We left the RV Express RV Park at about 7:30 A.M., mainly due to their entrance/exit location. It is about 20 feet from the main road that we need to turn on to get to highway 44. I was really concerned that if we didn’t leave early, we might get stuck trying to get out of the campground for a long time—or end up blocking traffic.

Since we left early, getting out of the campground onto the main drag was easy. What wasn’t easy was the horrible condition of the highway from Marshfield to Rolla. Long rough patches of previously patched highway in the right lane made for a horrible ride. This went on for about 40 miles. When the left lane was clear, I would use it just to escape from the crappy right lane.

After that fiasco, we fueled up and headed further up the road to my least favorite part of the trip – St Louis. The highways in St Louis, and the bypass around St Louis, is a mess. There is construction that is going on that prevented me from using the bypass. They’ve also shut down part of Highway 55 in the opposite direction. In short, I would almost rather drive anywhere else than St Lous. It has always been bad but the last two years has been horrible.

I am always happy when I am past St Louis. Then the ride becomes much less stressful and the road conditions improve. Eva and I made such good time that we actually spent time at a wayside having some lunch and relaxing prior to reaching the Double J Campground.

The Double J has been a frequent stop for us and has been on the second owner for probably three or four years. We have seen it go from a medium campground to a large campground. It is not an inexpensive campground. The staff is very nice, but there are some draw backs now. The campground roads and sites use small, round gravel, which makes walking difficult wherever it isn’t compacted. I don’t understand why they didn’t just pave the roads and sites. On top of that, for what you pay to stay there, it was disappointing to find that using the pool costs extra. Not that I would use it, but I think that is a real disadvantage for families camping there. Frankly, I have never found a campground that charges their guests to use the pool.

In addition, they have started putting some cement pads in, but they want to charge an extra $10.00 per night for that. Seems like it’s becoming an à la carte campground. They are already charging $63.00 per day so are you going to pay $73.00? Seems like it’s getting too pricey when you figure you’re going to pay to use the pool, min golf etc.

It is very clean and is a very secure campground with security gates that can only be opened with a pass that they give you at check in. If you are looking for an enormous dog park – this is the place. As I mentioned, the staff has always been great.

We arrived a bit early despite taking some time at the wayside. Arriving at the campground at 1:30 P.M. We set up and fired up both AC units because once again it was a very hot day.

The next morning, we dumped our tanks (full hook up). That is when the first problem reared its ugly head. Their sewer connection was threaded, however that part was freewheeling on the PVC pipe. It should have been glued to the pipe. This cause some back flow issue around the pipe. It wasn’t horrible, but nasty anyway. Nasty enough that I threw an old pair of shoes away. I cleaned what little mess was by the pipe and Eva and I continued on our trip.

Since trouble comes in threes, it probably shouldn’t have been a surprise when i couldn’t find my wallet when trying to fuel at Loves in Normal Illinois. There was no semi behind me, so I jumped in the travel trailer and began looking frantically for my wallet. I came up empty.

So, then I started doing some worst-case scenario planning. I knew I could make it to Elkorn Wisconsin on the fuel I had left. That would mean that Tammy would need to drive an hour to meet me and fill up the truck. I decided to pull out of the fuel lane and back into a truck spot, open the trailer and continue my search. After going through all of that, I found my wallet under the bed. I went back to the fuel lane, got my diesel and headed onto Wisconsin.

Click here to continue on our solo journey to Wisconsin.

The post Solo Trip with Eva Part 4 appeared first on .

We actually left with three days left in September, but by the time we got to Missouri the weather had changed.

The first day of travel was pretty uneventful until we about thirty miles south of Big Cabin, Oklahoma. At this point we came upon a bunch of red lights about two miles up the road. Everyone merged into the left lane as the right lane was closed. As we got closer, I could see that a travel trailer was laying on its side in the right lane. It was a fairly long trailer, and it was a bit of a mystery as to why it flipped. It appeared that everyone was fine and that’s the most important thing.

As a side note Eva was wonderful on the trip. We took one potty break at our fill-up at the Lake Eufaula Loves. Tammy was having a conversation with a truck driver next to our truck and Eva was fine with that.

We spent the first night at the Joplin KOA. On a scale of 1-10, I would probably give it a 7. The sites are level but everything in this KOA journey is gravel and the sites are very, very close together. To their credit, our site was so level that I didn’t need to unhook the trailer. So, I hooked up the power and water, extended the slides, and we were set for the night. That night it got down to 56 degrees. When we lived in Wisconsin, 56 degrees was fine. After living in Texas for 11 years, 56 seems very cold. Needless to say, the furnace did run that night.

The next morning Eva and I had a brisk walk at 4:00 AM around the campground and out to the main road. It was cold but Eva enjoyed it.

You can tell that the majority of the folks coming here are enroute to another destination. Everyone was packing up very early in the morning to leave. We were out of the campground by 9:00 and on our way to the Double J campground.

It was an unremarkable drive to the Double J Campground located in Chatham, Illinois. It was about a 6.5-hour drive which in my estimation is long enough. I have to say that Eva has been terrific to travel with. The only time she complains is if Tammy happens to be eating pretzels. In addition, when we stop for fuel she gets her potty break, and has been a happy to get back to the truck afterwards.

The Double J has been under new ownership for the last three years. The new owners have made some major improvements to the park. However, even if they had left it the way it was, it would still be a great campground. The owners are really great, and the staff is too. The grounds are really well maintained and the full-time folks that are staying there keep their sites very clean and picked up. You can read more about the Double J by searching our blog. The only downside to the Double J is the sites are on small stone (not gravel) but that is a minor thing.

It would be hard to find a cleaner campground than the Double J. They have also winterized 20 sites for folks that want to stay during the winter months.

We only had a 4-hour drive to Pilgrims Campground in Fort Atkinson Wisconsin, so we left the Double J at 10:30 AM and arrived at 3:30 PM. I know that’s five hours, but we filled up twice and stopped at a wayside for Eva, because the last Loves didn’t have a nice spot to take her for a potty break. Adding to the time is that I am not flying down the highway at the posted speed of 70 mph or greater; 65 is just fine.

If you happen to use the EFS (open roads) fuel cards you will not get a very good discount in Illinois. So don’t be surprised when you fill up and get about 3 dollars off an entire tank of diesel. That was my experience anyway.

We got a full hook up site at Pilgrims, and we set up with a temperature of 85 degrees. However, things would take a drastic change at 3:30 in the morning as a cold front moved in and 35 MPH gusts began hitting the trailer. It was one of those days that you were happy to be sitting somewhere. There was no way I would have towed in that wind. Even though it was still 65 degrees outside at in the early morning, the temperature continued to drop to 55 degrees by 10:00 AM.

We were able to see Tammy’s mom, brother, and his wife, for the two days we were there. Then it was on to Cliffside Park in Racine.

We’ve gone over 1000 miles so far and our fuel costs have been 316 dollars. I expected it would be around 600 dollars for the whole trip, but my guess is that it will probably end up being more than that. However, keep in mind, if we were to drive up, stay at motels, eat out each day, it would be much more expensive.

Stay tuned for more updates!

The post October in Wisconsin appeared first on .

We started the day as we usually do. Eva and I go outside, she does her morning routine. We then go back inside and she lays down while I have coffee. A little later we all have breakfast.

Due to the storm yesterday, I packed most everything away before it hit. What I had left was to clean and store the small grill, disconnect and store the satelite and cables, disconnect and store power cord, surge protector, water hose, filter, and pressure regulator. Then raise the leveling jacks, hookup the truck, store the wheel chocks plus general pick up and vacuum inside. Then it was off to the dump station. There were three people ahead of us so it took some time to get on our way.

I tried a new Thetford Tank Chemical in the black tank this week. So far not really impressed with odor control but I will give it a fair shake and do a review when we get home.

We left Cliffside at 11:00 AM and rolled into the Double J at 4:30 PM. If you want to read our review of the double J click here. I really don’t have anything to add to that review, this is a great place.

We sat outside and had a drink and enjoyed the nice weather. There is always a strong breeze here. Somehow we need to find a way to stay here longer at some point in the future.

Todays plan is to get back on the road by 9AM so we can roll into the Lebanon Missouri KOA by 2PM. We have never stayed at this one, so we will let you know how that goes!

The post Wisconsin Trip Day 30 – Double J Campground appeared first on .

Eva did her business and I had some coffee while Eva got some cuddle time with Tammy. Then we debated about which of two different routes to take to our next campground. One route would be to go well north and west of St. Louis, which was good; the other would have us going the way we usually do, which is towards St. Louis and then take a bypass around the city. While it would be great to totally stay away from the St. Louis area, we opted for our usual route which would give us more fuel and rest stop options.

We packed up and left the KOA behind us and headed for Illinois and the Double J campground. Today’s trip would only be a four hour drive plus gas and potty breaks for Eva.

The drive was uneventful and I was averaging almost ten miles per gallon, which is great mileage towing the 2950RL

The first word that comes to mind when you enter the Double J campground is “Nice”! It would be hard if not impossible to find something negative about this campground. The owners maintain the sites and overall property in great condition. Actually, well maintained is an understatement, it’s a beautiful place.

Due to Covid concerns, they have set up their registration so it takes place at a sliding window. Registration was incredibly fast and they guided us to our site. It was coincidentally the exact same space we had the first time we visited. Our camper is directly across from the dog park which is huge. It also has a great southern exposure for satellite TV at the very front of our campsite.

Eva loved the dog park immediately and we got a nice walk in. Another thing you will never see in this campground are junk trailers. I’m not a camper snob by any means, if you have a travel trailer that is older just keep it nice. I’m sure you have all seen travel trailers that looked like they might have been towed into camp. In addition I believe there are some seasonal sites here; but you’d never know it because they are completely picked up and have the appearance of folks that are only staying for a day.

Tammy and I once stayed in a KOA in Northern Missouri. The minute we pulled in we knew it was going to be a bad night. Clothesline’s strung up next to broken down campers, a lazy boy recliner next to a fire pit with a dog barking, weird comings and goings all night, it was a nightmare. We left about 3:00 AM the next morning. These are places you stay once not because you choose to but because you made a mistake and just need to suck it up for one night. I left feedback for the owner, and she wanted to get in an email war with me. I told her I was sorry she didn’t like KOAs feedback process and I copied that response to their Corporate Headquarters. That stopped further responses.

I tell that story because it illustrates how bad a campground can be. The great news is that you won’t have to worry about any of that with the Double J. It’s the best of the best.

I want to stay longer at this campground but it won’t be this trip. This time is for kicking back with a beer under the awning with Eva.

Tomorrow it’s on to our destination; Cliffside Park in Wisconsin.

The post Trip to Wisconsin Part 3 appeared first on .

We made the reservation the day before our arrival; while 1st Choice RV was still working on our travel trailer.  Tammy had found this campground on-line and had researched it  before I called.  The Double J  had great reviews and was priced at $45.00 dollars per night which included a $5.00 dollar discount for Good Sam members.  At first it sounded like there might be no available sites for a one night stay but then they actually found a site for us.  This was great news because the alternative was a KOA nearby that we were not completely thrilled about.

Site 103 at the Double J campground

It was 301 miles or close to five hours from 1st Choice to the Double J Campground.  The good news is we would be gaining an hour as we left Indiana, so it probably would take us 5 clock hours (6 driving hours) with stops for the girls at waysides and gas.  As it turned out we rolled into the campground at 11:50 so amazingly we actually made the trip in 5 hours of driving.

Tammy found the perfect campground!  We rolled into site 103 which was right across from their enormous dog walk area.  This place is not only immaculate but the spacing of the trailers is nice, they have a pool, mini golf, huge playground, basketball, croquet, horse shoes, showers, and laundry.  Our site had a nice southern exposure so once again we could use our satellite TV.

This is the largest dog walk we have seen at a campground.

Trust me, if you have kids there is probably no better campground around.  This is absolutely more than you are going to get at even the top end of the KOA line;  and at a price point that KOA will not hit. We were very lucky to get a spot as a motorcycle rally was going on nearby.  There were a lot of toy hauler trailers with motorcycles; and many folks that knew each other were congregating.  Even with all this activity the campground was very quiet.

The Playground Area at the Double J Campground

It’s unfortunate that the Double J Campground isn’t closer to Texas;  if it were I could see us making many return trips.  If you are looking for a campground near Springfield Illinois, don’t go anywhere else but the Double J.

Click here if you want to visit the double J website.

To continue this trip click here

If you want to follow this trip from the beginning click here

The post Stop Ten – The Double J Campground in Chatham Illinois appeared first on .