The DRIVE!
We began the 2,000 drive to Peoria, IL as hoped Thursday morning. One small little item forgotten was our AGLCA (American Great Loop Cruisers Association) Burgee! Ours is white which means this is our first time around the loop. Gold means one time around has been completed, Platinum means multiple times. Flying the burgees is a way to meet other loopers along the way with common goals and knowledge to share. Luckily we were only 4 miles away…oops sorry Darth.
The highlight on our fist day was meeting my brother Chris and sister in law Linda in Post Falls, ID for a quick bite as they drove from Sandpoint, ID just to see us off which is an hour away. We continued our drive and after 477 miles stopped across the street from the Love’s Truck Stop in Missoula, MT. I was not feeling the love as I pictured our stops at friendly cute little RV parks along the way. After being woken by rain, thunder and lightening I was surprised how easy it was to fall back asleep in our cozy v-berth on the boat. And discovered in the morning, that most of the truckers had left—-perhaps the thunder drowned out the sounds of the engines but I decided the truck stops will do just fine the rest of the way. Not that there was much choice. : )
Friday, our second day’s travel, took us to the Flying J truckstop in Hardin, MT. Montana is beautiful! We stopped after 400 miles so we would continue our drive in daylight hours. Dinner cuisine that night was corndogs, cantalope and chips. And much needed showers!! tmi?
Saturday, we got up early and thouroghly enjoyed the drive—passed briefly into Wyoming then South Dakota. However, the east part of SD on I-90 is very straight, and so much construction at this time. We were beginning to wish the drive was over. Then we had a blip as we crossed the Missouri River. We needed fuel. so pulled off the freeway at the Speedway Fuel Stop, near Chamberlain, SD. Oh my we were so glad we stopped as Darth discovered the back tire of the trailer had peeled off. The fender was bent and took out the back light. All was fixable because I’m convinced Darth can fix anything. We spent the night at the Speedway Fuel Stop—knowing we would be tire hunting the next day.
Sunday we discovered that finding a tire shop open with the right sized tire was a bit problematic. We found the tire at Fleet Farm (really cool store) but the tire shop was closed. We phoned a few places and found that Walmart would mount the spare but it would be a two hour wait. This turned out to be a 4-5 hour wait in the Walmart parking lot—it was dissapointing but we rolled with it. : ) Yes I did say that. After FINALLY getting back on the road, we wanted to make it to t he next Flying J which was in Avoca, IA. This would make a short-ish drive on Monday. Oh this was the worst part of the trip—lots of rain and BIG trucks like to fly by in the rain. Plus it was dark….we made it fine showered and both had a much needed sleep.
Monday—we drove through more rain but at least we could see the 80 mile an hour huge trucks fly by. It was time to coordinate where the boat would go into the water, and where we would spend the night. I received a text from a fellow looper that they had heard the Peoria Yacht Club had everything we would need. I couldn’t find a Peoria Yacht Club but did find a Peoria Boat Club. So on the way, I phoned Brandon at the Peoria Boat Club. On the phone he couldn’t be more helpful—we coordinated our arrival and we were met with Brandon, Fred and wife Mary at the PBC entrance. They let us stay the night in the locked parking lot, which was such a wonderful welcome to begin our Great Loop Adventure.
Tuesday, today we put the boat in the water. With the help of Fred and Mary, Darth was able to secure the truck/trailer at a nearby storage yard. We can’t thank the folks at Peoria Boat Club enough for their hospitality!!