan. On the map, State Hwy. 30 looked like a secondary highway, but in reality it was an urban arterial road through the southern suburbs of Chicago. Stop and go, traffic lights, urban traffic ... not the peaceful, scenic "back roads" highway we thought we were getting onto. After about an hour of Hwy.30, right through Chicago's suburbs of Park Forest, Chicago Heights, and the rest of the areas where the wealthy build their homes, me drenched in sweat from the stress of driving the rig through outer suburbia, we got onto I-394 northbound for a few miles, then eastbound onto I-294 / 80. As we passed from Illinois into Indiana, I-294 / 80 became I-80 / 94 passing through the southern suburbs of Gary, Indiana. Just east of Gary, I-90 joined up, and I-94 split off, so now we were heading east on I-80 / 90.

HUH ? Exactly !

Finally ! Elkhart, Indiana ! RV centre of the universe, along with its neighbouring city, Goshen, where the Escapees Rally is going to be. In this month's Escapees magazine there was an ad for Total Value RV in Elkhart advertising free pre-rally camping for Escapees all this week on their property. That's where we headed, and that's where we are now. Total Value is a large RV dealer, with 6 concrete RV parking pads serviced with water and electricity, in the front yard area of their large property. I guess these 6 RV sites are usually used by their service department customers, or purchasers of new rigs, to try out their new units before hitting the road, but tonight, we're the only rig in their little 6 site RV park. Joanne is unhappy about being the only rig here, and she wants to move, maybe to the 400 site campground next door. She says she feels "conspicuous" and uncomfortable being the only rig here.

DSK