Benn and Daina - All Aboard

On 28th of July we were thrilled to welcome my eldest son Benn and Daina (his long-suffering girlfriend of 7 years) to join our US RV travels. My daughter Kim has taken two short trips with us in the RV around London, Ontario and again in Nova Scotia, an older brother and his wife have also done a short trip with us in Florida, and my aunt and younger sister spent almost 3 weeks travelling with us through Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, so it is great to have some other family members along for the ride. Now when they read the blog they have a better understanding of our RV lifestyle over here. 

Benn and Daina are rather adventurous people, interrupting their day job of flying A330 Airbuses around the world for Qantas by enjoying pursuits including scuba diving, hiking up Kilimanjaro, parachuting, and currently planning a rickshaw race in India that goes for 2 weeks over a course of  3,500 km (2175 Miles). So on day 1, we drove from Minneapolis up to Lake Superior in Duluth, Wisconsin and while I was planning a leisurely dinner and campfire for the early evening entertainment taking their jet lag into account, Benn had other ideas. He rode a pushbike 1 mile to a nearby marina where he hired a pontoon. He texted us to bring his camera gear and some wine on ice, and to meet him at a dock located at our campground. What a great start to our time together. We had a few delightful hours enjoying the sunset and the passing scenery as we quietly motored along the waterway. 

Daina and I waiting for Benn with the pontoon

Benn Daina and I pose for the photo

Murray keeps the Captain refreshed

Land ahoy!

Drifting as the sun sets

First dinner - after Benn returned the pontoon

First campfire of the trip

Over the following 10 days we left the state of Minnesota and drove the whole length of the state of Wisconsin, then across the breadth of Illinois, and crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa. We then drove south and entered Missouri and passed through Mark Twain's hometown (Hannibal, Missouri) on the Mississippi River, an area which inspired his novels The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. In Arkansas we found a delightful campground in West Memphis, just across the river from Memphis, Tennessee and with only a 20 minute drive to Elvis's home of Graceland. Our campsite in Arkansas was right on the Mississippi River, and it was so amazing for the 4 of us to have a chilled beer in hand, and to just sit and watch the laden barges go downstream to New Orleans or return empty on their route north to St Louis and other ports. Given that Benn and Daina flew into Los Angeles, California, and out of Dallas, Texas, all in all they touched 9 USA states.  Not bad for an 11 day visit!

They both got to drive the RV - back in Australia you need a truck driver's license to drive a 32' RV, but not here in America. Murray and Benn did the bulk of the driving during their visit, but Daina and I were invaluable with our contribution. Actually if I recall, Daina copped the worst road of the trip - narrow and curvy. As well as getting a bird's eye view of the RV lifestyle, they also became aware of some of the limitations, including the fragility of RV systems and accessories. We have a very effective generator on board which allows us to pull over at a rest stop and brew coffee or use the microwave, and even run the main cabin air-conditioner during really hot days. As luck would have it, the generator kept cutting out, and despite a full service of the generator before they arrived, and then replacing a circuit board while we all waited, it appears the generator needs a new fuel pump. As we had already wasted enough time on it, and we would have had to wait another day for the new part to arrive, we decided to forge ahead and we would get it fixed after they left. Consequently, given the daily temperatures of close to 100 F (38 C), it got unpleasantly hot in the main cabin, and we learnt very quickly to put some beers in the freezer for an hour before we were due to pull into a campground. As soon as we were plugged to power, on went the cabin air-conditioner, and out came the beers. We usually only drove 4 hours a day, so that limited our discomfort. 

Benn about to drive off with Daina navigating

Now Daina's turn to drive - Benn suggesting she pull to the left

At one lunchtime stop Daina made up a version of 'Pigs in Bankets' (spicy sausages wrapped in bread pastry then baked in the oven) that I found in my RV cookbook. After demolishing them, we went to check out the lake and Daina noticed these wild strawberries growing. Before she ate one, she conferred with Benn and Murray to see if they were safe to consume. We all ended up eating them - delicious.

Daina making 'Pigs in Blankets'

Daina showing Benn and Murray the wild strawberries

Benn decides they are safe enough to eat and picks some more

We all tried these sweet morsels

Despite the warm evenings, we couldn't resist having a campfire whenever we could. A bundle of firewood usually cost around $6, and it was often augmented with some kindling and other logs gathered by Benn, Daina and Murray (I was usually busy inside preparing dinner). The moon was in full glory during their stay, which added to the ambiance. 

A campfire later in the trip under a full moon

I had booked Benn and Daina into a motel for the first night of the trip on Lake Superior as I wanted them to have a chance to check out the bedding option in the RV before they were committed to sleeping in it. The lounge pulls out to a double bed, and just by adding the 'egg shell' foam from our bed, it made for comfortable sleeping. In the beginning Murray made their bed up while we were still out chatting by the fire, but they took over later in the trip. They obviously weren't with us long enough to get cabin fever, as even though they had the perfect opportunity to stay in a hotel on their last night, I think they had got used to their RV environment and chose to stay with us. It certainly made their visit much more enjoyable having them sleep in the RV, and we all managed surprisingly well with our 24 hr a day togetherness! 

Bed made up for the night - all the curtains closed and blinds down

A repeated pleasure we had was finding campsites right on the banks of the Mississippi River. The best one was the one in Arkansas that I mentioned at the start of this blog. There were seats along the river's edge where we could sit and watch the barges, and even as we sat inside at the dining table to eat dinner (it was like a sauna outside), we could still watch the river traffic (all barges) pass by our campsite.

Daina about to join the guys to watch the barges on the Mississippi 

Another barge goes by...

The next morning we crossed the Mississippi River and found ourselves south of downtown Memphis, and within 20 minutes we had arrived at our final campground of their visit, Graceland RV Park. More on that in the next blog.