After recovering from my pulled hamstring, I headed north to photograph lighthouses on Lake Winnebago. I had originally planned to go up Door Peninsula (Green Bay) where there are quite a few lighthouses but my injury forced me to cancel that leg of the trip. Maybe on another pass through this area.

WISCONSIN

I arrived at Kalbus Country Harbor in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on October 1, 2019. This small RV park is located right on Lake Winnebago and would have offered some beautiful views if it hadn’t rained the entire week. In between the raindrops I was able to visit four lighthouses on the west side of the lake. The ones on the east side are nothing to write home about, so not worth the drive. Also, while I was here, I picked up a pair of OshKosh B’Gosh overalls for my sister Katy to give her grandson. There’s nothing like getting the real deal in the town where they (used to be) made.

Campsite with a view at Kalbus Country Harbor.

Fond du Lac Lighthouse.

Neenah-Kimberly Point Lighthouse.

Asylum Point Lighthouse.

Bray’s Point Lighthouse.

After a week, it was time to move west to Devil’s Lake State Park, north of Madison, Wisconsin. This was a beautiful park with truly terrible campsites. The sites were incredibly uneven to the point where when I set down my support legs and hit the auto level function, it lifted the rear corner completely off the ground! Well, I couldn’t leave it like that so I made manual adjustments to get my wheels back on the ground but the trailer wasn’t level during my stay.

Trailer wheels were off the ground when trying to get level on this site.

Aside from the leveling problem, Devil’s Lake State Park is beautiful!

My only other complaint about this park was the poor signage getting in. I thought I came in the main entrance but soon found out it wasn’t. It was a back way into the campground, not intended for RV travel and I hit a low branch, breaking the rooftop antenna off. Wow, do I feel like an ass some times!

A low tree branch ate my antenna and just like a chocolate Easter bunny, it bit the ears off first.

This is what it used to look like.

And, of course, while in Wisconsin, one MUST buy cheese. I stopped at Carr Valley Cheese in Sauk City, WI and bought about a hundred dollars-worth of truly amazing cheese!

A small selection of what’s offered at Carr Valley Cheese in Sauk City, Wisconsin.

IOWA

At this point in my trip, I was supposed to go to Rochester, Minnesota to visit friends I made in Port Aransas, Texas last year. Karen texted me that they were expecting a snow storm that weekend so I opted not to go. Unfortunately, that meant extra time in Iowa. Now, I have nothing against Iowa, per se, but there isn’t a lot to do there if you’re not a corn farmer. I had planned to visit two locations in one week and now I had a full week to waste. Zzzzzzzz.

I stayed at Waterloo KOA—a choice made totally at random—but they had good laundry facilities, which is how I passed the time. The campground is wide open with no mature trees or anything to block the wind. If you’ve ever been in the Midwest, you know that’s where wind is made. I think all wind around the world originates in the Midwest. On top of that, it actually snowed as I was setting up. I was there because I didn’t want to deal with snow! Luckily, it was just a flurry but it stayed cold and windy the entire week.

Waterloo KOA where the wind came sweepin’ down the plain.

I actually found something good to do here: I got my antenna replaced at nearby Camping World of Cedar Falls. I stopped by one day and was able to get the last black unit on the shelf. They put it away with my name on it and I returned the day I was leaving and they installed it quickly and got me on my way to my next exciting Iowa destination. In general, Camping World has a bad reputation for their service departments—I have heard nightmare stories from fellow RVers—but this location has changed my opinion and I am more likely to use them in future.

Dropping off the trailer for a replacement antenna at Camping World of Cedar Falls.

Next stop was Winterset, Iowa, a town made famous by the book and movie The Bridges of Madison County. The story is about a photographer working on a National Geographic piece on covered bridges who has an affair with a farmer’s wife while her husband is out of town. I also came here to to photograph the covered bridges but did not go so far as to have an affair while I was here. I stayed in Winterset City Park, a city-run campground. From here I visited the six covered bridges in the area, all of which are well maintained due to the high level of tourist activity. I actually had trouble shooting a couple because there were weddings taking place. I had to return a couple days later after the chairs and decorations had been removed.

My campsite at Winterset City Park Campground.

Roseman Bridge is the prominently featured in the book The Bridges of Madison County.

Holliwell Bridge.

Cedar Bridge.

Cutler-Donahoe Bridge is located in the park where I was camping. I deliberately stayed north through autumn to see some leaf color and this is the only place I got any.

Hogback Bridge.

Imes Bridge.

Also in the city park are other filming locations from the movie version of The Bridges of Madison County, starring Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep like this stone footbridge that is in the picnic scene below.

Clint Eastwood picnics with Meryl Streep at the stone footbridge in Winterset City Park.

As an added bonus, this town is the birthplace of John Wayne and has a wonderful museum dedicated to the Duke and you can tour the tiny one-bedroom house he lived in as a baby.

Here I am with the Duke outside the John Wayne Birthplace Museum.

Some familiar costumes worn by John Wayne in his many westerns.

Bronze bust of John Wayne.

The one-bedroom home Wayne lived in as a baby. The family soon moved to Southern California for his father’s health.

From Winterset, I backtracked over the highways I had already driven to Dyersville, Iowa and the film location of Field of Dreams. I stayed at New Wine Park, a small county park campground in Dyersville. The property used to film Field of Dreams was a working corn farm and the owner had to be convinced (and handsomely compensated) to plow under a section of corn to build the baseball field. After the movie, he left the baseball field intact as fans started driving to see the location. The farm was eventually sold and is now run by a local organization. The movie is centered around the Black Sox Scandal where several Chicago White Sox players were accused of taking money to throw the 1919 World Series. On August 13 of this year, the Chicago White Sox will play the New York Yankees in a rematch of that infamous game at Field of Dreams in Iowa. The movie field is too small so a regulation MLB stadium is being built nearby and attendees will be able to walk to the movie set from the new stadium.

New Wine Park in Dyersville, Iowa.

The film location of Field of Dreams in Dyersville, Iowa.

The cornfield in the outfield at Field of Dreams.

The farmhouse.

During filming, Kevin Costner carved “Ray loves Annie” (their character names) into the bleachers at the baseball field.

ILLINOIS (again)

I wanted to visit my friends Nancy and Rick in eastern Illinois when I was leaving Indiana in early September but they were away so I headed back there in late October. It was important to visit them not just because they’re good friends but because they installed an RV electric outlet for me when they built their house so I need to make it worth their trouble. I was here back in September 2018 and I hope to visit again in the future.

I spent a week parked in Nancy and Rick’s driveway in Rossville, Illinois.

Rick preparing homemade apple pie from apples grown in their front yard.

Dinner at Nancy’s parents’ house.

The snow seems to be following me!

My 1,150-mile route from the Chicago area to Wisconsin, Iowa and back to eastern Illinois.

Next post: Visiting Mark Twain and heading south.

My name is Lindsay Reed and I’m a photographer and retired graphic artist with a passion for both lighthouses and road trips. I am living as a full-time solo RVer in my 33 foot Grand Design Reflection Fifth Wheel trailer ( I spent my first two years in a 31 foot 2005 Coachmen Mirada motohome) and plan to spend the next few years traveling the U.S. and Canada photographing not only lighthouses, but everything else there is to see in this wonderful land. I hope you enjoy my blog and will follow my adventures in the months and years ahead.