We both woke up early but both decided to snooze a bit as well. I’m more of a snoozer than Pam so she usually dismounts from the high bunk before me. She’s also more graceful than me for sure! She’ll clamber out without even bopping me in the head which is no small feat in the popup of a VW. I think it may be the better of the two spots to sleep. Definitely the better one in the summer because it’s just like sleeping in a tent. Nice airflow and a great view if there’s a view to be had plus you have a hard roof over your head so sleeping up there in pouring rain is no problem.
The park in Ostego was pretty swampy and there were a ton of birds and frogs. While I was walking to the outhouse I was serenaded by an incredible chorus of birds, frogs and water trickling through the swamp.
We made a pot of joe, packed up the bus and hit the road. Today was going to be a medium hammer day. Our only major sightseeing plans for the day was Indiana Dunes State Park. Erin had told us about this one too and we were both excited to check it out.
The drive to the dunes took us through the rest of the Western Michigan portion of route 94. There was construction here and there but nothing to the extent we would encounter west of Chicago in Illinois. More on that later but there is a TON of construction going on all across the country as far as I can see. In every state we have travelled through there has been bridge work and highway work in progress. Some sites look like there’s not much progress being made at all and the diversions are just there to mess with the traffic but it’s pretty impressive to see some of the projects that are underway across route 94.
Indiana Dunes State Park is a beautiful place. The beach is huge and clean and the water, on this particular day, was warm and inviting. We parked the camper under a tree in the huge parking lot and took the lawn chairs down to the water. Within a few minutes we were being attacked by small, biting sand flies. They were chewing at our ankles and it was not too pleasant. I went in the water another time and the went back up to the van to have some lunch.
Pammie fixed up a nice yogurt, almond and granola lunch and we ate on a picnic table next to the van. While eating, Pam has a great idea about the brake switch. She’ll drive while I search on the interwebs for a VW dealers, call and see if we can get the part. So, Pammie takes the wheel as we leave the Dunes and make our way towards Chicago.
The VW website crashes my iphone multiple times so I bag it try Pam’s ipad. We find a VW dealer nearby, just outside of Chicago, that says he has the switch we need in stock. Apparently VW lists two different switches for this vehicle, a 4 pin and a 6 pin. He has the 4 pin in stock so we’ll grab it because it’s only 6 bucks.
Traffic is busy, but moving so we’re making good time and will be at the VW dealer in 20 minutes or so. Shortly, Pam takes the exit and we ride down an access road for a mile or two and then we’re in the middle of anytown USA. Miles and miles and miles of gas stations, walmarts, check cashing stores, convenience stores, etc. ,etc. etc. In the middle of this hell hole I spy a shining beacon of hope; a lone cigar shop in a tiny strip mall on the other side of the street. We agree to stop in on the way out of this mess. 20 blocks or so of this and we’re finally there. We pull in and a salesman comes out immediately. As we step out he says, “I didn’t know the Greateful Dead was in town!” Nyuk, nyuk, funny guy! I told him it wasn’t for sale we were just here for a $6 part.
I love VW dealerships…when I’m not buying a car, of course. I’ve been driving VW’s since well before I had my license so I’ve been to a lot of them in the Northeast. They’re all kind of the same depending on when they were built. This one is shiny and new and very clean. I wish I could remember the name of it but no such luck. The parts dude brings my part out and I ask him for a printout of the page he looked at when he found the part. He takes a few minutes and then hands me the page saying, “it’s not very good but this is what I have”. Not good is an understatement. A couple of diagrams that hold no meaning to me. I ponder it for a few moments, walk around the corner, and drop it in the trash. We pay for the part and take off.
Pam has had enough of this driving stuff, especially with this traffic so I take over but our first destination is the tiny cigar store for sure. We backtrack for 5 blocks or so and there it is! As I pull in, I notice a guy hopping out of his car a couple parking spaces away from us. As we walk in, he walks in behind us welcoming us to the store. I guess business was kind of slow so he was out in his car playing with his cell phone. He’s a funny guy and makes a few cracks about me to Pam. We both chuckle as I step into the humidor. Pammie inquires about her favorite chocolate flavored smokes. The humidor is small but has a few interesting looking items that I grab and take to the counter. Pam finds a tin of smokes she’ll enjoy. She takes hers up to the counter and he makes a few more cracks about me that I can’t really hear then he jokes that us guys just poke fun at each other just out of fun then gives us a couple of free lighters! That’s something you don’t see everyday, a store owner giving away free stuff. We thank him kindly and hop back into the van.
Back out on the highway, the going is steady but the traffic is very thick. I mentioned before that there is construction all across the country on route 94 and just about every side route too. While still in Illinois we come across the largest construction site of the entire trip so far. The highway, four lanes wide in this part of the state, is down to two lanes on the westbound side. Route 90 is a major trucking route and in the construction area the trucks are riding mostly in the left lane. There are tons of campers on the road too, some traveling faster than others. So the dance goes something like this. Cruise along in the left lane until you come to a slower moving truck or camper. Wait for a clear spot on the right, switch lanes, speed up gradually as traffic allows until you can overtake the slowpoke. Cruise along until another slow moving vehicle blocks this lane. Repeat. Over and over and over. When we finally reach the end of this construction zone there is a sign announcing it is the largest construction project in Illinois. 37 Miles! And they’re planning to complete it in 2014! Holy crap. GOOD LUCK. Although a major pain in the rump, that construction site is incredibly impressive. The sheer volume of dirt they’re moving. The cement that they’re taking out of the old lanes, pulverizing and, I assume, putting back into the new highway. I was really in awe of the whole thing!
Pam spies a sign: Black River State Forest. Camping. SWEET! We take the exit, take a right at the end of the exit. Drive a half mile or so, take a left, drive another mile and a half or so and there’s a beautiful little state park with a bunch of campsites, a little lake, some hiking trails and bunch of other stuff we would never get to check out but if we were going to stay a few days, this would be a great spot too. We drive around the loop a few times, pick a spot and set up camp.
The Eurovan is very easy to setup. If the site is level, all you have to do is park, pop the top, and commence to camping yourself. On this trip we have a couple lawn chairs strapped to a basket on the top of the van and a couple bikes on the back on a bike rack that swings away so you can open the back door without taking the bikes off the rack. If we take the chairs and the bikes off, it takes a little longer, but not much. It’s a perfect setup for us.
We take a quick bike ride to the pond for a swim. The water is inky black and kinda spooky because you have no idea what is in there but there are a few people swimming and nobody’s getting dragged under water by monsters or anything so we decide it’s okay to take a swim. Truthfully, I’ll swim just about anywhere and if I get dragged under water by a monster, at least I’ll go doing something I love, right?
After the swim it was pretty much, get a fire going, eat a quick, light meal and crash. Pammie hit the hay earlier than I did. I sat up, drank a couple beers and smoked a stogie. I had a brief bonehead moment when I went to get another beer. I left my half-smoked stogie on the end of the arm of the lawnchair. When I came back with my beer, I sat down and put my hand right down on the stogie. Ahhh, seared flesh. Poifect! GOOD NIGHT!