Sonya's Blog - Day 21 - A Hard Day for Sterling

Sonya’s Blog - Day 21 - July 13 - The long drive to Chicago

This was not my best driving day. We wanted to explore some of Route 66 on the way to Chicago. Everything was going fine until I missed one of the turns. I tried to turn around in a parking lot, but it was too tight and the front of the Fifth Wheel hit the side of the truck and there is now a nice little dent in that side of the truck - Whoops! Blake was super impressed. Well, we got out of there after much backing up and manoeuvring. Then he wanted to stop in Litchwood at the Artson Restaurant because it has been there for ages and is quite famous. Well after a lot of drama trying to find parking and worrying that the wires on the side road were indeed high enough for our fifth wheel to fit under, we got to the restaurant to find out it is closed on Mondays. So we went to the next door bakery/restaurant and ordered - that place has been open since 1922. Off we went again, with me still driving as I had no interest in driving anywhere near Chicago. We decided to just get on the interstate as Route 66 wasn’t really working out with the 5th wheel and my amazing driving skills.

I drove for a bit more until we needed gas and then Blake took over. We are now heading into the Chicago area, 20 minutes from our Campground.

Things went well getting to our campground, no major issues. Set up was a whole different story. We had to bring up one side of the fifth wheel to get it level almost level before we took it off the truck. We got everything together, but then the stupid hitch would’t unlock, which has happened before. We don’t know why this happens, but the only way we have figured out how to get it unstuck so it will unlock is to pull back and forth and jam the brakes a bit. So we did this and it finally unlocked, but we were off our blocks by this time. So we tried to pull forward on our blocks and the whole fifth wheel came off the hitch and landed on the back of our truck. Not cool. After some freaking out, Blake managed to get the front legs down. I had to stay in the truck with the brake on because the truck was trying to slide forward a bit, even with the emergency brake on. I sure didn’t want the truck to move at all. We managed to get the fifth wheel off the truck and the damage was not so bad, another new dent on one side - we were surprised. We thought the tailgate would be screwed and not open and close. Even our topper closes fine. Hardly a scratch on the fifth wheel. We didn’t mess around with it anymore, just got it level and set up. Not our best day, Blake and I both had a drink after that.

This campground is much nicer than the one in St. Louis so we are hoping it will be a good stay. We don’t spend a lot of time at our campsite usually as we are usually so busy exploring the area. However, it is nice to have a nice campsite for the times we are there. We have a few days of exploring Chicago by ourselves and then we are being joined by Blake’s sister and her family, our two lovely nieces; Claire (5) and Kate (3) and our wonderful nephew; Simon (1). I’m thinking of something……SIMON! Also, Adam will be there (brother-in-law) to give me a bad time about everything, especially our new dents in our truck.

There was a flash lightening storm later in the night, which was pretty cool. The video and pictures did not turn out so well though. Then it poured rain and hailed a little. Kizmet was nervous, but then went out later when it stopped and was okay. We turned on the fans to high, so she couldn’t hear it as well. I finished my book as well, Snow Job by William Deverell. It was party mystery, part political drama. It was entertaining enough, had some oddball characters in it. I didn’t love the ending though, more like a to be continued. The central character is Arthur Beauchamp and he has been in several Deverell novels, of which I have read none. There is obviously going to be another Beauchamp novel, could already be out I guess. Tash wants me to read Brain of Fire next, a book she got from her Aunt. It is a memoir about a girl who goes phychotic and they cannot figure out what is wrong with her. It is about her trials and tribulations in the mental health system. Should be interesting.

Hopefully tomorrow will go better.

Sonya