On our way Southwest.....Rend Lake biking and deer sightings

My worst blogger rant is over and we have now moved on from the Bloomington/Normal area. We made reservations at Rend Lake South Marcum campground for 3 nights. We originally made the reservation for site 82 thinking it was the same one we had last year when we started our trek SW. However when we arrived and went to the site we found out we had site 80 last year. Unfortunately, site 82 had some slope, no shade and a little too short. Of course the site we really thought we had would have been perfect...shade, level and long with a lake view. OOOPS...my bad. Well that didn't sit well with Glenda and we headed back to the front gate to see about changing sites. We got our bikes down off the back and road around the loops in the campground. We found several we would have liked to have but they were all reserved. Finally we did settle on another site #67....it had shade, level, long but no lake view. Glenda approved sort of. We got set up and relaxed a bit due to the extreme heat and humidity still holding on in the Midwest.

I had to take a ride into the local Wal Mart to get some longer TV cable so I could reach a spot near our site to set up the satellite TV. Remember I said we had shade? Got that done and I set up in a clearing near the rig, found the satellite, locked on and watched some TV before bed.

We actually started coming to Rend Lake just after we began RV'ing and we still had a travel trailer.

You can't beat the woods, lake and bike paths.

Well, the next morning, knowing it would be getting hot and humid again we got on the bikes and started our ride on the great bike paths there. One of the main reasons we like Rend Lake. We planned to just ride about an hour or so but ended up going much farther than planned and with the humidity I really thought I wouldn't make it.

I guess I didn't hydrate enough or something but we had to make several stops for me to recover. Overall we had a good ride and enjoyed the scenery in the area.

Enlarge the photo and see what the white specks are

This is a fantastic paved path with several ups and downs through the woods surrounding the lake.

The Army Corp of Engineers has done a great job with a Visitors Center and a great beach.

We finally made it back to the rig and after some fluids and rest we took our showers and relaxed during the afternoon.

We needed some groceries so we made a trip into town to the Wal Mart and loaded up. As we got back to the rig to unload we were treated to a family of deer that just walked up to the unoccupied site next to us and started to graze. They certainly kept an eye on us but really didn't mind my taking photos and watching. I've seen deer before numerous times but there is still just something about wildlife of any form that is so enjoyable.

The little fawns are very cute and playful. After they got their fill they just walked off into the woods.

The next day we got out in the morning and decided we would take the bikes over to the other side of the dam and ride a little further around the lake to the other campgrounds...South Sandusky and North Sandusky.

I recently bought a new cover for the tailgate of the truck so we could transport the bikes without putting them on a rack or in the back of the truck leaning over.

This cover allows me to put the rear of the bike in the truck with the front wheel hanging over the tailgate. It worked perfectly.

Much more convenient for transport.

We paced ourselves and took breaks and there was more shade in the other campgrounds. We had a fun time and ended the ride sooner than the day before. The campgrounds at Rend Lake are wonderful and the added amenity of the bike path just tops it off. We really enjoyed our stay at Rend Lake before moving on the next day. The stay there would have been better if not for the heat and humidity. One of the reasons I would have left the Midwest after retiring whether we had decided to go full time RV or not. Grow up with this weather and I've had enough. Unfortunately we are moving further south to West Memphis, AR with the same forecast.

Just a few more photos of the bike path and some additional deer sightings.

Another wonderful thing about Rend Lake are the sunsets.

Next up is Tom Sawyer Mississippi RV Park and our tour of Graceland.