Day 4 - USA Tour - Granite City, IL

Overnight: Granite City, IL
Granite City KOA
Gas Price: $3.89--Benton, IL
Avg. MPG: 8.3
Starting Mileage: 520
Miles Driven: 154

This morning while in Marion, IL, we decided to do a few chores because we only had about 100 miles to travel today. So we did wash and cleaned the holding tanks. I also made breakfast.

We learn so many new things the longer we RV-it. Last night, I couldn't get my laptop to receive email or log onto the Internet. Dave's laptop was receiving fine and mine was kaput even though I had a strong WiFi signal. So, I had to use Dave's laptop when he retired for the evening. I just hoped the inability to connect wasn't the laptop-gone-asunder and hoped that when we moved on to the next campground, it would function properly. (Stay tuned for the end of this story.)

Just as we were ready to leave, it began to rain. We found out this morning that we were now in the Central timezone, so we were ready to roll earlier than we thought!

We had an uneventful drive to East St. Louis, IL. The terrain was gently rolling hills, but the closer that we got to St. Louis, it became really flat. It lightly rained most of the day. It was quite a site as we rounded a freeway turn and could see the St. Louis Arch in the downtown skyline. It sure is HUGE.

We had a difficult time finding the campground at the Queen City Casino. So, we ended up taking an unexpected scenic tour along the Mississippi River on the Missouri side instead of the Illinois side. We found our way back across Ol'Miss, but it wasn't easy with a trailer in tow. Dave's a wonder at whipping that RV around the back streets and alleys. We finally got to the campground after touring the ghetto on the Illinois side.

When we arrived, we were informed that the campground didn't have WiFi (as advertised); they had "pay" Internet through a dial-up modem at each site. Because this type of access is not something I'm familiar with while traveling and because I didn't have a phone card, I wasn't too keen on staying. They had also advertised that they had a shuttle to some of the close sightseeing areas; but when I inquired, I was told they only take you to the rapid transit station or their casino. I paid anyway because we were tired and thought we'd just overcome these obstacles and not be difficult. When we got to the site, we found that the spaces were only about 40-ft in length. We are 52-ft long with car and RV. We would have to unhook right away and there was barely enough space to park the car to the side of the RV. We realized this place just had too many "downsides" to make our visit comfy. So, we pulled off the road and got out the Trailer Life Campground Directory and found a KOA about 20 miles up the river. We got our money back, and drove another 20+ miles up the state.

We are very glad that we did move. This campground is quiet (except for the occasional train and switching that goes on, but we are assured this is only twice a day and not at night). The sites have tall and abundant trees and grass (not blacktop and short, undergrown trees as at the casino). We have free WiFi, but no cable TV. We receive several channels via antenna, so that's just fine. I'd much rather have WiFi than cable.

Back to my "connection" story--when we checked in, I mentioned the problems with our WiFi last night and was informed that when you have two laptops in close proximity and one is logged on, the other might not be able to log on because the WiFi doesn't see two PCs that close as two independent systems. So, at this KOA, they gave us two different log-on codes. Dave has gone to bed without logging on, so I'm not sure if his will work yet, but I'm up and running. Got the bills paid, the emails read, and the blog completed.

We decided we were too tired to fix dinner (well, I guess I should say "I" was too tired). So, without much arm-twisting, I convinced Dave that we should venture to a nearby Mexican restaurant for dinner after we finished setting up. It was mighty tasty. Dave then crawled directly into bed upon our return.

We are looking forward to staying put for 3-4 nights. However, now that we are in a different location, I need to re-plan our tour route. I also need to determine which sights to see tomorrow as we are supposed to have light rain. So, I'll sign off now as the maps are a callin' me.