On Tuesday, October 1, it was time, once again, to head east. We planned an early departure for a long driving day. My last duties before getting in Big Jake are to check the lights, check the tires, and stow the last chock. As I was walking back to look at the lights, I noticed something odd. Mr. Wonderful (MW) was not too happy when I told him he needed to get out of the truck! The inside edge of the right front trailer tire was bulging badly. It was not that way when I chocked the tires upon arrival, so whatever gave way, did so while we were sitting still. Odd. We were both briefly irritated at the delay, but we were also very grateful that we discovered it at the campground and not after a blowout on the road in a much more precarious situation. Life is full of small blessings. Our tire guy later told MW that a belt was broken inside the tire, probably from hitting a pothole. I’m assuming it was just before arrival at the campground, because nothing happened on the road. Without the belt, rubber is the only thing holding everything in, so it stretches all out of shape.
We finally made it out of the campground just before 8 AM, heading south on US-65 out of Mason City. At IA-175 we turned east, then south again on IA-14 through Marshalltown and Laurel. A little zig-zagging southeast took us through Grinnell and Montezuma, then we made our first stop for the day in Hedrick at Pigtail Charlie’s Diner, where the burger and broccoli salad were really good, but the fried bologna sandwich was a little light on meat. About 20 minutes after getting back on the road, we made our next stop at the American Gothic House State Historic Site. The visitor center was closed, but we checked out the house and grounds. It is the backdrop for the famous “American Gothic” painting by Grant Wood showing an old woman and man with a pitchfork standing in front of a white farmhouse. This house, with its odd gothic window, was actually the inspiration for the painting after Wood sketched it and imagined who would live there. For the painting, Wood modeled the couple after his sister, Nan Wood Graham, and his dentist and friend, Dr. Byron McKeeby, promising them they would not be recognized. The doctor was recognized immediately, which caused a rift in his friendship with the artist for years.
The last leg of our drive was IA-16 to IA-1 through Keosauqua, then IA-2 over to US-218 south, then US-61 south, crossing the Des Moines River into Missouri. Another 30 miles or so brought us to La Grange, Missouri, and Wakonda State Park. It had been a gorgeous day for a drive, and temps were nice and cool for a change.
Wednesday I woke up to blessed cold air…finally!!! I had planned to sit outside in the morning, but it was TOO COLD!!! Gotta LOVE that! After taking my time getting things together, we headed over to Pub 3one4 in Canton, Missouri, for lunch (pretty good Italian paninis and macaroni salad). Then I dropped MW back off at the campground and headed across the river to Quincy, Illinois, and the Culver’s to sit and write. (Seriously, I’m WAY behind. There has been too much playing of late.) While typing away, I glanced across the street and saw two older teenagers who appeared to be in the throes of a brawl. It looked serious, and I was about to call the police when they suddenly broke it up and walked down the street side-by-side chatting. What the heck? I guess they were just playing around, but it sure looked real.
Wakonda Forever…oops Wakonda State Park has over a thousand acres, including six lakes left over from gravel excavation in the mid-1900s. The sand piles left behind have become sand prairies, teeming with sandglass, dropseed, prairie sunflower, and winged pigweed. Amenities include the park office, boat launches on two of the lakes, a swimming beach, pavilions, picnic areas, a playground, a boat dock, observation areas, and miles of hiking, biking, and water trails. Visitors can also enjoy exploring the lakes in rented kayaks and johnboats, bird watching, and fishing. Boulder Lake Campground has 82 sites, most of which are 50-amp electric without water. Wakonda Lake Campground offers 16 full-hookup sites with 50-amp. There are bathhouses and toilets in both campgrounds, and the park is well-maintained and clean. Cell signals for AT&T and Verizon were moderate, but slow, and there was plenty of over-the-air tv. The one real negative to this park was the noise from the four-lane, but there was plenty to do, and the Boulder Lake Campground was very nice. We would definitely stay again. For this visit in October 2024, we paid just over $30 per night for a 50-amp electric only.
Thursday we hit the road early for a long driving day. You know we have to cover a LOT of miles if we stay on the interstates, and that is exactly what we did. We took US-61 south, then hit I-70 east to get through St. Louis. Yes…insane!! On the other side of town, we had to take a little jog up I-55 and back down I-255 for construction. Then after a quick Flying J stop, we continued east on I-64 over to Okawville. There we stopped in for a quick lunch at DQ, followed by more interstate travel, I-64 to I-57 to I-24. We ended the drive for the day in Metropolis, Illinois, at Fort Massac State Park. This is a no reservation park during the off season, and none of us thought there would be an issue for this time, but we almost didn’t get a site. As we pulled in, it looked like everything was filled. The camp host pulled up and said someone on the back row was supposed to leave. Thankfully, they had, so we had a place to park! Turns out that everyone was in town early for an upcoming reenactment. After setting up and getting a little bit of stuff done, we headed over to Lori and Jimmy Grimm’s place. (I KNOW…that’s twice in a little over a MONTH! Yay!!) Supper was going to be at Driftwood Lounge, but we sat at the table for quite a while as the waitress made a point of never even looking in our direction. It turned out fine in the end, though, because we landed at Paducah Beer Werks in the old Greyhound bus station. They do fried BREAD & BUTTER pickles…a game-changer! Everything was great, including the company.
Friday started early with a couple of hours of writing, then the laundry chore. The first place I went to in Metropolis looked fine, but was locked up tighter than a drum. So I had to drive over to Paducah and the Paducah Cleaners Laundromat. (It was spotless and had lots of seating, including picnic tables.) They also had wash and fold service, but I would never take my clothes there. As is often the case, the person working puts the clothes in the dryer, lets them sit FOREVER, then takes the wrinkled mess out to fold. They probably look like they were stuffed in a garbage bag when returned to the owner. Who wants to pay good money for that??!! After getting everything stowed back at Priscilla, MW and I headed over to the Grimm abode, then the four of us went down to Taco John’s for a bite. Next we headed out to take a gander at Kentucky Dam, because, you know, boys and their dams!! It is pretty cool, though. Finished in the early 1940s, this big barrier on the Tennessee River created Kentucky Lake, the largest artificial lake by area in the Eastern United States at 160,000 acres. On the way back, we stopped in at Hughes Market & Meat Processing, because you know boys and their meat!! LOL…it’s a theme!! The weather was hot, but when we returned to their house, the shade and ceiling fans in their new porch were perfect!! MW had been jonesing to see a high school football game, something Lori and I weren’t too interested in, so that evening the boys headed over to Graves County High School. Lori and I opted to have supper at China Max, then check out a couple of stores at the mall and Tractor Supply before parking it back at the house. By 10 PM when the guys returned, I was so ready for bed!!
TALKING ABOUT THE TENNESSEE: With the recent flooding in Eastern Tennessee and Western North Carolina, where do you suppose all that water went? Most think it went south to the gulf or east to the Atlantic, and that is partly right. Some of that area is east of the Eastern Continental Divide, so that worked its way into streams, which flow to rivers, which eventually combine and flow into the Atlantic Ocean. Anything west of that divide, though, works its way into the Watauga, Nolichucky, Clinch, French Broad, Holston and many more rivers and streams. The Watauga flows into the Holston, and the Nolichucky into the French Broad. Where the Holston and French Broad come together east of Knoxville is the beginning of the Tennessee River, and the Clinch dumps in near there, too. It all flows to Chattanooga, then west across northern Alabama. Near the Mississippi line, it turns NORTH, passing all the way back up through Tennessee and into Kentucky!!! So that is how the Tennessee River from Knoxville, gets backed up by the dam we visited and creates Kentucky Lake. At Paducah, all that water flows into the Ohio River, then a little further down the line at Cairo, Illinois, it dumps into the mighty Mississippi. Between the beginning of the Tennessee and Kentucky Dam are eight other dams creating Fort Loudoun, Watts Bar, Chickamauga, Nickajack, Wheeler, Wilson, and Pickwick lakes. To prepare for flood waters, the dams are all controlled from one location to lower the lakes slowly in a synchronized effort to make more room. Were that not the case, flooding anywhere along the river would drastically affect everything down river all the way to the gulf.
Saturday morning we headed out early to meet Jimmy & Lori at the Waffle Hut for breakfast. The boys headed back to the house afterwards to cut some fallen limbs while Lori and I went to Metropolis to pick up the chili at Priscilla and my prescriptions at Walgreens. Then we went to the farmer’s market in downtown Paducah. There were venders with everything from vegetables to jewelry. My favorite was Lori’s friend Dinah Gihring’s Peppermint Pig Pottery, where I picked up a couple of things. Back at the house we supervised the rest of the log cutting…just kidding!! All you guys reading this just CALM DOWN!! *wink* *wink* We visited with Lori’s Mom, Jeannie, for a bit, then made a grocery run. By then the boys had reached their limit, so they got cleaned up and watched the last quarter of Navy kicking some Air Force butt. (Now THAT’s a good day!!). The youngest Grimm, Connor, came over with his family for supper, too.
Sunday morning my first job was baking brownies for dessert. It was very frustrating. This is the recipe I picked up from the luncheon in Huntsville, and is pretty simple. I’ve managed to mess it up twice now, though. So you take any basic brownie mix, prepare per box, put half in an 8 x 8 pan, lay two Hershey’s Symphony bars (or other chocolate bar with crunchy goodness) on top, then cover with other half of batter. Bake at 325 for about 4-5 minutes longer than the box says, and you should have amazing brownies with a strip of gooey, crunchy goodness in the middle. I know it works, because I’ve had them that someone else baked!! So the first time I used a non-stick pan that was black…too dark and hard!! I made another batch then in a foil pan, which turned out okay. This time the problem was materials…I opened the brownie box to find chocolate chips. (I sent MW to the store and said to get either a Pillsbury or Ghirardelli mix, and he did exactly that. I just didn’t realize they had mixes with chips in them.) So, I think that the extra chocolate changed the amount of time it took to get done. The outer edges were bad, but the central parts were fine. So, only use a plain old brownie mix. Oh, and use the candy bars that are about 4″ wide, 8″ long, and less than 1/4″ deep. The larger ones are just too much!! I do really love the little crunchies in this recipe, though. I’ve used both Symphony and Heath bars.
After getting everything cleaned back up, MW and I headed over to nearby Brookport, Illinois, to attend services at Brookport First Baptist Church. The visiting speaker, Brother Kenneth Puckett, gave an interesting sermon entitled “How Will Your Epitaph Read?” This congregation has been around for a while, but in three different locations. They had beautiful paintings of each of the church buildings done by a former congregant. What a nice way to preserve the history. Afterwards we grabbed lunch at Bridges Dining Company at Harrah’s back in Metropolis, where the food was good and the waitress was terrific. (Honestly, she was making me tired just watching her!) After a grocery stop, we headed back to Priscilla where I got a little writing done while MW watched the Nascar race. Lori and Jimmy came over about 4PM, and our evening was spent finishing the race, then hanging out around the campfire visiting. It was a hot day, but the evening was great for our last night together. You know that we will see them again soon, though!
Fort Massac State Park is our go-to when visiting Paducah. Located just over the river in Metropolis, Illinois, the Home of Superman (Who wouldn’t love that??!!), it is just a short drive to everything in the western Kentucky area. Established in 1908 as the first Illinois state park, the 1,500 acres along the Ohio River are filled with lots to do. Activities include fishing, boating, hunting, picnicking, disc golf, hiking, biking, and exploring the replica of the 1802 American fort (closed temporarily for repairs). Camping options include adult and youth group camps, a tent area, and an RV campground. The RV campground has 50 level, graveled sites with 30-amp electric. Water and a dump station are available nearby and there is a nice, new bathhouse, too. Sites are reservable during the warmer months, but first-come-first-served in the off season. That typically isn’t a problem, but check to see if there is any type of festival in the area as they do fill up for those. We enjoy camping here. It’s very treed and beautiful, and if you catch it at a slow time, pretty quiet. As always, when it is full, maneuvering space decreases and noise increases. For this visit in October 2024, we paid just over $21 per night for 30-amp electric only.
Monday we hit the road around 7:30 AM, headed south on I-24. We joined I-69 south of Calvert City, then continued east over to the Powderly exit, where we found the Catfish Dock for lunch (good, but nothing special). We continued east to Leitchfield and exited south on KY-259. Then KY-88 took us to the south side of Nolin River Lake and a right turn on dog Creek Road got us to the Dog Creek Campground.
Tuesday I headed back over to Leitchfield to get some writing done. Couldn’t find someplace to plug in, so I ran out of juice relative quickly and headed back, taking MW a burger from the DQ. That afternoon we both sat outside and enjoyed the gorgeous, cooler weather.
Wednesday I took my sweet time getting dressed, then we headed over to Horse Cave, Kentucky, to check out Farmwalds Dutch Bakery for lunch. I got a pic of my ribeye sandwich, but neglected to show you MW’s Amish Po Boy, which was a huge sausage in a bun with peppers, onions, and cheese sauce. Both were messy, but delicious. We brought home a few things from the bakery side, too. Back at Priscilla we sat outside and enjoyed the weather. MW took a nap, while I did a little writing. A little bird kept hopping around him, really interested, and at one point, I thought he would jump up on MW’s head. It went for the knee instead, and MW jerked awake and said “The birds love me!” LOL
Dog Creek Campground sits along the shores of the 5,795-acre Nolin River Lake in southern Kentucky. We’ve camped on this lake before at Moutardier Campground (related post), and opted for this one to try something different. Amenities here include a swimming beach, boat ramp, fishing pier, pavilions, a playground, and a fire wood/camp store shed. Several marinas around the lake offer boat/kayak rentals, too. The 70 sites are graveled and fairly level, with many in the trees. All have picnic tables and fire rings, most are shaded, and 50ish have 50-amp electricity and water. There are about 15 pull-thru, and the rest are back-in. This is a pretty campground with lots to do. It was fairly quiet, although that might change with a full house, and most of the spots are pretty nice. Their tent camping area is really cool, too, down in a grove right along the water. Cell signals for Verizon were good, with AT&T a little weaker, and over-the-air TV was available. We would definitely try this one again. For this visit in October 2024, we paid $32 per night for 50-amp electric and water..
Thursday morning we left really early for our final long day back to the barn. We were both ready to get home, catch up with our Sneedville peeps, and slow down a bit. We took KY-88 over to Greensburg, then US-61 south. At the Cumberland Parkway, we turned east again, catching KY-80 at Somerset over to London. There we stopped in at Cheddar’s for lunch, where I always enjoy the food. Then a short jog south on I-75, followed by our normal route through the Cumberland Gap, US-25E. That took us to Tazewell, Tennessee, and US-33 took us home from there. Ahhhhhh…our little holler!! By mid-afternoon we were set up and relaxing!
Now that we’ve closed out this epic journey, we’ll start thinking about the things we need to get done around the barn/property and catching up with our friends and church peeps. There are also a few quick trips coming up, but I’ll share all that later. I always look forward to hitting the road, but I also always look forward to getting back, too. Sneedville is a beautiful place nestled in the Appalachian mountains with lots of wonderful people. No matter where we are or how long we are away, we always enjoy coming back.
Next up…Getting Things in Order, CoachNet, and a Quick Trip to Family. See you on the path!!
Talisa
P.S. Thank you so much for reading! Use the buttons at the top right or bottom to be notified of new posts, and please SHARE, SHARE, SHARE on social media!
