McClosky Farm to Blackhawk Corps of Engineers Park in Wisconsin

Sunday, June 27. It was time to kick back and relax after a busy and exciting 10 days on McClosky’s Farm. I had motorhome chores to tend to. Stormy weather was threatening as I drove west on Hwy 224, heading through Ohio.

The weather was stormy so I decided on Timberwoods Camping Resort near Van Wert, Ohio. Shortly after parking and hooking up electricity, thunder and rain started. By the time it let up, Jeremiah was in the midst of a shallow ‘lake.’

The park was nice, but not peaceful. So after one night, I headed west again – through Indiana and into Illinois to Hickory Hill Campground near El Paso, Illinois. It was a nice campground; a good place to relax for a couple of days.

Then it dawned on me that the coming weekend was the July 4 holiday and RV parks often fill up. Hmmm! It was June 28; time to figure out my next few days. With camping directories and maps out, I calculated mileages. I decided to check out one of two Corps of Engineer parks along the Mississippi River in Wisconsin.

My original thoughts were to find a park along the way for Tuesday and perhaps Wednesday nights, then be at a Corps park for Thursday through Sunday nights. I started making calls and found out that all the reserved campsites were full at both Grants River and Blackhawk COE parks; I’d have to take a chance on getting a first-come-first-served site. The ranger at Blackhawk said my best chance for a site was to arrive early on Tuesday; by Wednesday they would probably be full.

Tuesday! That’s tomorrow. I got Jeremiah ready for an early a.m. departure (fresh water tank full and waste tanks empty). By 4 a.m. I was on the road. About seven hours later I pulled into Blackhawk Park after just one stop for gas. And I got a super site with a view of the Mississippi River! Good job, Carol!

View from Jeremiah at Blackhawk

The next posting will be about my six days at Blackhawk. I leave you with this great poem about old age:

My Mother’s Philosophy

“Age is a quality of mind.

If you have left your dreams behind,

If hope is cold;

If you no longer look ahead,

If your ambitions’ fires are dead,

Then you are old.

But if from life you take the best,

And if in life you keep the jest,

If love you hold;

No matter how the years go by,

No matter how the birthdays fly,

You are not old.”

(From a June 2010 entry in The Writer’s Almanac, Garrison Keillor)