Skip to main content

An Appalacian Hipcamp Road Trip: Via Rockford

We had a route planned to get to Rockford, Illinois for our last campsite of the trip, but we soon found out that roads were out in every direction.

Apparently the whole state of Indiana and the southern part of Illinois were under water. We had to take many detours due to flooded roads. It was sad to see so many farms turned into lakes.

On our way Meadow threw up in the car. When we stopped to eat she threw up again. I think what actually happened was she drank too much water too fast.

Hello 16 year old Meadow.

We stopped at Yesterday's Drive-in in Carmi, Illinois because only drive-ins, Mexican restaurants, bbq joints and the occasional buffet can be trusted when you're in rural America.

Yesterday's Drive In
Meadow was excited to eat her chicken rings out of a car.


I, of course, couldn't say no to bbq one last time.

The weather was OK for a while, but we knew we'd hit some storms eventually. When we got to the northern half of Illinois a deluge came down and didn't stop until we made it near Rockford.

We had to setup our tent in the dark, but the rain had subsided and we'd made it to our forest hideaway along the Kishwaukee River.

The low for the night was 37 degrees. Our coldest night yet. Thank goodness we got Meadow her new sleeping bag. 


We got to rent the hosts SUV to drive down to the campsite. He had a wash out recently and it was probably the only way to get to the site.

I used the headlights to light our pho noodle bowl dinner.

The bundled up ladies joined me when it was all ready.

The perfect meal for this night and the lantern we decided on works great. And bonus it can be used to charge our phones.

Of course, late night camping means late night story time by the lantern light.

I got up extra early to drink some tea, get some fishing in and start a fire. It was chilly and I wanted to get some use out of my new axe.

Forest Hideaway Along the River Hipcamp

It was nice to be up before anyone else much of the trip.

Scott is a late sleeper unless we are camping.


The campsite was at the bottom of the hill at the end of a cul-du-sac. What another great property.

I went to get our hiking boots and some wood for the fire.

Forest Hideaway Along the River Hipcamp

After I woke up I explored the various trails.

I got the fire going, but the axe wasn't much help. I guess the cheapo one at Wal-mart was a dud. Should've kept the Estwing, Brooke.

Forest hideaway Along the river
A morning fire is a rarity for us.

camp pancakes lodge skillet
Once everyone woke up, we had camp pancakes one last time.

With our new skillet that worked great.

camp pancakes lodge skillet

Forest Hideaway Along the River Hipcamp
Meadow and I had some quality time fishing along the Kishwaukee. It was almost the end of our trip.

 But it wasn't quite over. We met up with my dad in Madison. We had to pick up some bars for a roof rack from Craigslist and my pops brought my new bike along.

We are finally getting a roof rack for the carry. So long giant pool noodles.

Bassett Street Brunch Club
We thought we might as well have some lunch before we went home. We stopped by the Bassett Street Brunch Club, which was a bit too hip, but pretty dang good.

I felt a little grubby around the hungover millenials. The food was so good and I love that Meadow's came on a divided tray.


And just like that we said goodbye to my dad and we went home to Minneapolis.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Tettegouche Camp Birthday Weekend 2.0

Another year around the sun means another birthday cabin trip. I originally thought going to Canada would be fun. We also looked at a few Hipcamps in Wisconsin and Minnesota. I was worried a few weeks ago with the warm up that we'd have to find somewhere north to find snow. Then we had the huge snowstorm. Long story short, we found ourselves heading back to Tettegouche Camp.  I spent a whole day looking for the perfect rustic AirBNB or Hipcamp, but then Brooke brought up Tettegouche Camp. I always forget about the long hikes or wood fired stoves.  When we got to Duluth we decided to try out the new Duluth location of Grand Marais' Hungry Hippie Tacos. As usual our eyes are bigger than our stomachs.  We shared a chimichanga and nachos, but should've went with there signature fry bread tacos. Daniel was really excited for us to play games on the VR headset.  So, that's what they did the rest of the night.   Meadow and I shared a bed. I just couldn't get over how beaut

Backcountry Camping with Kids in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Day 1  Back in May I stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had no idea there was a National Park in North Dakota and that it was the northern end of the Badlands. Usually our summer vacations coincide with Scott's work trips. Since he didn't have any this summer I thought we should take advantage of actually taking a vacation. What, my workcations are always classics? I suppose a second real vacation this year wouldn't hurt. We definitely have more time than normal. As long as we took Covid-19  precautions and avoided people. We finally settled on a time to go. Blake joined us so we borrowed our dad's van so we could ride together. Scott had just driven from Michigan the day before. Blake had met my parents in Wisconsin to get the van and then drove from Duluth to pick us up. I offered to drive since I literally only drive twice a month.  I was still pretty tired from a long drive home. Don't @ me for doing this, as the kids say. Our kitty has been havin

Thanks for Thanksgiving

Another year, another drive to Wisconsin for Thanksgving. Brooke didn't want to go this year, but I insisted that it would be better than staying home.   I was able to get out of work early so I rushed home, we ate lunch and headed out. Normally the traffic on the day before Thanksgiving is always horrible. We lucked out and sailed through to Wisconsin and then the backups started. We were hungry along the way, but didn't want to get dinner until we made it to the Fox Valley. The Wisconsin Pavillon from the 1964 NYC Worlds Fair is along the drive in Neillsville, Wisconsin. The pavilion functions as both a radio station and cheese shop. I picked out some honey ham sticks and curds from the nearby Nasonville Dairy. I'm sure they were good when fresh, but these were the worst curds I've ever had from a Wisconsin cheesemaker. When we arrived my mom was at work and my dad was going hunting. We asked Chelsea what she was doing for dinner and she s