August 7 Rockford Illinois to Hudson Wisconsin

I traveled across one more state and camped very close to the Minnesota border.  I found this lovely park called Willow River State Park .  I arrived early enough to hike to their water falls. Like many trails the mileage reported on the sign posts were wrong by much so the 2.5 miles was more like 4 and the locals agreed with me. So I’m hiking along thinking I should be seeing water soon and I came along a group of people standing by a fairly swiftly flowing stream but it was very level. I stood there a few with them and they seemed to be in such awe that I tentatively asked if this was the falls.  I gave them their laugh for the day I’m sure.  I explained I was from another state, I didn’t want to embarrassed Tennessee, and thought we might have different ideas about the meaning of falls.  Anyway they told me to keep walking and to ignore the mileage posts since they were all wrong
It turned out to be a beautiful falls with many teens swimming and climbing. I’m fairly sure there was another way to get there but the hike was what I needed after a long couple of days in the van.  The steps took you to the top of the falls.

August 6 Indiana to Rockford, Illinois

I was able to cover Indiana and get north of Chicago without any traffic issues and camped in Athens Winnebago Forest Preserve at Sugar River.  Again a lovely campground with only a few people but it was only $14 and had some hiking trails so that was nice after driving all day. The following day as I left I went on some back roads and discovered I was only four miles out of Wisconsin. So far Wisconsin backroads have been the most entertaining. My favorite sign went by too quickly to realize and get a good photo but it was a sign for E’ville Spirits and Liquors. And you can see in the photos below the elevated tractors on display. Who spends their time doing this kind of thing?

Knoxville to Indiana August 5, 2019

I’m planning to blog this trip primarily for my own memories and if someone else finds it fun or useful I’ll be so glad.  I had some trouble getting out of Knoxville because of  several inconveniences along the way.  I missed my Sunday scheduled departure because my electrify, primarily my refrigerator wasn’t working. When I consulted with the repair guy on Monday morning it turned out that two plugs were not connected to the battery. I guess now I’ll know.  I had a supervisor at child and family services who frequently would preface new cases with, “this will be such a great learning experience “ meaning watch out and none of the senior clinicians want this case.
I was able to get to Indiana, just over the state border and stayed at Charlestown State Park.  Nice campsites but very few people.  Maybe four other campers.  I discovered most of them had been carried off by mosquitoes 😑.  It did seem to be a park for the local people who didn’t have the resources to go anywhere else and it was a way to get away from home.

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