#9 Oakdale WI to Joliet, IL to Shipshewana, IN

#9  Oakdale WI to Joliet, ILto Shipshewana, IN

We left Oakdale, WI after a stop to fill our DEF tank.   The lady wanted to know if we had a Road Ranger card for this station.  We had to tell her we had never heard of this station before today. When looking for fuel, I need to look for different stations than we have in the west.

Jay found cheese curds sitting on the counter by the register.  Some contained just cheese, others had meat.  Not a counter item in the West!

The traffic on the highway surprised us until we remember where we were in the country.  Big semi-trucks fill both lanes. Many zip past us like we were standing still.  The number of people tailgating on the highway with no where else to go looked like accidents ready to happen.

Traffic not only filled the Wisconsin highway lanes, but many carcasses littered the shoulders of the road. Most were deer, but possums and raccoons counted too.

We had to drop down from I-90 to I-80 to get around Chicago and the Great Lakes.  At one point ski runs ended just above the highway.  One resort sign advertised kids ski free.

Today we passed through our first toll booth.  The signs read $1.90 for cars.  However a large motor home towing a car gets a fee of $8.39.  What we got for our fee included some nice pavement for a while.

I spotted a Costco.  Hadn’t seen one of these for a while!

We passed a huge water park with acres of pools and slides.

We passed several of these highway reader board signs.

A little further down the road, we stopped for a 2 ½ mile traffic jam.  The dead stop reminded us of traffic in LA, except this rural area only has fields on each side of the highway.

As it turned out, road construction funneled 2 busy lanes heading eastbound into just one lane.

Check out these move-over markers.

The landscape continues to be farmland in various stages of corn fields.

More wind farms stand over the fields and next to the highway.

 I did see a couple of these yellow fields, and don’t know what they grow.  They don’t resemble any of the canola fields I’ve seen before.

At I-80 we headed east to Joliet, IL.  I had had lots of difficulty finding lodging in this area on a Friday night not far from Chicago.  We stayed at the nicely appointed Hollywood Casino RV Park. Jay says it isn’t as nice as Seven Feathers in Oregon.  We don't stay at 7 Feathers because we usually go straight to Portland.

For dinner we chose to partake of the Friday night seafood buffet.   Of course to a Pacific Northwest girl they have no idea what a seafood buffet should be.  We did find some of the items to be delicious, others not so much.

The dessert area caught our attention, but most desserts looked better than they tasted.   

This casino buffet looks just like others. But we enjoyed it.   The lack of stale cigarette smoke provided a great environment for me.  According to state law, all Illinois casinos must be totally smoke free. They do offer a lanai for smokers, but we didn’t see or smell one.

The bugs aren’t quite as bad here, and the weather was comfortable for Derrille and Jay to do their morning walk before we left.  Lynn and I did our daily exercises too. 

Then off to Shipshewana, IN.

In Indiana the gas prices went up about 30 cents a gallon.

We also passed Toll Booth #2, but only had to pay $5.00.

This appears to be a huge quarry.  This enormous pit went under the highway and off on the other side.

Welcome Indiana

Traffic and rough roads continue to make driving difficult.  Derrille found a truck parking lot where we pulled off to rest.  Everyone walked and stretched their legs.  This lot may hold about 100 semi-trucks.  A few were here now.  We suspect this lot to be quite full as evening comes.

The landscaping has changed a bit.  The farms are not as large.  Several houses make a neighborhood with smaller land units. 

 Fields often bump right against manufacturing plants.

Before exiting I-80/90 we passed several RV manufacturing plants.  I photographed the Grand Design plant for all of my friends who own their Fifth Wheels or trailers.

 We also passed the RV and Motorhome Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN.  We enjoyed visiting there, the last time we passed this way.

Toll booth #3 had no attendant. You just stop and pick up a ticket.  We ended up paying for it as we exited to Shipshewana.  And boy did we pay!  $34.20!

We are in Amish country now.  These homes are owned by the Mennonite or a different Amish sect. You can tell by the cleanliness of the houses and property.

We have 3 days in Shipshewana.  The trip planner, me, forgot to watch the days. The whole town, being Amish and Mennonite remains closed on Sundays.  But a day of rest is always good. The guys went and found the Pumpkin Vine Hiking Trail.  It took some time to find the old railroad trail.  Several trails in the area provide a good hike. The Pumpkin Vine trail crosses by Amish farms for 25 miles from Shipshewana to Elkhart. Tomorrow we go to town.