Jul 13 2008
RV Adventure, Days 28-30 (The End)
After departing Wisconsin Dells we took the following day to trek to Gurnee Illinois, home of a Six Flags theme park that I had visited many years ago and we wanted to visit again with the whole family.
We arrived in the early evening and once again decided to boondock near the theme park itself, not so much because of the money saving aspect, but simply because there was no campgrounds remotely close to where we wanted to be early the next morning - near the park. Quote to the contrary, with our holding tanks nearing capacity and our fresh water supply nearly exhausted, we would have welcomed a campground, but weren’t going to inconvenience ourselves for the privledge as we were not yet desperate.
Our choice of overnight location ended up being great, until the lawn care company arrived at 6AM and started cutting the expansive grassy area immediately in front of our parking spot. At one point I could smell the exhaust of the lawn tractors and weed eaters as they passed our spot. They seemed to take no issue with us being there, but at the same point in time they weren’t exactly trying to be quiet, and really, I don’t blame them - they had a job to do.
As a result of the early wake-up we got breakfast out of the way and packed up. We made a quick stop at a gas station to fuel up the generator. With the blessings of the staff we also commandeered the garden hose and took on some fresh water as we had exhausted our water tanks after my morning shower.
The park ended up being great despite a heavy thunderstorm that passed through in the evening. After it passed we stayed until the park closed at midnight.
Upon closing I wanted to make the short drive through Chicago during the night hours instead of fighting rush hour traffic the following morning. I was extremely tired, but we pressed on, and made it. We crashed for a well deserved good nights sleep.
The second last day took us most of the way across Michigan where we stopped at a large campground for a single night. This allowed us to relax for an evening after many busy days, and also allowed us to (finally) empty our now brimming-at-the-seams holding tanks.
The morning of day 29 took us to the science center in Detroit, and then across the border via the Detroit/Windsor tunnel. We pressed on to London Ontario where we once again boondocked due to the hour we eventually stopped at.
Awaking on our last day it was bittersweet. We had been on the road for a month, we had seen so much, yet only a few hours from now it was all over except for the aftermath of unpacking and resuming our normal lives.
For the kids, I think that the last several hours was the longest day of the trip despite only covering a short distance. Of course, the anticipation of finally being home and getting to see their friends was bearing upon them, and I can’t say I wasn’t going to be glad to get home myself despite all the fun we had.
Arriving at the house we found everything exactly as we had left it a month before. We unpacked the trailer in record time and I went and parked it.
Returning home was nice, but I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. :-)
(Pics, followup and such to follow…)