08.-14.9.2008: Pennsylvania - Ohio - Michigan - Indiana - Illinois - Wisconsin - Minnesota The limited time we had left meant that we had a mad dash to Mexico but we wanted to see things along the way and we planned a route that would take us through all of the other states in the US that we had not yet been to as we would probably not be returning to the east and central areas again. Our first stop was Pine Creek Gorge, the "Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania". There really isn't any comparison to the one in Arizona but it is still quite a beautiful area and we enjoyed our 2 mile hike down to the bottom of the canyon and back. We had a free shower at the campground and then continued west and into Ohio. We made the mistake of checking the petrol prices on the internet which meant we were trying to find $3-52 petrol in Ohio which didn't exist! It was all around $3-79. The upshot was that we would only put in a couple of gallons hoping to find the elusive cheaper stuff and consequently nearly ran out, not once but twice! We had no choice but to give up and bite the bullet! Darn internet!!! In Sandusky, we took a look at all the painted fibreglass lighthouses that were dotted around the town and then spent the evening sticking eternabond to our alcove window and our skylights. On a sunny morning we had breakfast at Crane Creek State Park and then went to see an all year Christmas shop along with all year Christmas music. You really have to like Christmas to work there! We drove through Amish country in Indiana where we saw lots of horse drawn buggies and the Amish people in their traditional dress and then went into Michigan to drive to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. The idea was to see Chicago from the other side of the lake. We drove through Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore but could neither see dunes nor the lakeshore due to the trees! We turned right into Ogden Dunes and only just made it to the shore to see the sunset over the lake. Unfortunately we couldn't really see Chicago. We thought we could park there for the night but got moved on just before midnight by the local police who took us to a car park next to the train line. We didn't have much hope of a quiet night and by 4am we moved on and drove for an hour to find somewhere else to park up. We drove into Chicago the next day. Kirsten has already been here years ago and said that there wasn't really any reason to stop. A drive-through would be fine. We stopped on the way for a few photos and it took us quite a while to get through. We did attempt to find parking but the only places we could find cost $20 for our motor home. So we drove north onto Wisconsin. Before continuing we had a little problem with our rear right inside tyre that had a puncture! That cost us an hour at a very friendly garage called Pete's tyre service in Whitewater and $37 to get the nail out and a patch fixed on it. After a free shower at a recreation centre we went to the State Capitol in Madison (Wisconsin). This is a really beautiful building with green and cream coloured marble inside and numerous murals. We went on a great tour with a guide who was very informative and funny. We even got free ice cream and for the first time we were allowed to go up onto the observation deck outside. There was a lot of debate as to where the State Capitol of Wisconsin should be. Then a landowner donated the land between two lakes in 1836 which he named Madison after the fourth President. The State Capitol was the first building to be built on the land and everything else was built around it. In other words the state built its own new city which would be the capitol. We haven't been to every State Capitol building in the US but Madison is really impressive. In our humble opinion, if you only get the chance to see one Capitol it should be this one. We headed north to see the cranberry fields in Warrens. Cranberries grow in marsh areas which are then flooded. The cranberries float to the top and are then collected. Wisconsin grows 60% of the US cranberries which are not harvested until the end of September or early October. So we were a bit too early to see the harvesting this year. Our next stop was the Wegner Grotto built by a retired couple in the 1920s and 1930s and comprises concrete shapes covered in broken pieces of glass. A great deal of time and effort went into it. Off into Minnesota we were driving into rain from Hurricane Ike so we found indoor entertainment at the LARK toy store. We were driving along the banks of the Mississippi but the driving rain meant we just headed for a nearby Wal-Mart hoping that the storm would pass.