Hiding from Tornado and Busted Explorations

 Location: Johnson Sauk Trail State Recreation Area; Kewanee, Illinois.

This campground is an Illinois State Park and located about an hour east of Davenport, Iowa. It's about 10 miles south of I-80. I had mentioned I was looking forward to some interstate towing and it was all good. Especially after crossing into llinois where the quality of the roadway dramatically improved. I hope that continues since I'll be in Illinois for the next few weeks with stops at four more State Parks. 

Here is my required travel picture. It is a newly paved I-80 in Illinois. The blew by without stopping at the Iowa-80 truck stop which is supposedly the biggest truck stop in the world. I stopped there a few years and didn't fill like bothering with all of the traffic

This is the entrance road to the campground. No, my campsite isn't among those tall pines. But they look nice. They looked a little like a grove of aspens from out west.

This is our campsite. Not directly under the trees but close enough for some walnuts to fall on Liberty.

This is the front window in Liberty. I can lay in my bed and look up and out this window. The limbs of that tree on the left were blowing like crazy.

Freedom's cracked windshield

Corn and more corn on a nice county road

My current campground is the one I had to make reservations for just a couple weeks ago since the Corps cancelled by reservation at a COE park along the Mississippi River due to flooding. As I crossed the river on my way here, they weren't kidding, the river looked very swollen. But surprises didn't end with the flooding because I received an email informing me that there wasn't any water in the campground I'm currently at due to a bad well. Bad Juju,,,?? Maybe, I'm still not sure yet. I always use my fresh water tanks so that wasn't a problem and since I was was told in advance of arriving, all I had to do was fill my tank before leaving my old campground. When I arrived here, there were only two other campers in this big loop of campsites. Both of them left during the morning of the second day. I've been the only camper on this loop since then. 

My plans for this area was to explore the Hennepin Canal and Visitor's Center, visit the local Historical Society Museum and pick up three prescriptions from the local Walmart. I went to the visitor's center and saw a part of the old canal. The canal was built more than 100 years ago and allowed cargo to be shipped from Lake Michigan at Chicago to the Mississippi River below Davenport. It was essentially outdated soon after its completion so it sits as a reminder. It was mostly a let down with a ranking of 3. For ya'll bike riders out there, there is a trail that runs parallel to the old canal with campground (tents) located along the trail. The local museum was closed and not due to re-open until Thursday. I did have success at getting my prescriptions fill. I called the Walmart late last week and I picked them up on Day 2 after the disappointments. My love affair with Walmart continues.

At midnight on the evening of day 1, Liberty started rocking and rolling with wind buffeting her badly and strong rain pelting her. Some unripened walnuts hit her roof a few times with a big thud. At the time I wasn't sure what it was that was hitting us and only found out the following morning. I opened the shade that covers the front window on Liberty and could lay in my bed to see outside. I swear the limbs of the tree near us was spinning in circles. This all lasted about 30 minutes. The following morning I checked for damage. I didn't see any on Liberty's sides and decided to check her roof today since the weather would be better. No damage there either. I can't say the same for Freedom. Something hit her windshield and cracked it pretty good. I'm still not sure what it was but suspect it to be a limb that the wind threw like a javelin. I don't know if I'll attempt to get the windshield replaced while on the road or wait to be back to home base. The only warning I got on my phone was severe thunderstorms but it sure seemed like more than that. There were limbs and trees down everywhere.  

The evening of day 2 had the storms coming back, but this time it was a tornado warning on my cell phone. Luckily, I knew the name of the county I was in so I knew it was close. What surprised me though was the warning on my phone specifically called out the name of the campground. Wow, that was a first. About that time, the camp host knocked on the door and said they were headed to a shelter down by the lake. I told her I was thinking about riding it out but if I changed my mind I would take shelter in the bathroom about 100 yards away. She said they are all locked up due to the campground not having water. So, for the first time in my travels, I abandoned Liberty and drove to the shelter near the lake. Reports were coming in about a tornado to the west of us and I could hear tornado sirens going off in all directions. It got a little hairy there for while. After about 45 minutes the Tornado Warning expired and Accuweather was telling me that the weather front had passed on to the east. I drove back to Liberty and didn't see any damages. Today, day 3, has been a nice weather day with the temperature being a little cooler but the high humidity is sticking around a little longer. I stayed around the campground today and checked Liberty's roof and just took it easy.

The view out the back window of Liberty. I'm still the only one in this loop and it's a little bit spooky. I would imagine that area is full of kids on a normal day.

Tomorrow is moving day with only about a 75 miles tow along I-80 to another Illinois State Park east of here. I think I have a nice campsite reserved along the Illinois River. Fingers crossed.

Good news!! I had a giant epiphany which killed one of my major memory demons. I believe that one will be gone for good. I think I'll tell myself the tornado took it away. Good riddance too because it had been around for a very long time.  

Ya'll take care of each other. Maybe I'll Cya down the road.