Wolcottville, IN

 

Here we are in the heart of Amish country, after having travelled down I-94 to just south of Chicago, where we connected with I-294 and on to I-80 (seems I’ve heard of that interstate before).  Was interesting traveling the toll roads since there were no toll collectors and they said you could just contact www.illinoishighwaytoll.com within the next two weeks.  Not sure how they were going to identify us because we don’t have plates on the RV - just a temp paper sticker in the back.  Maybe they’ll pick up the Jeep license plate.   Guess we’ll find out when the cops pull us over on the way back for toll avoidance.  Interstates were crowded and full of truck traffic, but we managed to make it through even with all the construction.  After we checked in at the Indiana Welcome Center, we went over to US 30 and decided to skip the interstates.  After a while, we switched north to US 6 which also sounded familiar since we usually cross it at Tonopah when traveling down to Las Vegas from Reno.  One of these days, we’ll have to take one of the US highways (6, 20, or 30) all the way across country and see what adventures await.

 

This is all farm country interspersed with trailer/RV manufacturers. I’m willing to be that 90% of the units constructed in the US come from Indiana.  What’s really interesting is the Amish farms which are all neat and well-kept, not blemished by any electric/telephone poles going into their locations.  We saw several farmers plowing their fields using horse-drawn equipment.  You have to be especially careful when driving because you never know when you are going to come up on a horse-drawn buggy on the road.  They try to use the shoulder, but usually have half the unit is in the travel lane.  We had travelled US 6 before, most notably a couple of years ago when we stopped at Kendallville, IN.  Then we stayed for an extra day because the golf courses were so enticing.  Beautiful rolling countryside with lots of trees.  The RV really likes this territory because there are no hills/mountains and we can really cruise along.

 

Around 4 p.m. we made a reservation at Indian Lakes Campground, but should have known better when the person at the campground had a hard time explaining how to get here.  Finally put in the address on the GPS and wound our way through the countryside to a great campground.  One advantage is that it is nowhere near an interstate or highway.  It’s pretty large with not only campsites, but also cabins and permanent trailer sites.  Open from April to October, it’s not too busy right now and we had no problem getting a pull-through site.  After hooking up, we took a walk down to the lake.  There is a string of lakes in the area, all of varying sizes and depths.  It’s so large that they have a corral of golf carts for people to rent – how lazy is that!  Talked to one of the summer residents and he was explaining how they spent their summers down at the lake.  His work is half way between his regular home and the lakes, so they usually come to the lake after work rather than go home.  To give you an idea of how semi-permanent the lake trailer home is, he and his sons were hauling in mulch to build up the garden around his home.  With pontoon boats, jet skis, and other watercraft, it’s kind of like the Minnesota lake country, but the homes are all trailers, no regular houses/cabins.

 

Tomorrow it’s on to Erie PA, which should be an easy drive before heading on to Rochester on Friday.