Canoetopia

Spent the weekend in Madison, Wisconsin to shop at Canoetopia, a huge gathering for everything to do with canoeing and kayaking.  Many venders selling beautiful handmade and other kinds of both boats, as well as anything you could ever want to pimp your ride, in a very eco-friendly manner of course. We picked up two Werner paddles and two life vests. Now we are ready to try them out, as soon as it's warm enough to get on the water.

No, we didn't go to the capital to demonstrate or even observe. We skirted that part of town. On the way home we did stop at Rock Cut State Park, near Rockford IL to scope out its potential for camping this summer.  It's a lovely park, with a beautiful lake, and one of its camping loops looks like it has some sites that would be big enough. Sycamore, IL also has a small RV park with two ponds that would be perfect for trying out our kayaks. But the RV sites are really close together and it would be a tight squeeze during peak season, especially with our neophyte backing up skills. They seemed to have only a few pull-thru sites.  Its only advantage is that its the closest place to the dealer, Holiday Hour in Cortland, IL.

We need to find someplace to stay right after we pick up the RV, near the dealer so we can get back easily and quickly if we discover any problems or need help figuring out how something works. We think we'll spend at least a week nearby before we head out to South Dakota. During that time we are planning on having a party so our friends can see our new home.  Hope you'll come!