We left the last Blog as we were getting settled in at Milford Lake near Junction City, Kansas. We had heard that a large storm was developing out west so we wanted to hunker down somewhere to ride it out. Milford Lake seemed like a good place – at least we thought so. But as most of you know when you are in the middle of Tornado Alley in the spring good old Mother Nature wants to flex her muscles now and then. And boy did she! The second night we were there we got hit with 70-80 mph straight winds and the next few nights there were tornado and hail warnings all over the place but luckily did not include us. The pic on the right is not a tornado that we saw or a picture we took – it’s only an example of the many that touched down while we were in the area. When the weather gave us a break we headed up to Beatrice, Nebraska to visit Linda’s brother, Keith, and family. A couple of days after we arrived guess what? More tornado watches and warnings (large hail, too). This time they came too close for comfort as the sirens went off a number of times during the night and we went dashing for the park shelter in the middle of torrential wind driven rain – we were soaked! We didn’t have any damage in the immediate area but just a bit south things really got torn up. This is the same storm system that hit Oklahoma so hard. Next, it was up to a lake just north of Des Moines, Iowa and more storms. The tornados didn’t come too close this time but the thunder/lighting/rain/flooding in the area sure had our attention. With the next break in the weather we were off to Dubuque, Iowa for a short stay and then up to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The storms chased us all the way. Such is the life of a full-time RV’er.
It wasn’t all storms everyday as we worked our way through the Midwest, we took advantage of every opportunity during breaks in the weather to see the sights and get some hiking/biking and geocaching in as well as visit the family and friends in the various areas. This handsome guy is an Ornate Box Turtle or Terrapene Ornata. We found this little guy at a state fish hatchery near Milford Lake in Kansas. He had just finished downing a big old night crawler when I took this picture and seemed a bit surprised that he had been able to eat something that big.
While we were at the Milford Lake fish hatchery we toured all the displays and exhibits there (which were quite extensive). In one area they had interactive displays for kids and school groups where Linda had a severe case of nesting urge and had to check out the local accommodations – she decided our 5th wheel was much more comfortable!
The main reason we stopped in the Junction City area was to visit with our niece and husband, Toni and Bob, and their wonderful kids. They have been in the Army for about
16 years with multiple tours overseas and a couple in the war zones. Bob is a tank mechanic, and in his spare time works on restoring a classic Mustang, is fascinated with RVing, and likes the dark beers – we had a lot in common so I think we hit it off pretty well. Toni took to Aunt Linda’s interest in genealogy with a passion and is currently helping with compiling additional information and pictures of the their family history. These two are a formidable pair so the brothers better be ready to be prodded for information and pictures. 
We headed up to Beatrice, Nebraska after that to visit with Keith and Barb (Linda’s brother and sister- in-law) and get some relief from the storms (didn’t happen!!!!). We had a good visit, a couple of dinners, and took advantage of the nice days when we had them with a bit of visiting and fishing as well as exposing grand-nephew, Dakota, to geocaching.
While we we there we had to take to the trails and get a bit of bike riding/geocaching in on the excellent trails in the Beatrice area. We took one day to just ride and wander the trails as we picked up geocaches that were just a little way off the the trail. It turned out that we got much more than we bargained for!
As we were looking for one cache among some old trees Linda let out a little exclamation and said she had put her hand on a small snake and it had crawled into a hole in the tree, of course I had to run over and see and take a picture if I could. This little guy turned out to be a Prairie Rattlesnake and is venomous. Luckily it was a cool day and he was pretty sluggish. We continued on wandering into the wooded and grassy areas finding the caches as we went and unknown to us at the time we were collecting hitch hikers. We had not taken the usual precaution of dipping ourselves in vats of Deet prior to our excursion, so the Wood Ticks saw us as walking smorgasbords and attached themselves at every opportunity. We had quite the time checking and removing all the ticks from each other once we got home and have turned that into a regular occasion (it is rather fun and exhilarating!). One last trail ride resulted in the latest gift of the Midwest - Poison Ivy! As we were riding, I saw a small hill and being on my mountain bike and the fact that it was really a hill - I just had to climb it and naturally it turned out steeper than I anticipated with some loose dirt on it. I lost traction and took a tumble into a briar patch and got some rather deep and long scratches on my legs. I got up and took out my little people patch-up kit and put anti biotic cream on the wounds – not realizing that the briars were also laced with poison ivy plants and I was smearing the oil from the plants all over my hands and legs. Well by the time we got home, got cleaned up, (and checked each other for ticks again!) I had effectively spread the poison ivy oil to many more parts of my body – luckily I did not spread it to Linda. After a few days of happy ignorance of what I had done, the rashes and blisters started, and got worse. I learned a lot about poison ivy over the next couple of weeks – not too much of it is pleasant! I had spread it over both legs, both arms and a few other interesting places before I was able to stop its advance. Wow!!!
Anyway as I was recovering and healing (very slowly!) when we moved on up to Fond du Lac, Wisconsin to visit with my side of the family. We had visits with brother Bruce (the one to the left with the handsomely carved walking stick) his better half Lisa, and son Matt. Visited with sister, Beth and did a bit of fishing with Guy on Lake Winnebago. Guy and I even caught a few edible fish which were very tasty! Linda did make a side trip down to Rockford, IL to have dinner with friends-lots of catching up. We had intended to go up to the Northwest section of the state to visit cousins and such but the healing process from the poison ivy took away any urge to travel any more than necessary at the time. Maybe next round through.
One thing that we noticed while we were traveling through the Midwest and coming east was the number of “villes” that started popping up. Starting in Kansas, though Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin there were “villes” at what seemed like every turn. There is Leonardville, Baileyville, Marysville, Eddyville, Millville, Richardville, Platteville, and Janesville. I’m not sure but I think I even saw one called Iusedtobehereville. Even though we had lived in the Midwest for many years I never really thought any thing of it. If nothing else, even with the lack of originality I guess its entertaining.
One of our goals this year is to visit a few of the States that we have not been through since we started full timing so from Fond du Lac it was up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan affectionately called the UP. Our first stop was just outside of the small town of Escanaba - what a pleasant surprise! The RV park we chose is right near the Lake Michigan shoreline and with parks and hiking/biking trails near. The owners and their current residents took us under their wings immediately and included us in their evening fire pit gatherings and discussions of world events as well as a steak barbeque pot luck, and an evening at the local eatery for $1 burger night (which were surprisingly fair sized and good)! It’s the type of place most RVer’s hope to run into and really appreciate it when we do. From the park and harbor in town you are able to watch the ships and pleasure boats come and go and see the hardy “Yoopers” (people of the UP) swim and frolic on the sandy beaches of northern Lake Michigan. During our short stay we were very impressed with this little town up in the north woods and will look forward to coming back.
Oreo - our 17 pound Tom Cat, who has lived and traveled with us for quite a few years, decided he likes being part of the Blog and will continue to provide a few purr-fect bits of wisdom and observations for all the blog readers out there as well as a few comments about the antics of his pride members and life on the road.
Like Wow! ….. Dude! Nothing like a little happy grass in the morning! It gives me the munchies. I heard it’s legal now in Washington, Oregon and Colorado (for medicinal purposes only you know) so I had to give it a try. Unfortunately, I was in Kansas at the time and got busted by a police dog. Guess I’ll have to stick to cat nip from now on – the grass only makes me puke anyway!
Oreo
I hope you enjoyed the blog and all the experiences included. Our latest bit of traveling through the Midwest and stay at Escanaba, Michigan provided us with additional memories and experiences that cannot be replaced.
“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experiences.”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
That’s the good stuff of our lifestyle! (and the memories are lightweight and easy to bring with you) I will leave you with that and hope to hear from you.
Home is where we park it!
Lee & Linda
