The last time we stayed at Wisconsin’s Wyalusing Sate Park was 14 years ago.
We camped at site #130
Our view from our RV window
We started coming to this state park in 2006. This is our 4th time staying at the Wisconsin Ridge Campground.
My last memory of camping here was during a strong Spring thunderstorm in 2009. It rolled up the Wisconsin River as I was taking a shower in the nearby shower house. As I left the shower building, I had to scramble back to our RV to quickly raise our outdoor awning because the storm was threatening to blow it off. After we raised the awning, we came into our RV covered with wet leaves that had blown off the trees. Then we watched several tents blow over and an awning rip off a nearby camper. It was very exciting.
In 14 years Wyalusing campground has changed. It seems smaller. Maybe that’s because the foliage between each site has been allowed to grow wild.
What makes this campground special is the views of the Wisconsin River that lies below the ridge.
Most of my photos are “washed out” because of the haze from the Canadian wild fires.
Looking down at the Wisconsin River from the ridge
We stopped in the Love’s RV Hookup in Morris, IL today. Interesting.
The view out our front window
When I think of Love’s, I think of truckers coming in for a diesel refill. I don’t think of a RVer camping spot. However, my overall first impression is positive. The RV Hookups concept seems like a good idea for short term (1 day) RV stopovers, but it is definitely not a destination.
Our site came with a lawn. Flirt loved it.
The Positive: a full-hookup (50A) camping site with WiFi and a nearby gas station. In addition, there’s a Love’s store and one or two restaurants. In our case it was a Hardee’s and a nap nap Middle Eastern grill. (We chose the latter.) Plus, there was a laundry, propane refills, and a small dog park.
$3 to wash, $3 to dry
The Negatives: it’s loud. Vehicles, particularly trucks, are coming and going at all hours. And the noise is not hundreds of feet away – it’s under 100 feet from your site. Plus, the WiFi was disappointing. The free WiFi was not worth using, and I was unable to connect to the Premium WiFi ($5.99 for 24 hours) I signed up for despite several attempts and a call to tech support. Overall, this pointed to a “disconnect” between the RV sites and Love’s itself. For example, the Love’s staff really were fairly clueless about the RV park on their property. Their standard reply to any RV question was “Check out the app”. I did. Not really helpful for my questions.
Conclusion: Would I stay here again? Sure, if there weren’t any other campgrounds around.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Fallingwater house in Mill Run, PA has been on our bucket list for a long time.
We took a 2-hour tour of the house with eight other people on Saturday, June 10th.
But first, here’s a recap of our road trip from Tecumcari to Pennsylvania’s Ohiopyle State Park, located 15 minutes from Fallingwater . . .
The Journey to Fallingwater
The walk-in tornado shelter in the Shamrock, TX campground was anything but comforting.
In Arkansas we noticed Flirt limping. We knew she had arthritis, but her limp was debilitating so we we able to get her into a vet in Russellville.
The vet gave Flirt a thorough exam and prescribed a really effective medication
Long story short, after a “miracle” shot Flirt was back in business the following day.
Next stop, West Memphis, AR and the Mississippi River. We camped just feet away from the great river and watched these huge barges travel up and down the Mississippi . . .
Finally, let me just give a shout out to Bucky Bee’s BBQ in Cave City, Kentucky. We ordered a half rack of ribs and we’re still eating them. Yum!
The “pancake” is corn bread
Fallingwater
Our tour of the Fallngwater grounds and house started at about 8:30 am on a beautiful sunny morning. An unusual day as we’ve encountered our fair share of rain and storms on this trip.
First impressions: it looked smaller than I expected. Besides that, the house was superb. Incredible lines and an infinite numbers of views inside and out.
The stairs to the creek and the “plunge pool”
The kitchen cabinets
Even the basement has a window
The staff room next to the kitchen
Bentwood chairs
Living Room
To me, this room and its patio is the heart of the house.
The step entrance opens up for an instant cool air vent
The Window Tower
This tower travels the length of all the floors, but hides each floor so that it looks like a continuous window.
Upstairs
The Living Room stairs up to the next floor
Upstairs bedroom and the “window” desk
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom Patio
Master Bedroom Desk
Master Bedroom Patio
View from top floor patio
A random view
Mrs Liliane Kaufmann
Final Thoughts
Fallingwater is a work of art, but, like other Wright buildings, it leaks.
The house and the guest house above Fallingwater are constantly being maintained. The houses’s location has much to do with that. The house sits on a creek and water constantly flows through the surrounding rocks. (It also flows inside the house.)
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