08-15-2015, 08:11 PM
The Becker's Summer Run 2015
Well, we decided on a whim to hit the road one last time before the end of the 2015 summer vacation. The girls will be going back to school in a week so it's now or never. Next week I'm starting the build for our Newell Shop and a production greenhouse for the girls. We took of with no real game plan or set route. We figured it was best that way.
08-12; pack clothes for the girls and us, get the food ready. Final walk around for me, rechecking fluids and pressures on the 74. Do people name their Newell? Jimmy did you have a name for this girl?
08-13; throw in the food in the fridge. There's still room in the fridge and a couple empty pantry shelves. Add more food just in case! Mostly cookies, brownies, ice cream and candy. For the girls of course, we have 6 but only four are going to make the trip.
We take off around 11:00. Heading north to a county park my buddy told me about. Stopped to fuel up and gave a quick tour to a nice couple who wanted to see the Newell. The classics are a head turner! I'm a car buff and love this thing.
Arrived at our destination.
Fossil & Prairie Center, Floyd County Conservation, 1227 215th Street
Rockford, Iowa 50468, Phone 641-756-3490
We arrive around 14:00, the girls are ready. We go through the interpretive center and it is cool. Used to be the old Rockford Brick and Tile Company. The clay pit is a Paleozoic fossil bed. You get to keep any fossils you find. We took a paint brush, three tine hand rake, hand shovel and a bucket and we were off. We found gallon pails full of fossils. Our six and seven year old could name them all for you. I'm not going to try. I let them keep 10 each, plenty to add to our collection at home.
Called it a day around 19:00, found a city campground in Rockford, Iowa. We were the only ones there and camped right next to the playground. Girls loved it!
08-14; started out towards Wisconsin. Got detoured to Spook Cave in NE Iowa, my wife's suggestion. She went through it when she was in high school and thought the girls would love it. Pulled into an awesome, small campground owned by the private cave. Booked a year out! We got tickets for the cave, and went for a walk around the campground. Got back to the camper about 20 minutes later to find a group of ten or so looking over the camper. Had a guy from Texas asking a hundred questions, super nice guy who was amazed by the condition. His son was a producer from Disney, they rode motorcycles up together from Texas. Long story short, we exchanged information and his son may be renting our Newell if a movie calls for a cool 74 motor home. We would be going along to care for the Newell of course. We went on the Spook Cave tour and spent the next hour giving tours of our motor home. It was a blast. Everyone was great.
Headed out and found a campsite in Wisconsin. Sports Unlimited, over 375 hook ups. Huge place with a pool, golf course, several bars, restaurant, etc... We pulled in and Kayla, our daughter said " Dad, there's some drunk guy coming over here, he looks like he wants to talk to you". It was a fire fighter buddy of mine who recognized the Newell from half a mile away. He brought all his buddies over to see it. We parked for he night and socialized with new and old friends.
08-15; got up this morning and it was warm out with high humidity. We left the camp ground and stopped at the Prairie DuChien Cabela's, nice and cool inside with lots to look at. Spent a couple hours looking and some buying. Got a deal on shotgun shells. Stopped for fuel, did the math and we averaged just under 11 mpg, 10.68. the generator had ten hours of run time and took just over five gallons of gas. Then we headed to the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. Spent the rest of the day exploring there, too much to see in one day. We went down river to Bellevue, a small beautiful river town. Staying at the Bellevue State Park tonight, we pulled through and you could see heads turning. One old boy followed us in his truck till we parked and requested to see our rig. I think I could have sold it to him for $50,000 right there.
I got lazy tonight and we made s'mores over the gas grill. Too tired to walk up and buy firewood.
08-16; Tomorrow were heading south along the river to Highway 30 and home. Been a great trip so far. Stay safe in your travels, from the Becker Family......
Roy, Cari, Chrystal, Courtney, Kayla, Claire, Chloe and Kinley...
Well, we decided on a whim to hit the road one last time before the end of the 2015 summer vacation. The girls will be going back to school in a week so it's now or never. Next week I'm starting the build for our Newell Shop and a production greenhouse for the girls. We took of with no real game plan or set route. We figured it was best that way.
08-12; pack clothes for the girls and us, get the food ready. Final walk around for me, rechecking fluids and pressures on the 74. Do people name their Newell? Jimmy did you have a name for this girl?
08-13; throw in the food in the fridge. There's still room in the fridge and a couple empty pantry shelves. Add more food just in case! Mostly cookies, brownies, ice cream and candy. For the girls of course, we have 6 but only four are going to make the trip.
We take off around 11:00. Heading north to a county park my buddy told me about. Stopped to fuel up and gave a quick tour to a nice couple who wanted to see the Newell. The classics are a head turner! I'm a car buff and love this thing.
Arrived at our destination.
Fossil & Prairie Center, Floyd County Conservation, 1227 215th Street
Rockford, Iowa 50468, Phone 641-756-3490
We arrive around 14:00, the girls are ready. We go through the interpretive center and it is cool. Used to be the old Rockford Brick and Tile Company. The clay pit is a Paleozoic fossil bed. You get to keep any fossils you find. We took a paint brush, three tine hand rake, hand shovel and a bucket and we were off. We found gallon pails full of fossils. Our six and seven year old could name them all for you. I'm not going to try. I let them keep 10 each, plenty to add to our collection at home.
Called it a day around 19:00, found a city campground in Rockford, Iowa. We were the only ones there and camped right next to the playground. Girls loved it!
08-14; started out towards Wisconsin. Got detoured to Spook Cave in NE Iowa, my wife's suggestion. She went through it when she was in high school and thought the girls would love it. Pulled into an awesome, small campground owned by the private cave. Booked a year out! We got tickets for the cave, and went for a walk around the campground. Got back to the camper about 20 minutes later to find a group of ten or so looking over the camper. Had a guy from Texas asking a hundred questions, super nice guy who was amazed by the condition. His son was a producer from Disney, they rode motorcycles up together from Texas. Long story short, we exchanged information and his son may be renting our Newell if a movie calls for a cool 74 motor home. We would be going along to care for the Newell of course. We went on the Spook Cave tour and spent the next hour giving tours of our motor home. It was a blast. Everyone was great.
Headed out and found a campsite in Wisconsin. Sports Unlimited, over 375 hook ups. Huge place with a pool, golf course, several bars, restaurant, etc... We pulled in and Kayla, our daughter said " Dad, there's some drunk guy coming over here, he looks like he wants to talk to you". It was a fire fighter buddy of mine who recognized the Newell from half a mile away. He brought all his buddies over to see it. We parked for he night and socialized with new and old friends.
08-15; got up this morning and it was warm out with high humidity. We left the camp ground and stopped at the Prairie DuChien Cabela's, nice and cool inside with lots to look at. Spent a couple hours looking and some buying. Got a deal on shotgun shells. Stopped for fuel, did the math and we averaged just under 11 mpg, 10.68. the generator had ten hours of run time and took just over five gallons of gas. Then we headed to the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. Spent the rest of the day exploring there, too much to see in one day. We went down river to Bellevue, a small beautiful river town. Staying at the Bellevue State Park tonight, we pulled through and you could see heads turning. One old boy followed us in his truck till we parked and requested to see our rig. I think I could have sold it to him for $50,000 right there.
I got lazy tonight and we made s'mores over the gas grill. Too tired to walk up and buy firewood.
08-16; Tomorrow were heading south along the river to Highway 30 and home. Been a great trip so far. Stay safe in your travels, from the Becker Family......
Roy, Cari, Chrystal, Courtney, Kayla, Claire, Chloe and Kinley...
1974 35' Newell Coach, Cat 1160 with Allison Auto 6 Speed... 69 Camaro 396 SS, 2010 Camaro SSRS Hennessey, 72 Buick Electra, Eastern Iowa.