I made it to Carlyle Lake in central Illinois after three days at Bloomington East in Missouri and two long day's drive. In between Bloomington East in Kansas and here was Arrow Rock SP in Columbia, MO. I did not take any photos of either place because frankly, they were not terribly interesting places.
Bloomington East campground was packed because it was the weekend, but I got four loads of laundry done, which is a real accomplishment. I had not done laundry for over three weeks, so not only had I run out of clothes, but I had a ton of towels and bedding. So, all is now clean and will last me until I get to Ohio in two days. One of the really nice things about Ohio and Florida is that almost all the state park campgrounds in those cities have washers and dryers in each restroom.
But back to Dam East, where I am now. I have spent two nights here to rest up from the two driving days to get here. This is a very large lake, and this is the third campground I have stayed at in this Corps of Engineers recreation area--Dam West and Boulder Beach are the other two. Dam West is obviously west of the dam and Dam East is east of it. Boulder Beach is on the east side, but quite a ways north. This campground is pleasant, and I am getting two out of three DISH satellites, which means I am getting nearly all of the available channels, even the locals.
Very nice, large, paved campsite. It is nice to be able to walk around on your site and not get muddy!
A few too many trees for my preferences, as I like open areas so I can get satellite TV. But, as with almost all COE campgrounds, this one is clean and well-taken care of. Also, it is cheap for seniors because we get a 50% discount for all federal campgrounds.
A couple of days ago, I spent an hour putting my new bike cover onto my bike which is on a rack on the rear of my motorhome. It was tightly wrapped and the cover was fastened with about a dozen long elastic ties. So, today, I decided I wanted to take a bike ride to do some exploring, so I had to take all my work apart and then put it back on when I was done.
I was a little shaky since I had not ridden my bike for a while, but I managed to ride a few miles without falling. Below is the beach area near my campsite.
Strangely, this lake has two dams. This is the smaller of the two and is close to Dam East campground.
This is the bottom of the dam and the spillway.
This is the top of the dam, directly over the spillway and dam controls. It has recently rained, so they were dumping a lot of water today.
It was an amazingly long ride on the top of the dam. I would have continued to ride farther, but it was very windy and I was afraid of getting blown over. The Dam East campground is at the far end of the dam, and towards the lake.
Enjoyed my bike ride, but I need to build my confidence up a bit.
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