Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - Travel Day to Davenport, IA, Enjoying a Drive Along the Mississippi River

Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - Travel Day to Davenport, IA, Enjoying a Drive Along the Mississippi River

Knowing we would add an hour to our travel this morning, we didn't leave Elkhart County Fairgrounds until 9:17am this morning.  We are loving the temperatures we've enjoyed the past several days - mostly 45-55 mornings, with upper 60's to low 80's during the day.  Fall weather is the best!

I didn't take too many pictures on our drive today.  We took Highway 20 to I-49 where we experience heavy traffic.  Much of the traffic left I-49, heading north to Chicago.  We were glad to see things begin to thin out the further west we traveled.  As we transitioned to I-80, it stayed busy but it was much better than what we experienced on I-49.  

The drive on I-49

Des Plains River at Joliet, IL

My picture of this bridge over the Mississippi River didn't turn out well, but I didn't realize it until now. 

Mississippi River - we are nearing our location.

Hello Iowa!

We arrived at West Lake Park in Davenport, IA at 2:11pm.  It is a city owned park and is laid out very nice.  We stopped at the office where they told us to pick out a site (no reservations, it's a first come, first serve campground).  Over the phone they told me Mon-Thurs is usually not too busy at this time of year.  We didn't go too far before we chose Site 6, mostly because it was shaded, and we were ready to stop!  Since the temperatures were in the low 80's we chose it, hoping we could get by without turning the air conditioner on.  After setting up, we walked back to the office to pay our fee of $24 for the night with full hookups.  (It worked, we never turned the AC on).

Dean got our chairs out and we enjoyed setting outside.  As the sun moved a little closer, I extended the awning to shade us a bit more.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  

A little before 4pm, I suggested we take a ride to the Mississippi River, which wasn't too far away.  I wish I had realized this when I made our reservations.  We would have chosen one of the Corps of Engineer Parks along the river, although the park we are in is very nice.  We just enjoy being near the water.

One of two campgrounds we stopped at.  Several sites were backed up near the river.

The Mighty Mississipi - Upstream

Downstream

A boat pushing barges upstream

Trees are starting to turn here.

Larger barge pushing approximately 16-20 barges upstream.

This was another park along the Mississippi.

When we returned, I warmed up a hamburger for Dean, adding cheese and tomato, as well as some of the baked beans I made a few days ago.  Since there was only one hamburger and I wasn't very hungry I just ate a piece of turkey and swiss cheese rolled up, sliced tomatoes and a few of the baked beans.  It satisfied us both, and best of all there was very little cooking involved since it was mostly leftovers.

After cleaning up, I brought the blog up to date for Sunday/Monday.  I worked on it while listening to Dean's family video chat with his siblings this evening.  They do this every other Tuesday evening.  I think it's great for them to keep in touch with each other like this.

Thanks again for following along.  We've been so busy I haven't been able to comment on many of the blogs I read - but I try to keep up with all of you as much as possible.  I am ready to get back to slower travel days, and staying in one site for at least 3-4 days.  It's much more relaxing!