Timberline Campground — Waukee, IA

Timberline Site #56

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THIS JUST IN . . . added our Residential Refrigerator Upgrade to the Projects pages.

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We left Geneseo, IL fairly early (for us) and planned on camping in Walnut Woods State Park near Des Moines, IA.

However, we couldn’t find out if any campsites were available, so we looked for a Plan B and found Timberline Campground in Waukee, IA.

We arrived in the early afternoon.

I spent much of the day rejuvenating our water filtration system which meant replacing two water filters (sediment and carbon block), recharging the water softener, and flushing the water holding tank.

Yipee! And in 90 degree heat and humidity.

However, Jan did the most important work. She scored a great meal from a local Paneras and bought some Danish for breakfast tomorrow.

NEXT STOP: Colorado Springs or Bust. We have reservations for Sept 17, but they’ll be a few stops before we arrive.

Red Roof Inn — Elkhart, IN

While our RV was having a new fridge installed, we whiled away two nights at a Red Roof Inn in Elkhart, IN.

We chose this motel because it was near the top of a list of “dog friendly” lodgings. Some motels let you have pets. Very handy, but I felt for the cleaning staff because after two days the carpeting was getting thick with Golden Retriever hair.

However, we ended up walking Flirt and Ellie more here than some of our recent campground stays.

Also, there was a Menards next door so I killed a morning hiking around the store.

We’ll post photos from our fridge update in a few days, but for now here are some photos from our Red Roof stay . . .

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NEXT STOP:  Des Moines, IA

MasterTechRV — Elkhart, IN

So as much as we tried to keep our food cold in our 12-year-old Dometic NDR1292 fridge, the temp just kept on rising. This was especially apparent during the recent MidWest heat wave. For example,  in the mornings the temps hovered around 40 degrees. However, whenever we opened the fridge door for more than a couple seconds, the temp would shoot up to 45 degrees and stay there for hours.

Because the safe operating temperature of a refrigerator is 40 degrees or below, we thought it was best to replace our original fridge with a standard residential type.

No mean task.

Since my “heavy lifting” days are done, I looked for an RV service who could do the work and searched the RVing forums for suggestions: MasterTech RV in Elkhart, IN.

So . . . like a rubber band . . . we left Geneseo, IL this morning and headed east 250 miles to Elkhart, IN — instead of west towards Colorado Springs, CO (our next destination).

We’re replacing our 12 cf Dometic with an 11.7 cf Whirpool WRT111SFA. The install was quoted at 20 to 25 hours of labor, so we should be out of here Wednesday or Thursday. We’ll spend those days in a local motel while our new fridge is installed.

But tonight we’re camped out in the MasterTech RV “campground” along with several other RVs awaiting service. Some photos . . .

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It’s Tuesday . . . It Must Be Time To Replace Something — Geneseo, IL

So on Tuesday our 12-year-old bathroom roof fan gave up the ghost. Though we have two roof fans (one in the WC and the other in the kitchen), the bathroom fan is fairly important.

We usually flick it on when, well, you know, we use the loo. The fan covers up for, well, you know — especially during the middle of the night.

Anyway, a replacement fan was ordered with a wireless remote control (hubba hubba), and I was able to install it during a break in the heat wave we’ve been having in the Midwest. Lucky me.

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Change of Plan — Geneseo, IL

One of the Main Street Geneseo Pigs

We tried — really tried — to camp at the site we had reserved at Johnson-Sauk Recreation Area, but after a good hour of trying to jockey our motorhome into our site, it was no dice.

Our site (and many others) was not level and there were culverts on either side of the site.

At one point Jan suggested that we just drive across the entire grass campground to get into our site.

I think that’s when we knew it was time to get another campground.

We lucked out. We were able to find a campground where we could stay over through the upcoming Labor Day weekend.

We celebrated by dining out at a local restaurant . . .

What’s with the pigs?