2016/08 Newf'land trip - Lake McBride |
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We joined the I-74 freeway which took us northwesterly into Illinois. We were now on Central Time, the same as Minnesota. We were also out of the Twilight Zone and had city streets we could navigate to.
The first stop was in Peoria, which once had a reputation as the average US city. “Will it sell in Peoria?” was the question asked by product planners. The second shop was in Galesburg; there were others just across the border in Iowa, but it was too late in the day for them to be open.
We joined I-80 and crossed the Mississippi into Iowa. I’ve heard it said that you can measure the state of the US economy by counting the trucks on I-80, which connects New Jersey to San Francisco. If so the economy was doing well. It was with some relief that we took off just before Iowa City to find Lake McBride state park. To our surprise Iowa was also in the Twilight Zone and came to the conclusion that “Northern” meant states which had borders with Canada and some that touched the Great Lakes. Iowa didn’t qualify.
Luckily the signage was good and we found the large campground just before dark. Initially it looked like all the sites were reserved until we read the fine print and realized that they were only reserved for the upcoming long weekend. We picked a quiet spot, cheap even with electricity. We called the kids to let them know where we were, just 300 miles from the Twin Cities, and to expect us a day earlier than we’d estimated.