7 stops, 1,500 miles, 14 days
(Longest drive: Fort Morgan CO to Offutt AFB NE 450 miles)
Why…
We hesitantly left the Rockies to work our way to Florida for the winter. This kind of travel is different for us. We prefer short drives around 150 miles, and longer stays of 2-4 weeks. Driving over 300 miles and staying in spots just a night or two is tiring! Oh well, it’s worth it to have new adventures.
We will experience a lot of firsts this winter: me going to the Smithsonian, both of us exploring Shenandoah National Park, me going to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, me touring Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, Arleen experiencing Disney World and Universal Studios, both of us exploring the Everglades, visiting the Keys, and a slew of other things. Plus, we’ll get to see family and friends along the way, some of which we haven’t seen in over 20 years!
Travel stops…
18-20 Sep: Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs CO
We know Colorado Springs well. Both of us were stationed here in the past, and we’ve got family and friends sprinkled along the Front Range. We stopped here primarily to say goodbye before we headed to the East Coast for the winter.
The campground…
The Air Force Academy’s Peregrine Pines Famcamp is one of the best! The long, fairly level, gravel sites are tucked under mature ponderosa pine trees. There is plenty of space between neighbors and it’s usually peaceful. I say “usually” because there is an active train track within a stones throw of a few camp sites. The very loud toooooot toooooot toooooot was irksome at 3 o’clock each morning. Other than the noisy trains, this campground is outstanding.
General impressions…
Colorado Springs, population 416,427 and elevation 6,035 feet, is a decent mid-sized city. It’s bordered to the west by Pikes Peak and to the east by the desolate Plains. If the “city stuff” can’t keep you busy in Colorado Springs, then Denver is just an hours drive to the north. However, we prefer to spend our time in the mountains where there are plenty of outdoors activities.
Adventures…
We had a great breakfast with friends, Brian and Dominique, and we had a great dinner with friend, Brianne. We worked with them in various places and times while in the military. Brianne really touched us when she said her financial stability was influenced by Arleen’s wise advice. It’s extremely gratifying to hear that we helped guide someone to success!
We watched my nephew, Jordan’s, soccer game. My sister, nephew Austin, and parents tried to cheer them to victory and had a nice time. We departed with big hugs, the last ones to be exchanged until June.
Though it was Sunday afternoon around 3 o’clock, we hitched up our home, and headed to Fort Morgan CO.
My family at Jordan’s, my nephew, soccer game
Brianne in Colorado Springs CO / Posing with Dominique and Brian in Colorado Springs CO
20 Sep: Fort Morgan CO
We left Colorado Springs a day early to avoid morning traffic in Denver and to shorten our drive to Offutt. As I-76 left the Denver area and turned northeast, I sadly watched the Rockies shrink in the rearview mirror. 30mph cross winds pushed us around and made the drive tricky.
The campground…
We were happy to pull into Riverside Park in Fort Morgan on a nice Sunday evening. We were surprised at the number of people enjoying the park, and were concerned the thump thump thump of multiple car stereos would persist late into the night. Thankfully, most of the people left shortly after the sun went down and took their loud music with them. We had electric, but no water and no dump station. However, it was free and we only stayed one night. Highway noise was loud through the night and the stench from a nearby factory was difficult to ignore. In spite of this, we were fairly comfortable and got a decent night’s sleep.
General impressions…
Eastern Colorado is desolate, quite flat, and doesn’t have much scenery. We didn’t see much of Fort Morgan, population 11,315 and elevation 4,324 feet. The South Platte River skirts the north side of town and there are a few nearby lakes, but otherwise, there wasn’t much to keep us entertained.
21-23 Sep: Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha NE
Offutt Air Force Base is the home of the 557th Weather Wing. It has had many names over the years, but is best known to us as the “Air Force Global Weather Center”. It’s overarching mission and chain of command ensure that it has the highest number of military weather folks in one place. It’s a bit unusual to have a 20 year Air Force Weather career and not get stationed there…but we didn’t…in fact, I had never been there! However, many of our friends have, and a few still work there or are settled in the area after exiting the military.
The campground…
The Base Lake Famcamp was nice. It’s just east of the base on a pretty lake. The sites were big with a decent amount of space between each other. It was comfortable, and other than occasional aircraft noise from the base, it was peaceful.
General impressions…
Offutt Air Force Base is surrounded by small towns like Papillion, Bellevue, and La Platte. These are the southern suburbs of the Omaha Metro area which has a population around 900,000 and elevation around 1,050 feet.
We saw rolling hills and lots of corn! It’s pleasant around the base, but gets busy as you travel north into Omaha. Compared to the arid southwest, there is water everywhere. The temperature was in the mid-80s with high humidity…yuck! That’s nothing compared to the “dog days” of summer. How do you people do it?!?
Adventures…
We met Jim, a friend and co-worker from my Ft Lewis days. He showed us around the weather building. We hoped to run into other people we knew, but didn’t. Jim had to work so it was a brief visit. He’s a sharp senior noncommissioned officer that makes everyone around him better…a true leader! I’m one of his biggest fans and have total confidence that he will continue to succeed!
Right after we said goodbye to Jim, we met Janice for lunch. Arleen and Janice were stationed together in King Salmon, Alaska back in the late-80s. They got caught up over a nice lunch and hugged each other goodbye.
A few hours later we went to Sven and Cheryl’s house for dinner. We were stationed with Sven in Alaska and did a whole lot of outdoors stuff together. We really enjoyed meeting Cheryl and they treated us to a nice feast. It was great conversation! We relived old adventures and talked about future ones. They may downsize and hit the road and had all kinds of questions for us. We hope it happens and that we hook up for an adventure down the road!
We received about three inches of rain our final night. Thunder boomed nearly continuously from roughly 3:30am to 6:00am. Twice, I nearly peed my pants when two trees were hit by lightning within a couple of hundred yards of our home. Thankfully, the rain stopped as we hitched up and headed out.
Driving through corn fields in Nebraska
Adding the Nebraska sticker to our map / The Offutt Base Lake
557th Weather Wing at Offutt AFB / Posing with Jim
Janice / Cheryl and Sven
We got about three inches of rain / Tree struck by lightning near the campground
23-25 Sep: Amana Colonies IA
We looked forward to exploring the Amana Colonies…they sounded interesting.
The campground…
The Amana Colonies RV Park was huge. It’s a large open, grassy field with 450 camp sites on 60 acres. Each 150-200 foot long gravel pad is split into two RV sites back-to-back. The utilities are in the middle which forces RVs to park within a few feet of each other. The place was pretty quiet and we were comfortable.
General impressions…
We expected Iowa to be flat, but were surprised to see so many low rolling hills. And yes, there was a bunch of corn!
Amana Colonies consist of seven small towns with a total population around 1,700 and elevation 750 feet. The towns were very pleasant and we enjoyed the history.
Adventures…
We toured the multiple colonies. They were so orderly and adorned in fall décor. We enjoyed the museum and learned this was where Amana freezers were founded. We also enjoyed an “authentic” family style German meal with schnitzel and seven side dishes. Then we walked to the meat market and bought a few things that reminded us of our time in Germany.
We walked off our big meal on the Amana Nature Trails. It was our first walk in a mid-west forest and we hardly knew any of the flora. We wondered if there was poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac all around us. There were all kinds of strange bird sounds too. We joked that the noises were from “the American Iowa Tree Monkey”. And to make us feel like we were in the Rockies we referred to the many squirrels as “mid-western marmots”. We were so out of our Rocky Mountain environment! We got a glimpse of the Iowa River and enjoyed the four mile walk.
Entering the Amana Colonies / Adding the Iowa sticker to our map
This is a small portion of the huge Amana Colonies RV Park (our home is in the center)
Back to back sites…a configuration that we dislike
Scarecrow Arleen / An old barn in East Amana
Walking the Nature Trail through the forest / The Iowa River
Playing in Iowa’s corn
25-27 Sep: Galesburg IL
Galesburg had a nice county park with a campground and was in the right place for a stop where we could do laundry and resupply.
The campground…
Lake Storey Recreational Area’s Allison Campground was nice. The sites were paved, fairly level and had plenty of space. A busy county road was about 50 feet from our bedroom window so it wasn’t too peaceful.
General impression…
We only saw a little of Galesburg, population 32,195 and elevation 770 feet. There were plenty of amenities within a few miles of the campground. Illinois had more rolling hills interspersed with pancake flat areas, and yes, there was lots of corn.
Adventures…
We did laundry, shopped for supplies, and walked around the lake both evenings. The walks were very pleasant. The moon was bright and the sky turned funky colors as the sun set. The geese appeared content and so were we.
Geese and a bright moon at Lake Storey
A flock of geese flying over Lake Storey
A beautiful Illinois sunset
Adding the Illinois sticker
27-29 Sep: Noblesville IN
Noblesville, just north of Indianapolis, was in a good spot for a stop.
The campground…
Riverbend Campground (no web link) was crappy. Sometime in the past, it was probably quite nice, but has been neglected the last several years. It’s too bad, because the location was good. Our site backed right up to the White River. We had a hard time getting level in the thick uneven gravel. Even with a water pressure regulator, the pressure varied considerably. The electric outlet was scary, but we didn’t have any problems. We had four or five old trailers near us that were in disrepair and unlevel like they were just dropped there and forgotten. We referred to them as the “crack trailers”. Thankfully, they were unoccupied, and surprisingly we felt safe. It was quiet during our stay and Noblesville was just a few miles south with plenty of amenities.
General impressions…
Noblesville, population 51,969 and elevation 770 feet, is a suburb of Indianapolis and was a bit busy. Indiana had a few rolling hills interspersed with flat areas, and yes, there was a bunch of corn!
Adventures…
Our big adventure was to walk a few miles along the White River Greenway. The area has an interesting history and we liked Potter’s Bridge which was built in 1870. The flora continued to confuse us and we heard fictional “American Indiana Tree Monkeys” and saw lots of “mid-western marmots”.
Sunrise and some fall colors along the White River
Walking the trail through the White River Greenway
Potter’s Bridge, built in 1870
Now we have visited Indiana
29 Sep-1 Oct: Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton OH
We wanted to visit the Air Force Museum and spend time with friends from our time in Germany.
The campground…
The Wright-Patterson Famcamp was nice. The paved sites were good-sized and everything was well maintained.
General impressions…
Ohio had more rolling hills, more trees, and a bit less corn. We only saw a little of Dayton, population 141,527 and elevation 738 feet. Over 800,000 people live in the area.
Adventures…
The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force is huge. It’s divided into four or five sections and you could spend a half day in each section. We just had three hours and rushed through it, but were impressed with the Battlefield Airmen display and seeing aircraft we had never seen despite 44 years of combined service.
The next day we met Christine and Fred, friends from Germany, at Clifton Gorge State Nature Preserve. We chatted while they led us on a nature hike along the impressive Gorge. We popped out of the forest and walked to the Clifton Mill, an excellent restaurant with an interesting history. We had a great time Fred and Christine and hope to cross paths with them down the road.
Great museum! / See me at the base of the rockets?
Just a few of the hundreds of interesting aircraft at the museum
Clifton Gorge is beautiful and interesting / Little Miami River and our friends from Germany, Christine and Fred
After walking a few miles, we had a great meal at Clifton Mill / Chit-chatting along the trail
Check off Ohio
Next…
Short stops in: Sandusky, Ohio; Erie, Pennsylvania; Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Lums Pond State Park, Deleware and then two weeks in the Baltimore and Washington DC area.
Parting shots…
A little snake on the trail in Noblesville IN
Exercising at a Rest Area in Nebraska / Arleen nearly lost in the corn in Iowa
(89,900)
Keep those blogs coming :-)
ReplyDelete