Optimist Park

We drove from the Cracker Barrel outside of Des Moines, Iowa to the Cracker Barrel in Hammond, Indiana. (I think they call RVers like us "cracker-dockers", as opposed to boondockers or Wallydockers.) They are a pretty nice alternative to truck stops, definitely smaller, and (in our experience) just a few RVs and a relatively flat parking lot. We use our slides and generator if we need power for AC or coffee!
Again spent the day driving across Iowa, thru the northern part of Illinois and into Indiana. Hammond is one of the many suburbs or cities that are part of the larger metropolitan Chicago area. So traffic was thick and the road surfaces awful. Most of Illinois was the same. Just patched up roads with endless bumps and potholes. I hate to think what it has been doing to the RV.
Even if their roads are a mess, their reststops are quite nice. Some actually provide dump stations and wi-fi. You can overnight at the reststops as well, but we chose to get a little farther off the interstate with the truck stops! Way less noise? I must say this trip has helped me to become less demanding with my "sleep conditions"! Noisy, lit up, sleeping on a slope, no power, and no dog parks. It is tough to walk the pup without her finding some "choice" bit of trash to eat!

There are lots of sight seeing stops, but for some reason we just want to keep moving. Entrance fees, access and parking concerns (RV towing a jeep) and the time it takes to visit a museum/art gallery knowing we want to get to Michigan just colors our decision-making. Gas is less than California but seems to hover around $4.50
For us, we always enjoy the window scenery. Even on the interstate we see a lot of farming, grass plains and wooded forests, sometimes flat landscape and other times rolling hills that make us go off of cruise control. Today we think (?) we experienced our first toll experience. We never saw a booth, but we did go through this area with several cameras, and I think I saw signs that said something about paying online. We have no way of knowing at this point, and I can only hope that we will get something in the mail. Our forwarded mail? Fingers crossed....
So we have crossed the Mississippi, and are about 300 miles from Traverse. We have decided to just head on to the RV park. We are "early" in terms of our work start date, but that will give us a nice time to settle in and establish a new lifestyle schedule for Charlie and Frank.Read more