Evansville, Indiana…

We left Kimmel Park at Vincennes, Indiana just in time as they had acquired a massive water leak the evening prior to our departure and had to turn off the water to campers. We planned a short trip to our next stop in Henderson, Kentucky just across the Ohio River from Evansville, Indiana. The John James Audubon State Park is located just off the highway but looked to be a really nice retreat nonetheless. We drove around the camp loop a couple of times trying to locate a site to accommodate our size. We settled on site number 44 but never were able to get power due to a defective plug. Luckily it was pretty easy to pull out and back in next door into number 43 where we had no power problem at all.

After setting up we decided to visit Evansville. The ornate and massive Courthouse building was our first stop and we chose to park so we could walk all the way around to admire it from every angle. This courthouse was a completely different style than the one we had seen while visiting Vincennes. The one in Vincennes was also very impressive but had more of a French flair to it.

Adjacent to the Courthouse was an impressive World War II memorial and around the corner we noticed an old building resembling a castle. We were amused to read that it was once the Sheriff’s residence and the jailhouse! It had an underground tunnel extending over to the courthouse. Maybe that was an easier way to transport prisoners to trial and back. Before heading back to the car we strolled over to the Tropicana Casino, one of the riverboat casinos, but it was way too smoky to stay and donate some change.

Sharon wanted to drive by the University of Evansville and their athletic facilities. It was fun to see the students milling around between classes. The tree lined neighborhood near the campus had many beautiful homes so we were glad to meander along enjoying the sights. As it was nearing 5:00 pm we used our smartphones and discovered a nearby brewery so we decided to try Tin Man Brewery in the old Warehouse District.

 

The brewery is only a couple of years old but seems to have become a local favorite. Several very friendly patrons joined us around the bar. Interestingly our bartender was from Ireland and her parents also enjoy RV’ing so we had a nice chat. When we closed out we had a nice surprise upon seeing our beers were half priced on Mondays! We must be living right!

On the way back we stopped by and the a park and strolled along a walkway by the Ohio river where we came upon an cool sculpture. The Four Freedoms Monument depicted the goals of President F.D. Roosevelt. During his 1941 State of the Union address he proposed four fundamental freedoms that people everywhere should have: Freedom of speech,Freedom of worship,Freedom from want and Freedom from fear… Can’t argue with that!

Back at camp nestled in the trees we heard from our friends in Newton, Illinois after Sharon posted some pictures on Facebook from our day in town. They laughed that we had left them three days ago yet we were only a little over two hours away. We laughed too as this is what we do. We like shorter travel days so we have part of the day left to explore our new location. We have one more day here so tomorrow we plan to hike some park trails in the morning then explore Henderson, Kentucky in the afternoon.

Note: A little behind on the blogs, but will catch up soon, as we are moving to the Nashville area today

Vincennes, Indiana, small town America…

As I was in the motorhome Friday morning making preparation to leave our friends' house in Newton, Illinois, Sharon came in a little red faced to tell me we had a problem.So excited was she at pulling into the driveway when we first arrived she realized now she never turned the key out of the ignition upon our arrival.  We hadn't unhooked the car so the keys went forgotten in the excitement and greetings.  Mike moved his truck over to the car, Sharon found our jumper cables and boom we were back in business.  So we said our goodbyes and pulled out heading east from Newton.

Our plan was to stay at a nice park near Bloomington Indiana about an hour and a half down the road.  It had over a hundred spaces and although we never got an answer when trying to check availability we decided with that many spaces, surely there were openings. Call it a premonition or whatever, something told me to have Sharon call once more to make sure.  This time we got an answer from the host but it was bad news as every single space was taken for the weekend. With Indiana University still 45 miles away I thought this park would be fine even though they had a home football game… guess not! 

Thankfully we were two miles away from Plan B, Red Hill Lake State Park.  We called there and were told plenty of spaces were available. Whew!  So after about a 30 mile drive we had a nice pull through site with plenty of shade trees and we knew we would enjoy a night or two or three here.  I built a nice fire and Sharon set upon her goal of finding a good CBS station so we would be able to watch the big Texas A&M vs. Alabama football game on Saturday.

Sharon became frustrated with the fact she was able to tune in ABC, NBC, CW, Fox, etc. but no CBS.  I did not have a happy camper.  After researching the problem I found that Vincennes, Indiana, a short 25 miles away, had a nice little park, Kimmell City Park, on the Wabash River and if we couldn’t get CBS there at least there was a Buffalo Wild Wings there where we could watch the game. So we moved down the road and set up… no CBS here either. Plan C took hold and we caught the game at Buffalo Wild Wings and although our team lost, we had a fun evening and it was still a good game.

The next day we explored Vincennes University,  the first college in Indiana, a small but quaint college near the Wabash River. Not too far from the University is the George Rogers Clark National Historical Park that commemorates the conquest of the Old Northwest Territory. They say it is the largest national monument outside of Washington, D.C. The Memorial is located on the site of the former British Fort Sackville which was captured by Colonel George Rogers Clark and his army of 170 frontiersmen and Frenchmen. The moment of the fort's surrender on February 25, 1779 marks the birth of the United States north of the Ohio River. Pretty cool building with some interesting American history.

    

Other cool attractions here that we visited were the William Henry Harrison Mansion called Grouseland, Old French House showing the style of the French Creole architecture and some nearby interesting historical buildings. To Sharon's delight there was a cell phone number to dial and hear historical facts about each site. Next we also discovered that Red Skelton was born here so we drove by the house he was born in. Later in the afternoon we played at a small 9 hole disc golf course at Hillcrest Park.  

Who would have thought there would be so many interesting things to see in do in this sleepy little town on the Wabash River… It never ceases to amaze us the sights we stumble into once we park our big rig and get out to check out these neat little places in America… Now we need to get more serious about planning our route to Florida as we have made our Mayo Clinic checkup appointments early in November.

Peaceful Waters and meeting old friends…

We left Kankakee River State Park after only a few days since we had planned to meet up with some friends from back in our daughter's college softball days. This necessitated about a 140 mile drive southeast to Rockville, Indiana. At our friends' suggestion we booked a site at Peaceful Waters Campground that had both RV sites and small cabins. Doing research on the Peaceful Waters Campground yielded nothing other than their web site. It seems that even though it is three years old it hasn’t made it into the RV web world. It didn’t even show up on Google's satellite maps but it turned out to be a pretty nice spot.

Once we found the campground we pulled in and checked with the office about sites that would accommodate our RV. There were a lot of sites adjacent to the small state road we came in on so we were a bit worried about street noise from these sites. Therefore we checked out some of their newer sites just being built nearer to the large pond on the property. These sites were more appealing but were electricity only and getting level was going to be a bit of a challenge. So we chose a site up near the road and have found it to be just fine, noise wise, with the windows closed and the AC running.

     

Friday evening our friend Amy showed up and we immediately sat down to catch up on what has happened since we last saw her. We met her and her husband David when our daughter moved to North Carolina and played fast pitch softball for Campbell University. Their daughter was the go-to pitcher for Campbell’s team and she started a year earlier than Katie. As a result we got to know Amy and David pretty well throughout our softball travels across the USA following our girls. David was working late that night refereeing a football game so we weren't able to see him till Saturday.

Saturday morning our friends took us to Turkey Run State Park in Marshall Indiana. With the suspension bridge still closed for repairs from from the spring floods in this area, we chose to do the hikes along the southern side of the park south of Sugar Creek. What a gem of a park this one was with the deeply eroded sandstone bedrock leaving behind chiseled canyons and cliffs along the way. Tall stately trees such as sugar maples and black walnuts were everywhere and even a remnant stands of hemlock and white pine were found here.

After some great hiking and chatting with our friends we decided to go over to the Turkey Run Golf Club to play 18 holes of golf. Sharon does not play and elected to ride along in the cart. I haven’t played in about two years and was surprised at how well I did play. Lots of rust on the chipping and putting but at least I could drive well. After golf we stopped by a store and picked up supplies to make dinner. A dinner of burgers on Sharon’s famous home-made burger buns along with some sides and dessert topped off a fun filled day with our softball family from years ago… Next up is a trip back into Illinois to see some of new found RV friends we met during our first year wintering in Florida…