Iowa Storms

June 29, 2012

We are leaving Chief White Crane State Park in Yankton, SD.  Instead of continuing east on I90, we decided to take the southern route back to Illinois.  So, we swung east and picked up I29 heading south, then got on I80 heading east.  This route is 481 miles back to Belvidere, Illinois and is about 50 miles shorter than staying on I90 back to Belvidere and it gives us the opportunity to see some different country side.  Although, the drive across Iowa is much the same as Illinois with all of the farm land.  If you've seen one corn field, you've seen them all; but, the Iowa interstates are extremely rough in this part of Western Iowa.

Since its 481 miles back to our reservations at Pine Country in Belvidere, Illinois, we decided to divide the drive into two days instead of one long day.  So, we found a KOA in Newton, Iowa.  I am not a fan of KOAs and this campground did nothing to change my opinion.  We had a pull through site because we were just going to stay long enough to eat and sleep and be on our way in the morning.  We didn't even unhitch from the truck.

This was one on the most uneven pull through sites we've seen, and there's dark clouds moving in fast and thunder not far off.  So, after several attempts at jockeying the 5th wheel to find the least uneven spot, we used some leveling boards and were almost in panic mode as we hooked up the utilities.   

This is where Sean's help really paid off, and we were set up in record time.  With not a second to spare it started raining, the wind was howling and the rain was getting heavier by the second.  Lighting was flashing everywhere, thunder was booming in our ears.  Kitty and Kallie were both shaking in their boots (well, actually, Kallie doesn't have any boots).  Suddenly our power went out, then a large branch from a tree across the street blew over nearly hitting our truck.  Branches were flying everywhere, hail was slamming our roof, and the deafening sound of thunder made us feel like we were in the middle of Custer's last stand.

After the storm passed, everyone was outside checking for damage, including the campground manager.  We were really lucky not to have any damage and the rain washed some of the bugs off the front of the 5th wheel!  Soon, the power was back on and we had supper and a quiet evening until bedtime.  The tv has not been on but twice during the entire three week trip and this was before we left Belvidere and the local stations had a pretty strong signal.  Sean was a trooper about tolerating the lack of media entertainment and the company of the "old timers" (that's Kitty).