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Yesterday we checked in to Blue Heron Campground, near Stearns, KY. We are also very close to Whitley City, which is where Susan lived when she volunteered in Kentucky.
It is a beautiful area, with many great hikes surrounding the Cumberland River gorge. Last night we headed for a short hike at Devil’s Jump Overlook.
The kids were less than thrilled with the quiet, small campground, but I think the great scenery and hikes will make up for it.
It has been a rough week for the beast. We got settled in to our campsite on Monday evening and while we were out running errands it began acting funny. Tuesday was the 4th of July and I spent Wednesday looking for the best option to take it. On Thursday I ordered a part to try to fix it, but no luck. In the evening we had to towed to Jerry’s in Harrison and by this morning they had located the issue and hope to have it fixed by this afternoon.
We are going to spend one more night at Winton Woods, where a couple has graciously agreed to let us have their site, since the campground is full.
Update: Still not fixed. 🙁 They fixed the main issue, but found an oil leak during the test drive that they want to fix. They hope to fix it in the morning, and I hope so, too.
For our second night, are staying at Camp Cayuga (Holly’s house). We are just staying one night here because our campsite at Winton Woods is not available until tomorrow.
Last night we spent the night at Sunset Lake Winery in Carlock, IL. We are part of the Harvest Hosts network and they are one of the hosts. They allow campers to boondock on their land for one night, and we get to enjoy their offerings and have a beautiful place to stay.
Our spot last night was beautiful! We had a nice place to camp and enjoyed a nice walk down to the lake. After sunset we could watch a distant fireworks show (must have been in Bloomington). Then we did some stargazing and saw 3 shooting stars, and a lot more stars in general than we can see in Des Moines.
After conceiving the idea just 4 months ago, today we officially begin our RV adventure! Everything on the to-do list is done and we are ready to see what the next year has in store for us.
We are officially in the final stages of preparation for leaving on our trip. It was sad today to have to say goodbye to our MPV. We bought our minivan in 2006, shortly after we found out Susan was pregnant with Elliot. I think we bought it with around 70,000 miles on it and when we sold it it had over 235,000 miles. It was a very good car and it took us on many adventures.
Today was a long, sad, exciting day. I left early in the morning to pick up our RV at VRV in Indianola. We were hoping to get it earlier in the week, but the Excursion needed a fair amount of help, which it got.
While I was doing that, Susan and the kids were saying goodbye to the Reagens. We thought they would be saying goodbye to us, but it has take us so long to get on the road that they actually left for their vacation in Colorado before we left for our RV trip! I wasn’t there for the goodbye, but I am sure it was tough and I am glad that we will get to see them again in a few weeks on our previously-scheduled vacation.
Around lunch time I had everything we needed for the RV and I headed up I-35 for my first driving test. The plan was to take it to the church near the Reagens’, practice there for a bit, and then move to the Reagens’ driveway. Getting to the church went well, but the driving practice was tough, so we took a break and headed back to the Reagens’, leaving the RV just a few blocks away.
Later in the afternoon we had success backing the RV up in the church lot AND getting it into the Reagens’ driveway. It was a very exciting accomplishment. The neighbors across the street, the Sullivans, were out to help us and make sure we were headed in the right direction and not running anything over. Just a few minutes after we got the RV in, the rains came. It rained off and on, with some strong storms that brought hail and some broken limbs. We just had to sit in the garage and watch the RV, hoping for no damage.
By the end of the night we were enjoying disappearing marshmallow brownies with the Sullivans and we were ready for our first night in the RV!
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This week will mark a month’s time since we moved in with the Reagens. We have all been really enjoying ourselves and the kids have had a blast. Our kids and the Reagen kids are together all the time, and Mari and Hope are even sharing a twin bed. Lucia has been having a blast at the Reagens’ and playing with Clara and Audrey across the street. Our time here will hopefully be coming to an end this week, but it has been fun!
