Valparaiso, IN to Home!

Sunday March 31st

Got the trailer ready to roll; pumped up the leaky tire.  Then headed to Jim and Michelle's house for their annual Easter Feast.  We stayed until about 2:30; when I realized what time it was I hustled Cathey out just as the Easter Egg Hunt was commencing.  We got the truck gassed up, got the trailer hitched and then hit the road. 

Traffic around Chicago was not bad but had a hard time finding trailer parking at the Oasis on the tollway.  Got home about 9pm.  End of this year's trip!!!!

Casey, IL to Valparaiso, IN

Wednesday March 27th

Today was the day to get the trailer re-winterized, since we will be staying in a Motel in Valparaiso for the next several nights.  Winterizing didn't take long but getting everything packed in suitcases for the motel stay seemed to take all morning.  We finally gat on the road about noon and then stopped when we got to Terre Haute for lunch.  

There is a state highway, IN-63, that goes N and eventually joins US-41.  It was 4 lane all the way and turned out to be a pretty good choice.  When we got far enough N, we made the short jaunt over to I-65 and then exited on IN-2, which is the back door into Valparaiso.  Arrived about 6pm.

West Memphis to Casey, IL

Tuesday March 26th

We found out yesterday that Eve has her spring break this week, so now we are in a hurry to get to Chesterton, IN, to spend some time with her while she is not in school.  Got a fairly early start today and made a gas stop just outside the KOA (in Arkansas).  Gas was only $3.29/gal - cheapest since last December.  

The whole trip through AR and MO today was all pretty flat.  A lot of the fields still have cotton stalks with a little fluff still hanging on - the only way that I would know it was cotton.  We only traveled N as far as Sikeston, MO where I-55 junctions with I-57, where we headed E to cross the Mississippi River and then headed NE toward Effingham, IL.  

Cathey is not looking forward to another night in the trailer because we know it will be colder than it was last night and that seemed pretty chilly.  I had to stop in Effingham to get more RV anti-freeze, since tonight will be the last night in the trailer.  We will stay in a motel while we are at Jim and Michelle's.  

I had planned to stay at an RV Park near Effingham and then continue up I-57 but we couldn't get hold of either of the campgrounds near Effingham so Cathey found one E of Effingham on I-70.  It was a KOA and they were open but did not have their water turned on yet.  That's not a problem for us since we travel with our fresh water tank full.  We will have to change our route though.

The KOA was about 20 miles E of Effingham, near Casey, IL.  They still had a lot of snow and ice on the ground there.