2025-09-05 – Fisherman’s Corner, Hampton, IL
Our drive today, which would get us across the Mississippi, was mostly along interstate highways, unusual for us since we normally try to stick to the “blue” highways.
Along the way we saw a sign and made a stop in West Branch, IA, to visit the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. The site includes the boyhood home of our 31st president as well as a library and museum. The latter two are closed for renovations. But, the visitor center shows a nice video which we watched. We did the self-guided tour of his boyhood two-room home where he grew up and his father’s blacksmith shop. We also stopped at the graves of he and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover.
Our first night stop on our way home was just across the Mississippi River at a Corps of Engineers’ facility named Fisherman’s Corner Campground. Corps of Engineers’ facilities are located at their project locations and always seem especially well designed and maintained. This facility is near US Lock and Dam No. 14 on the Mississippi. While the dam extends across the river, the actual lock is on the far side.
Dinner that evening was leftover Chinese from the previous night’s dinner accompanied by one of Sandy’s Caprese salads.
2025-09-06 – Maumee Bay SP, Oregon, OH
We were on the road by 8:00, early for us but we had a long, 450+ mile drive in front of us. The middle of the drive was interesting because, in order to avoid the interstates near Chicago, we attempted a diagonal route across Illinois and Indiana. That route followed lots of county roads that adhered to the grid-based system laid out under the Public Land Survey System created by the Land Ordinance of 1785. So we had a zigzag, zigzag drive kind of day.
Wind farms were everywhere with many hundreds of the generators dotting the horizon. They sometimes stretched as far as we could see across the horizon. And, of course corn and beans continued to line the roads with large grain elevators dotted throughout the landscape.
Our destination for the next two days was Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, OH. The park is a large, complex one on the shores at the west end of Lake Erie. Besides a great campground, the park offers a resort lodge, cabins, beaches and a golf course nestled among scenic meadows, woods and marshes.
We settled in at our very nice campsite after a long day on the road. Then it was off to The Oregon Inn for dinner.
2025-09-07 – Maumee Bay SP, Oregon, OH
Bill was doing his best to complete this blog so that he didn’t have to spend too much time on it after our return home. Since the preparation and posting of the episodes are pretty involved, he spent most of his non-driving time working on them.
Sandy did some touring of the park. The park has two beaches, one on an inland lake and one on Lake Erie. She visited the one on Lake Erie which is protected by groins that divide it into a series of lovely coves. The park also features a small boat marina, a disc golf course and martin houses that help keep the mosquito population in check.
We put together another batch of white chili for dinner.
2025-09-08 – Seven Points Campground, Raystown Lake, Hesston, PA
It was another five hour-drive to the Senoia Camp Loop at Raystown Lake. But we’d left the zig zag stuff behind and it was an easy drive on good roads. We were actually surprised that we were able to get a reservation at Raystown. In March the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had announced the temporary closure of three major campgrounds at the lake due to federal staffing shortages and budget cuts. But the online system allowed us to make a reservation and we were able to score a beautiful site on the water. As it turned out, the Corps started a phased reopening in September and Seven Points Campground had opened just three days before our arrival!
The site was exceptional. It was directly adjacent to the lake. Since the campground is on a steep hill, the pad for our camper was elevated above the lake. A stairway lead down to a terrace where the site’s picnic table was located and which was only a couple of steps above the water. There were about ten or so similar sites in a row.
We finally consumed the rest of the Chicago pizza along with some fresh broccoli for dinner. Afterwards, we walked the shoreline, admiring the lake view and stopping to talk to some other campers along the way.
