2022 Fall Trip: New York to Illinois.

 

Thursday, 9/8: 309 miles and at the Westfield KOA, Westfield, NY

Westfield KOA, Site 15

US 11 to I-81 to I-90

This KOA is an easy off and on stop along Interstate 90 in western NY.  We have stayed here many times.  It is located in one of the major grape growing regions of NY.  In fact, a vineyard is located right next door to the campground and a huge Welch Grape Juice factory is located in Westfield.  And on top of that, Lake Erie is right across the street.  By the way, the Welch Juice Factory in Westfield was built by Charles Welch in 1897.  And, Chautauqua County, where Westfield is located, is the largest grape growing county outside of California!  Also close by is the Barcelona Lighthouse, built in 1829 and was the very first natural gas lighthouse in the country.

For dinner, one of the items from the onsite food truck was breaded Lake Erie smelt.  I have never had smelt before, so that's what I got.  It was good.  Judy turned up her nose and had yogurt.  Smelt is a small fish that is dip netted.  The Great Lake smelt population has been decreasing, not due to over fishing, but to other human factors.  The accidental introduction of zebra mussels from the ballast water of ocean going ships has changed the ecosystem of the lakes.  The mussels feed on zooplankton, which is also the major food supply of smelt.  Smelt is also a food supply for walleye, lake trout and salmon.  So, as I used to tell my students, "everything is connected to something else."  Change one thing in the environment, and it affects something else.

Friday, 9/9: 227 miles and at the Butler/Mohican KOA, Butler, Ohio

Butler/Mohican KOA: Site 100

I-90 to I-271 to I-71 to Ohio 97

The weather was warm and sunny. A four hour drive is right in the middle of our comfort zone, and today was a perfect example.  From Westfield, we took I-90 to I-271, which avoids Cleveland.  I-271 merges on to I-71.  Exit 165 to Ohio 97 thru Belleville and Butler.  Just off 97 is the Butler KOA.  This KOA is very rural, but very nice.  Ohio 97 was hilly and had many curves, but very scenic.  There are many seasonal sites, but they're well maintained.  The campground was FULL!!  It's a big football weekend here as nearby Ohio State plays.

Saturday 9/10: 205 miles and at Camp Timber Lake, Huntington, Indiana

Camp Timber Lake: Site 32

Another beautiful day and lovely 4 hour drive.  Traffic was generally light as we traveled Ohio 97 to I-71. We connected to US 30 at Mansfield.  After spending most of the time on 30, we took I-469 to bypass Fort Wayne and connected with US 24 for a short time until reaching the campground.  Unlike the rolling wooded hills of eastern Ohio yesterday,  today we transitioned to the flat farmland of western Ohio and eastern Indiana.  It was corn fields and soybean fields everywhere, and lots of wind turbines also.  Back home, solar farms are the up and coming thing.  Out here, it seems wind farms are the choice, maybe because the farm land is too valuable to give up, and there is lots of wind.

On the way to Timber Lake, we passed by the HUGE Fort Wayne GM Assembly Plant where GM trucks are assembled.  And I mean huge!!  I wondered if ours was born there, but alas, no.  Our 2500 Silverado was assembled in Flint, Michigan.

We have stayed at Camp Timber Lake once before.  It is mostly seasonal campers, with a few easy pull thru sites for the transients like us.  It's a very pleasant campground for a stop.  I struck up a conversation with a couple parked near us in a Reflection camper.  He had a Perdue T-shirt on, so I asked.  He is a Perdue graduate and works for Farm Credit.  I mentioned my Cornell background and so we talked agriculture and how it has changed.  I commented how I once had a 4-H counselor who became a professor at Perdue.  Low and behold, my fellow camper remembered him.  Another "small world" moment.  

Timber Lake at Camp Timber Lake.

Sunday, 9/10: 283 miles and parked Nature's Way RV Park, Utica, Illinois.

Natures Way:  Site 1

US 24 to I-39

Our spell of nice weather ended this morning.  We had to pack up in the rain, and that is not a fun way to start the day.  I think that was an omen.  We were "fighting" with Apple's Siri and the GPS.  She keep wanting us to take the shortest route, which was I-80 via Chicago.  We didn't want the thrill of 4 to 6 lanes of traffic going 70 miles per hour. We just wanted to take a longer, but more leisurely route on a 2 lane road.  So in frustration, I turned Siri off.  In the course of my fighting with "her," I missed a turn!!!  Damn.  Not to worry, we still made it.  Because of the diversion, we just added 30 scenic miles of viewing corn and soybeans to our trip.  And of course, we had rain almost all the way today.  On the plus side, we gained an hour on the clock because we are now in the Central Time Zone.  So the 6 hour trip only took 5 on the clock.

Corn and soybeans galore.

We have stayed at this campground before, but it was a KOA then.  It is now called Nature's Way RV Park.  It's small, rural and just a short distance off the Interstate.  Very convenient and we like it.  And besides, we get to fall asleep with the sound of more rain drops on the camper.  :-)

Tomorrow we begin our Wisconsin adventure with a one night stop in Madison to visit family and then 3 nights in Amherst to visit old friends.  So stay tuned.