Sun, Nov 4:  Fairview-Riverside SP, Madisonville, LA:  An iffy day today weatherwise—but warm.  It’s mostly cloudy with sprinkles off and on.  Supposed to get worse later on.  That’s ok with us since we want to watch the Rams play the Saints here in New Orleans.  It’s an afternoon game.  So, we plan to go into pretty Madisonville and have some lunch and then just relax and watch the game.  Rams are 8-0 and I think the Saints are 7-1, so it should be a good game.  Supposed to hit 82 here today.  We’ll take that!

Sat, Nov 3: Movietown RV Park, Canton, MS, to Fairview-Riverside SP, Madisonville, LA:  Didn’t even get up this morning until 8:30!  Thought we gained an hour today, but no, that’s tonight.  Anyway, we got everything closed up and ready to go and I started the truck to warm it up and clear the windows and noticed the bedroom slide was still out.  So, back in and put the slide in and then we left and stopped just up the road at Love’s and fueled up and had some breakfast.  Then back on I55 at 10:30.  Had to go through Jackson, but it wasn’t too bad, being Saturday and all.  Road was good until we left Jackson and there was a 30 mile or so stretch of old concrete which was really bumpy.  But then we were back on blacktop and it smoothed out.  Mike said there would be a rest area at MM20.  The rest area there had been closed for years it looked like—all overgrown with vegetation.  So I continued driving until we came to the welcome rest area in Louisiana.  Then we pulled in so we could switch.  Right after we pulled in, an 18-wheeler pulled in loaded with chickens all stuffed into these wire cages.  Poor things on the way to a processing facility somewhere.   We pulled into Fairview-Riverside at 1:30 and were all set up by 2:30.  We’re right on the Tchefuncte River with beautiful live oaks and cypress trees covered in Spanish moss.  We love this place.  Thought about going out for dinner, but I’ve been in the same outfit since we left and didn’t feel like showering and changing, so left-over soup tonight.  72 when we got here.  YES!

Approaching the draw bridge over the Tchefuncte River.

Tchefuncte (cha-funk-ta) River

Across from our site.

Live oaks and cypress trees dripping with Spanish moss.

Fri, Nov 2:  KOA, W. Memphis, AR, to Movietown RV Park, Canton, MS:  What a difference a day makes!  Sunny, nice, and dry today.  I thought we were going to be somewhere in TN tonight, but no, we’re in Canton, MS.  This park is called Movietown because they filmed “A Time to Kill” here.  Anyway, Mike started out driving for a change because he kept me up most of the night snoring.  We stopped right away for fuel and breakfast at the Flying J in W. Memphis.  With a big breakfast under our belts, we continued south on I55.  Really good road.  We left this morning at 9:00 and were here and set up by 1:30.  We stopped at a rest area in Mississippi and switched.  I drove the rest of the way.  Left-over soup for dinner.  We leave tomorrow for Fairview-Riverside State Park in Louisiana.  Plan to go into New Orleans and check out the new building and exhibit at the WWII Museum in New Orleans.

Canyon De Chelly (De Shay)
Arizona 2009

Thu, Nov. 1:   St. Louis, MO, to KOA, W. Memphis, AR:  A really crappy day today.   47 degrees with light rain and a brisk wind.  Just miserable!  Left the storage area at 9:30 and drove through rain all day.  We stopped at Sikeston for food and fuel at 12:30.  We were planning on stopping at the Flying J, but it was closed for renovations.  So we went across the street to Love’s which was slammed.  The trucks were lined up to get fuel and there was quite a traffic jam in there.  We finally fueled up and had some lunch and Mike took over driving.  We got here at 3:30 and just hooked up water and electric.  Not unhooking.  Leave tomorrow morning for somewhere in Tennessee.  It was only 51 when we got here.  Not much warmer.  At least it was a pretty drive heading south on I55 with all the trees in full fall foliage.  Very hilly and colorful, until just south of Cape Girardeau where you go down one last big hill and then into a flat, featureless landscape.  The only interesting thing is when the crop dusters are out doing their thing.  We’ll see them on our way home.

Beale Street in Memphis, TN

Wed, Sep 12:  KOA, LaSalle/Peru, IL, to St. Louis, MO:  We’ve had great traveling weather coming back.  Another sunny, warm day.  We left at 10:30 this morning after stopping for fuel and breakfast.  And I39 southbound was not bad at all.  We switched after Bloomington and Mike continued on.  Oddly enough, just before St. Louis we saw a sign for a K9 drug inspection.  So, we got off at the next rest area and got rid of our Metamucil and Geritol. Pulled into our storage facility, unloaded the food, and were home by 3:00.  82 here today.  Home until November 1.

Door County, Wisconsin

Tue, Sep 11:  Breezy Hill Campground, Fond du Lac, WI, to KOA, LaSalle/Peru, IL:  Left this morning at 10:00.  We had to backtrack a little on I41 to get to Rt. 151 south.  Took Rt. 151 for only about 30 or 40 miles and then headed south on Rt. 26.  Rt. 151 was a limited-access, four-lane highway and really good road.  Rt. 26 was iffy at first and only a two lane road for about 50 miles but then opened up to four lanes also.  And really good road.  Switched just before Janesville and Mike drove the rest of the way.  Surprisingly, I39 wasn’t too bad southbound.  Got to LaSalle/Peru and were set up by 2:15.  82 here in LaSalle/Peru.

Former school house on County Road ZZ.
Door County

Barns of Door County

Mon, Sep 10:  Wagon Trail Campground, Rowley’s Bay, WI, to Breezy Hill Campground, Fond du Lac, WI:  Went for one last breakfast at the Viking Grill this morning.  Came back, hooked up the truck, and were on our way by 10:00.  Going back a different way, avoiding the bad highways up here.  County Road ZZ to Old Stage Rd. to Rt. 57 to the circumvential around Green Bay and headed south on Rt. 41 to the campground. Well, that was the plan, but with me navigating we were bound to get off track.  Although, Mike agreed that the map was a little confusing.  We got back on track and arrived here and were set up by 2:00.  Mike said this campground was a former KOA.  Wasn’t sure how great this park would be.  But, what a surprise.  It’s one of the nicest we’ve stayed at—bar none.  There are 55 seasonal sites in here.  Usually these permanent sites tend to get junky.  This place is pristine.  The permanent sites are kept up beautifully with flowers, little storage sheds with nice landscaping and the grass is neatly cut.  These people take pride in their sites and take care of them appropriately.  We will definitely be back here.  I could go on and on about this place—all the little extras they provide.  Anyway, the weather up here is going to be amazing next week—upper 70s and 80s.  Of course!!  But, except for the chilly temps the past few days, we had very little rain—seemingly only at night.  69 here in Fond du Lac today, but really warm in the sun.  And our slide went in just fine and everything traveled well.  We leave tomorrow morning for LaSalle-Peru.  I’ll drive the back roads to Beloit and then Mike will take over on I39 which was really bad (sigh).  Once we get back on I55 we’ll be fine. Poor Mike will have to listen to me bitch about bad I39. 

One of the lake side homes in Sister Bay.

This little log cottage has a sod roof.
Sister Bay, Wisconsin

Another beautiful lake side home in Sister Bay.
Door County, Wisconsin

Look at this huge home!
Sister Bay, Wisconsin