10/15 Minnesota to New Jersey

Park Ranger Took Our Photo

We stay at Baker Park Reserve Campground near Buffalo Minn to visit Aunt Joanne.  We have a lovely visit while John makes plans for next year's Hanley reunion at this park in June 2020.  We watch the news helplessly while Westerly gets slammed with what is called a "bombogenesis" aka a weather bomb.   Defined as a storm that undergoes extremely rapid drop in pressure, meaning it strengthens really fast.  Don't know the extent of the damage near our condo (neighbors say our unit is fine) but 88% of the town was without power at one point.  

Traffic Detour Through Illinois Corn Fields

Since leaving the mountains of Idaho, the 7 days of driving it took to get to Ohio has been relatively flat lands where from horizon to horizon day after day we mainly see corn fields and cows along with a bunch of pronghorn antelope and deer.  About the middle of Ohio we start to see trees from horizon to horizon instead of corn fields and then come the rolling hills.  Unfortunately there was a big traffic tie up in Illinois which our travel app routed us around.....oh by the way, they don't know we are an RV.  You would think by now we would remember to follow the tractor trailer trucks, instead we meander through corn fields on roads with signs saying NO TRUCKS!!! Away from the coasts this country is mainly rural, something very hard to imagine if you have grownup on the crowded coast lines.  So glad Zoe and Jack have driven across this country (by themselves no less) to have the experience of how it is all laid out.  A MUST FOR ALL....have to drive to taste, feel, see what our beautiful country is all about.

Mahlon Dickerson Reservation Campground, New Jersey

Have to be careful approaching New York on interstate 90 heading east because there are few RV campgrounds past Jefferson New Jersey and even fewer OPEN this time of year.  Thank goodness we know this and start planning early in the day for our final night so that we don't end up parking on the side of the road or being forced to drive through New York when we are bone tired at the end of the day.  The Mahlon Dickerson Reservation is a beautiful little campground that was open for a few more days and had room for us!  A lovely way to spend our last night but we are VERY ANXIOUS to be home.