The Land of the Hoosiers

We are camped at Thousand Trails Horseshoe Lakes about 15 miles north of Terra Haute , IN, in the heart of the Wabash River valley. We had a choice of several Thousand Trails preserves as a layover spot on our way to Amana Colonies, IA. We had also seriously considered Thousand Trails Indian Lakes, just west of Cincinnati, which was actually closer to our intended route. We ruled that preserve out primarily because it was so close to Cincinnati, and we felt like it would be busy with weekend campers from the city. We were also intrigued by the description of Horseshoe Lakes, which boasts about a dozen spring-fed lakes on-site. It turns out we made a great choice. I think Horseshoe Lakes is the most pleasant TT preserve we have been in yet. It has a relatively small number of campsites, but is a large park and very spread-out. Most sites are on a lake, or just across the road from a lake. I can launch the canoe and fish from our campsite. It is a very quiet and scenic place. This morning the place was only about 25% full, but a lot of people did come in this afternoon, and it may be close to full tonight. I think most are weekenders and will be gone tomorrow afternoon.

Matilda is growing about an inch a day (we have nick-named her "Kudzu") and is acquiring great stamina. Today we took her for several long walks and let her play with a few of the neighbor dogs. She had a great time, and it is doing her good letting her wear herself out chasing and playing with canine companions. We let her get in the canoe a few times, but the boat was on the grass, not in the water. We let her get into the water once, but she didn't want to go in a second time. Perhaps we will take her out in the canoe tomorrow. We have also started teaching her some commands. She is as smart as a whip. It won't be long until she is outsmarting us.

We ran into some Safari TREK friends, Al and Cathy here. They have been here three weeks, but are leaving tomorrow. We will see them again at the Safari rally next week and again at the FMCA convention in St. Paul MN the week after that. It seems everywhere we go, we run into old friends.

We will stay here until Monday, then head north and west towards Amana Colonies for the first of our three scheduled rallies. If all goes well, we will arrive in Amana, IA on Tuesday.