2018 Summer RV Trip – Days 41-42 – Moving To and Visiting the Sycamore, IL Area

Our son Eric and his family live it Naperville, IL so we planned to stop for a visit on our way south and the nearest decent campground I could find was in Sycamore, IL which is in farm country about 40 miles from Naperville.

The trip south from Egg Harbor was uneventful (just the way I like them) and our route was WI-57S, I-43N, I-41S, WI-26S, I-39S, and WI-64E.  Most of the roads were concrete or paved over concrete so we experienced joint cracks most of the way but none of the surfaces were really bad.  WI-26 was a nice drive out thru the county side and much of it was 4-lane. The two interstates around Green Bay were uncrowded and made for a good by-pass.  I would use this same route again.

We pulled into Sycamore RV Resort around 4pm and had no issues with any roads until making the turn onto E North Ave leading to the campground.  The road was narrow and I crossed over the curb with both the rear coach tires and the car.  Here are shots of our site and our view out the front.  We were in site 86.

On Friday we drove through Sycamore and down to DeKalb and noticed the area seemed to be doing well economically in both the downtown's and the road between the towns was lined with the normal strip malls and big box stores.  I asked the campground owner if there was something beside Northern Illinois Univ. and farming bringing in money and he said it was mostly farming plus Sycamore is the county seat.  Here is an NIU shot from the web then two buildings I was impressed with.

Since Saturday was Pat’s BD and I thought we might be busy that night, we pan fried some steaks for her celebration supper on Friday.  I used the induction cooker and had not used it like this before, but it worked fine once I figured out which heat level to use.  The girls each had a filet and I had a strip and after tasting mine and theirs, I will never again order a filet.  Yes, it was more tender but the strip had way more of a beef flavor – I knew this but it was never before made so clear to me.

For more on the campground, here are some shots of the part that is in the shade and along the lakes beginning with a web shot of their map - we were in the blue sites in the upper right.

Everything worked well at the campground and it had one of the best WiFi's I've found but the big negative was no cable and our antenna would not get local channels so I couldn't watch WVU whup-up on TN on CBS without going to a sports bar, which I originally considered then decided against.  I hated to pull against UT but I just have to root for my home state school and alma mater, but I hope the Vols have a great year from here on.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/30-8/31/18 Event Dates

2018 Summer RV Trip – Day 40 - Salmon Spread & Door County Wrap-Up

It finally happened on our last day in Door County – a 25 degree temperature difference.  The primary reason I wanted to visit northern MI & WI was to see if they would be a good place to beat the summer heat in TN and we had already decided the answer was no.  But on Wednesday we finally got what I had been hoping for the entire time, well maybe not this much but it was 90F at home and only 65F here in Egg Harbor.  I talked with a friend in Knoxville and he said he had already lost 10# of sweat while working on his RV that morning.  This was only the 2nd or 3rd time we've been able to open up the coach and I had hoped to do that most days during this trip.

For our last day in Egg Harbor, the girls went out for a little last minute shopping including some fruit pies for the road and we began stowing items for the trip – mostly the girls wines – they found several they liked and I found none so I would not recommend Door County for serious wine but it’s good for sweeter grape and fruit wines.

2018 Summer RV Trip – Days 38 & 39 - Coyote Roadhouse, Salmon, and Pasta

During our wine tasting trolley tour, we asked the driver where the locals go for non-tourist food and one of the places he suggested was the Coyote Roadhouse located a few miles east of Egg Harbor.  They opened at 11am so we skipped breakfast and went for an early lunch.

After entering, my first thought was yep, this is a roadhouse and the kind of place I like.

2018 Summer RV Trip – Day 35, 36 & 37 – Friday Shopping, Eastern Peninsula, Trolley Wine Tour

Friday was supposed to be a day of bad weather with rain beginning around 1pm so the girls decided to get out earlier than normal, visit the Egg Harbor farmers market, then head up to shop in Fish Creek until the weather got bad.  I had a couple of repairs to make so I hung around the coach with the dogs and fixed supper.  Turned out the FM had only four stands (but one with good maters) and the rain went around the very dry peninsula and the girls spent several hours in Fish Creek.

Saturday began with this special Bev BLT & egg (it was awesome and here is a shot of the privately owned park model two sites from us. 

2018 Summer RV Trip – Day 33 &34 –Pelletiers & Trolley Tour

If you know anything about this area and some parts of upper MI, then you’ve heard of fish boils, where White Fish and veggies are cooked in a large pot of boiling water over a wood fire.

I’d seen a fish boil on one of the TV shows that features different restaurants and since one show had been about Pelletiers Restaurant and Fish Boil and we were camping five miles from their Fish Creek location we opted to give it a try.  From the TV show, I thought they were out in the country, but they are actually located right down town but the set-up makes it seem like you are not.

2018 Summer RV Trip – Days 32 & 33 –Egg Harbor

We awoke to overcast skies, an off and on drizzle, a good breeze, and cool temps – I wore a warm up jacket while doing my computing outside.

After a couple of failed restaurant stops (too crowded), we stopped at MacReady Artisan Bread Co. for some artisan bread and scones and took them back home for breakfast.  The bread was pretty good but we all thought the scones were too dry so no need to return.

2018 Summer RV Trip – Days 30 & 31 –Maple Syrup, Lambeau & Moving North

We knew the maple syrup we had purchased in New Hampshire several years ago was about gone and when we saw it advertised here, we looked up a local supplier and went to their place to check it out.  InTheWoods Sugar Bush Maple Syrup is literally in the woods among the 1400 maple trees that they tap from - not visible from the road and no sign.  

Their house and sugar operation share the same building and when you drive back their gravel lane in the woods, the first thing you notice is the blue plastic tubing running among the trees for collecting the sap.  I failed to get a pic but someone else did.