The Long Hot Road North

It's been a long hot summer, perhaps the hottest on record for our part of west central North Carolina.   For the most part Dorcas and I have stayed close to home.  Except for a 2-week trip down east and a short 4-night trip to Mt. Airy, the coach has not moved since we returned from Florida in April.  

In the meantime, we have been doing home chores and other local activities. I have been playing pickleball regularly at one or the other of a number of new pickleball venues in Winston Salem.  All of a sudden: so many courts, so little time!  Meanwhile, Dorcas goes to yoga at the Robinhood YMCA almost every day.  

Ginger says "I'm ready to go!"

So now it's time for a trip.  Faithful readers will know that we head north and west about this time every year for our annual Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness adventure.  I packed up all our wilderness gear, while Dorcas prepared our meals for 14 days, with numerous trips to the grocery store and ran the dehydrator non-stop for a week.  

On Monday, August 21, we set off. Our plan is to work our way to Hinkley MN, where we have a reservation for 7 nights at the St. Croix River Resort. Then we will spend a few nights in Duluth MN, a few nights in Ely MN and then put in to the Boundary Waters for 13 nights.  Coming out of the wilderness we will spend a few more nights in Ely and then head due south to attend 3 back to back to back RV rallies in Missouri sponsored by the Newmar Kountry Klub, the owners club for our Newmar Dutch Star.  Finally,  we head due east, returning home the 3rd week of October.

We fit right in with the big boys

A man and his dog at the rest area

Our first driving day was a long one.  Normally, when we are on long trips and need to make some miles, we find a place to park for the night at some place like a highway rest area or Walmart.  However with 90° plus temperatures that idea was not very appealing.  Dorcas searched along our route and found a county fairground near Dayton OH that had RV spots, and she made a quick online reservation at the Greene County Expo Center in Xenia OH.  From our camp I could see and hear pickleball play a few hundred yards away.  However, the temperature was still over 90°, and I was weary after driving 388 miles, so I settled for a margarita.

So close!!!!

We didn't have an opportunity to explore Xenia, but driving through town it appeared to be very scenic and quaint.  Xenia is nicknamed "The Bicycle Capital of the Midwest".  A neighbor said the whole town is one big bike trail.  Dorcas and I both have Catrikes, recumbent 3-wheelers.   Catrike will be exhibiting at the 2023 Cycle-Con event at Greene County Expo Center in Xenia in September.  Cycle-Con is the nation's largest gathering of recumbent & specialty cycling brands.  Too bad we won't be coming back this way then.

Day 2 took us through Indiana and Illinois.  I have had a strong interest in buying a Rivian, an EV vehicle from a relatively new EV company.  The Rivian factory is only a few miles off our route in Normal IL. In September last year we stopped by the factory on our way home from Minnesota, but it was a Saturday when we passed through, and things there were mostly closed.  Although some production was occurring, we weren't  able to really see much.  I had been trying for a week to schedule a factory tour, but I wasn't getting any feedback.  We stopped in anyway, but couldn't find a place to park, so we split. 

About 1 1/2 years ago I submitted a deposit and a reservation for a Rivian R1T pickup.  I was actually offered one this spring but the timing was wrong: We were in Key West at the time, and the truck was shipped to Richmond VA, the nearest delivery option to Winston Salem, so I passed on that particular vehicle.  In the meantime, we have changed our thinking and are now considering the Rivian R1S, their SUV.  Unfortunately, neither Rivian model is towable 4-down behind the motor home, which would necessitate hauling it on a flat-bed trailer if we wanted to travel with it, which is a severe inconvenience.  Rivian initially concentrated on production of the R1T, which can now be acquired fairly quickly.  The R1S is currently in short supply, with a long wait time for delivery.  They have consequently ramped up production of the R1S such that now they are producing 70% R1S vs 30% R1T. I have subsequently changed my delivery address to our home in Florida so I can take delivery and get service in Orlando, only about 40 miles from our winter home.  There is also some information suggesting the drive train can be modified to allow for towing.  We will ponder the options over the fall and perhaps be prepared to take delivery in the winter in Florida.

Dorcas found us a nice camping spot at Comlara Park in Hudson IL, about 10 miles north of the Rivian factory in Normal.  We had 50A electric so we could run both roof airs at full blast.  It was a very nice park on a large lake for only $28/night.  In the meantime I'm talking to my Rivian guide, Aaron, about the possibility of a factory tour or any other reason to loop back to the factory the next morning.  A Rivian guide is basically my personal contact with Rivian as I negotiate the reservation and delivery process; I had been communicating with Aaron for over a year.   Aaron said he would love to meet us and talk.  He was still working on a factory tour for us, but the prospects were doubtful since there was a special event occurring, with lots of VIPs on site this day.

Site #8 at Comlara Park in Hudson IL

Aerial view at Comlara Park

So, the next morning we looped back to Normal to meet Aaron and see what there was to see.

The Whitleys with Aaron, my Rivian guide

Notice the Rivian trademark formed in the flower bed

Free charging at Rivian!

Even the mowers at Rivian are electric!  On every grassy patch these electric robotic mowers were hard at work.  Click HERE to see one in action.

From the lobby area at the front of the factory, vehicles could be seen coming off the assembly lines and queuing up for final quality checks.  We got a good look at Rivian's EDV (Electric Delivery Vehicle) being produced for Amazon.  Amazon has contracted for over 100,000 EDV's and so far more than 5000 units have been delivered and are on the road.  

Rivian EDV

The RDV has a range of ~150 miles, very suitable for use as a local delivery van.  Currently Amazon has an exclusive contract for this vehicle, but Rivian is hoping to open it for sale to other fleet customers.  Could RV builds be around the corner???!!!

After a few hours at Rivian we doubled back to the campground, packed up the coach and by noon were northbound again.  Through Northern Illinois and into Wisconsin the temperature soared to over 100°.  Even running the dash air and both roof airs, it was still hot in the coach.

On Day 3 Dorcas found us another nice city park just 1/2 mile off our route in New Lisbon WI.  It was on a wide meandering river, had 50A electric and was only $25 for the night.  Sweet!  The park was nearly deserted, the hosts were cordial and the temperature was dropping.  We drove only 260 miles today, and then had a fine happy hour!

Site #24 at Riverside Park CG in New Lisbon WI

Aerial view at Riverside View Campground

On Day 4 the heat spell seemed to break and the temperatures became quite pleasant.

We arrived at St. Croix River Resort in Hinkley MN around noon and settled in to a nice pull-through site with 50A electric, water and sewer.  We are here for 7 nights for FREE!!!  We had scored 3 coupons for 3 separate weeks of free camping when we visited a sister resort in June, also for free.  Life is good!

Site 58 at St. Croix River Resort

We have no over-the-air TV reception here.  Our Dish Network satellite probably would not work due to heavy tree cover, but I never raised it to find out.  However, we do have our new T-Mobile 5G Gateway router, which is displaying 3 bars signal strength, thanks in part to our on-board cellular booster amplifier. With our plethora of streaming apps we have all the programing TV we care to watch.

Ginger is happy to be stationary for a while

We had planned to paddle some local rivers while here with time on our hands.  The St. Croix, Namekagon, Kettle and Yellow Rivers are all nearby and all represented great opportunities.  In the end we did not paddle at all.  We would have had to do a moderately long bike shuttle to do anything, and I wasn't sure I had the energy.  Also, it was nice to simply hangout and do nothing and enjoy the cool weather, which is what we did for 7 days.  We did break bad and drove to town to see "Barbie" at the Timbers Theater in Siren WI.

A trophy buck in Danbury WI

Our route to date showing camps

We have traveled 1188 miles since leaving home.  Tomorrow we will move north only 70 miles to Duluth MN where we will spend 3 nights.   On the way we will buy some groceries and top off the diesel.  Speaking of diesel: We had thought this would be a cheap trip fuel-wise.  In July we paid $3.04 per gallon using our discount fuel card.  Currently, in Duluth, diesel is $4.09 and seems to be going up about $0.20 every week.  Oh well, but I guess we have been partially offsetting the high price of fuel with cheap/free camping, at least so far.

As we were packing to leave Hinckley we found this fungal mass enveloping our fresh water hose:

Nature says it's time to move on