Day Eight, Davenport Iowa
Spoiling myself, on the cheap.
For someone who likes to boondock solo, this is my second commercial camp stay of the trip (and the year). Actually, it’s the Bald Eagle Campground in Scott County Park, and there are several campgrounds in this very sizable park. The attractions: level, concrete pads, full hookups, and balky free WiFi. The overnight heat and humidity the last couple of days have been getting to me, and for $21/day for enough power to run the air conditioner, electric elements of the water heater, and the computer and TV, I’m sold. This evening, I shall be Mr. Stinky no more.
A perfectly paved road wanders through the entire park. Iowa is so GREEN!
I’m not sure what tomorrow will bring, as a storm wave has been slowly catching up to me each day from behind. It’s supposed to rain very convincingly tonight, and then off and on through tomorrow. I only really care about wind. A strong wind has been problematic throughout today, pushing me sideways in a varying 20-25 MPH blow, I’d guess. Sure, mileage dropped because of tire drag, but I had to drop from 60 to 55 MPH to make steering less challenging. Between the wind and the wake of passing semis, it was no picnic. One guy in a big motorhome with a towed car behind blew by me, and he was wig-wagging like crazy. Kinda unsettling to watch. I’m not sure why he was doing that to himself without some crisis as a motivator. If it looks to be both rain and crosswind tomorrow, I may chill here for another day and catch up on emails.
Iowa roadtrippin’.
I finally stopped for lunch today at Maid-Rite, a fast food joint dating back to 1926. It’s long-since been a franchise, and I wanted to see what the deal is. It’s “loose meat”. That is, hamburger crumbles instead of a pattie, spooned into a hamburger bun. I thought that could get pretty tasty, and ordered what started the ball rolling for them, with ketchup, onion, and pickle. Somehow, I don’t think that what they serve today is the same as what they originally served. It was sort of like a smallish pile of uniformly brown hamburger grains held in a bun (by you, as best you can). They also supply a spoon. I kind of expected the browning you’d find from a griddle or pan. No doubt it’s not as toxic as the sauce and calorie-laden McDonalds board of fare, but I had to rate it as passable, and I’d one day see what else they had. I have to wonder what the weight of the meat in there was. The chain is based out of Iowa, and is popular there.
Iowa is less scenic that Kansas, but does have an abundance of both forests and farmland. They also seem to have some kind of all-time record along I-80 for roadkill, principally deer. They also have the best public radio stations, their span wide in including very good choices in significant 1920s-1940s music vocals, and well done foodie-related shows that make you want to try different things. I was sad when I passed out of range of each one.
Strolling Amok 
It certainly looks beautiful where you are. Love that first pic of the Defiant!
I like to plug in at least once a week when traveling just to recharge myself as well as my van. My alternator and solar panels actually keep my batteries charged just fine but I like to dump and fill before it becomes critical in case I decide to stay someplace off grid for awhile.
Doug
Long time no hear, you never come to visit my blog 😦 I finally got my 2130 solar watts on line, but now there is a guy with, can you believe it 3130 watts on his 24′ trailer…so Im gonna have to upgrade a little to keep up. I can’t just sit still while some young punk -upstart outdoes me. I just received some bendable Renogy 100 watt panels, super cool only 3 lbs each
Now I can fold a easy 1000 watts under my arms to set up just anywhere. You could even glue them to your roof or side of your trailer. 1000 watts = 33 Lbs , the old panels 1000 watts = 210 lbs. Im also looking at Lithium batteries the old 400 AH =250Lbs , Lithium 400AH = 120 lbs , there is a nice 300 lbs diet.
http://www.renogy-store.com/100watts-bendable-panel-p/rng-100db.htm
Not sure whats going on with your trip days countdown are you doing 80 days around America or something like that ?
Cheers Jerry
Oh, I think I last gawked at your site when I was near the Grand Canyon. Glad you have all your solar up, but am surprised you are adding more. I hadn’t thought about such things in competitive terms, but whatever floats your boat! 5,000 solar watts ought to let you dry laundry in an electric dryer while your window air conditioner is running, hey? You must be out of trailer real estate by now, so are you going to lay the new panels on the ground or what?
Since my panels are not permanently mounted, only the house pack charges during travel. So over long distances, I can’t use the trailer in the same way I can as when it’s parked and panels are deployed. In order to manage this dysfunctional usage time, I break up long trips into daily pieces. The day numbering is simply a way to indicate that the trip is planned rather than impulsive wandering.