On The Road Again - The Fryer's 2011 USA Tour: MONTICELLO, INDIANA

2011 USA TOUR SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

2011 USA TOUR SUMMARY & HIGHLIGHTS

· August 15, 2010 to November 22, 2011

· 15 months, 450 days/nights of camping

· 22 states visited + 7 states twice = 29 states

· 7,493 miles travelled + approximately 2,500 miles in the car sightseeing = about 10,000 miles

· About 1428 gallons of fuel used – about $5569

· No breakdowns, no flat tires, no accidents, no near misses – (knock on wood!)

HIGHLIGHTS

· Seeing National Monuments and Sites – Mt. Rushmore, Black Hills, Bad Lands, etc.

· Viewing unbelievable scenery in all the states visited

· 3-day authentic wild west covered wagon train trail ride – no roads, just plains

· 3-day riding horses out in the North Dakota plains

· Fishing with a National Champion Tournament Fisherman on the Missouri River

· Seeing my grandfather’s land in ND (homesteaded 100 yrs ago)

· Staying on a Sioux Indian Reservation right along the river

· Camping at Buffalo Chip in the middle of The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally – Sturgis, SD

· Visiting our Bus Chassis & Interior Builder’s factories

· Meeting new RV camping friends – plans to meet them again

· Most of all – meeting a wonderful, wonderful couple in Mandan, ND

· Absolute Most of all – being together to see and do all this

Sunday, November 13, 2011

MONTICELLO, INDIANA - WHITE OAKS RV PARK ON THE LAKE

Arrived in Indiana just in time for the change of color of the leaves, October 7 - October 17, 2011. This is my old stomping grounds as a child. I grew up in Monticello, lived on Lake Shafer and went to school in a little ole schoolhouse in town. The following pictures are of our location on Lake Shafer across from an amusement park called Indiana Beach. The house on the hill has been built recently where our house was back in the 50's. My swimming career began around the age of 5 and at 7 years old I swam across the lake (with boat traffic and all) because my sister took the boat and would not take me. So, I swam there. Boy did I get in trouble!!! I lived there from age 5 to 13 when my parents moved 35 miles south to Lafayette, IN (home of Purdue University). After all, the only commerce at the time was growing corn and my dad was in the fish business. We had a wonderful time touring and recalling old memories. AND, we met a couple who have been full-time RVing for 4 years. Marty & Kay from Denver and their great little dogs have become friends and we will be meeting them in Florida next month. Marty has been teaching me how to blog and we then met them in Kentucky a few weeks later. They gave us our first lessons in kayaks and we didn't tip over either. While we stayed in Monticello, we made several trips to Lafayette to visit Purdue (I graduated there in '64), my old high school, met some old acquaintances, ate world famous hamburgers at the Triple XXX and ice cream at the Frozen Custard. More on those trips in the Lafayette blog. Very well run park, clean and extremely comfortable.

Beautiful time of the year to see the leaves

More vibrant colors

Nearby town of Monon, home of the Monon Railroad

Small and quaint town

My grade school. Didn't get kicked out at age 5, but did get in a fight the first day of school while riding on the school bus

Looking at Indiana Beach from our side of Lake Shafer

How could a kid not want to go there? Look at all the fun - all you have to do is swim over there! (age 7)

This was our property, this house replaced ours.

Our property was from the end of the wall on this side to around the corner.

Our house was up on a hill like this on waterfront property. That's Joan on their front porch making herself at home.

Corn, Corn, Corn everywhere.


Dumb, dumb, dumb but as kids we climbed to the top of the bridge and jumped off into the water. I don't think my parents ever knew or I surely would have heard about that.