On the Road Again - Driving East

We had our first cool night.  We had to use an extra blanket and turn on the space heater to warm up the motorhome.  Took our time packing up as we only had 200 miles to Pike Peaks State Park located along the Mississippi River.  We stopped for gas at the Meskawaki Travel Center.  We discovered that the Meskawaki Indian Tribe own the travel center and a lot of the land around this county.  The perfect pump for us to us was occupied by a truck with a trailer attached.  This situation reminded us of a pet peeve we have as we travel and that is people leaving their vehicle at the pump while they go into the store and shop.  This station had a very nice truck parking area where you could park while you are shopping but no....this person chose to occupy the only pump we could use.  The owner of the truck finally came out from the store but then, the passenger got out of the truck and went into the store.  Still, the truck does not move but continues to occupy the pump.  If we hadn't needed gas, we would have left.  Why are people so inconsiderate of others?  Listen people...when you are finished pumping gas and there is somewhere else you can park, please move to that parking place.

This is a Meskwaki Indian child in traditional Indian clothing.  I looked up information on the tribe and they have a very interesting history that is both alike and different from other Plains Indian Tribes.  They fought against the French with the Americans in the French/Indian Wars in the 1840's.  Despite this in 1845 the tribe was removed from Iowa to a reservation in Kansas.  Some of the tribe remained hidden in the woodlands of Iowa.  In 1856 the State of Iowa enacted a law allowing those who had remained in Iowa to purchase land.  Those members of the tribe began to purchase land and others returned from Kansas.   Because their ancestors had the foresight to purchase land, the tribe in Iowa never lived on a reservation and did not become a part of the reservation system in which other tribes exist. 

 

Meskwaki Plaza and Truck Center.  There is an option for tribe members to push a button which would allow them to purchase gas at a different price then regular customers.  We can't complain because our price was $2.99 per gallon.

Scenes along Highway 30 east.

After we turned north on Highway 136/52, we were surprised to find the roads were very hilly and cut through rock bluffs.  The hills were large enough to warrant a right lane for slow moving vehicles.  We took advantage of that to let other cars behind us pass.

Our first glimpse of the Mighty Mississippi River.

We finally made it to Pikes Peak State Park.  The last seven miles of the drive was on what is called "The Great River Road."  It was a very rough road.  We are going to try to find another way to get from this park to our park in Illinois.  We will be here two days driving the car.  Hopefully in our exploration of the area we will find a better route for the motorhome when we leave here.

We have a nice site nestled among tall pine trees.  It is well-spaced from other campers.  We should have a good night's rest because it is going to be cool tonight.  Tomorrow we will explore this part of Iowa.