This was an inaugural trip with our Arctic Fox travel trailer after our first failed attempt to another campground in southern Illinois (Washington County recreation area). Upon arriving at that first attempt, we threw the breaker when plugging in. Several attempts by an onlooker who said he was a retired electrician failed to stop the breaker being thrown and his final diagnosis was that our AC was blown and so was our inverter. We found out that a few others had problems and went home with our tails between our legs, not getting to camp that weekend and what was worse, thinking that Brian had done all the hard work on maintenance and roof replacement only for this to happen. As soon as we arrived back home, Brian plugged into the house and SURPRISE....all worked fine. It turned out the campground had problems with dated electrical hookups and we were reimbursed through reserveamerica.com, which we were very thankful for.
Which brings us to our SECOND and official inaugural trip with the travel trailer. We had been to Rend Lake many years ago, but stayed on the east side of the lake in Wayne Fitzgerald Park. There used to be a resort there, but now it's closed, waiting on someone to take it over. There are several campgrounds to choose from, which are all through the Corp of Engineers and can be reserved at recreation.gov. Rend Lake is one of the largest lakes in Illinois and is located south of Mount Vernon, off of I57.
(Per Wikipedia) "Rend Lake was created when the United States Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Big Muddy River. The shoreline of Rend Lake extends 162 miles (261 km), part of which is preserved as Wayne Fitzgerrell State Recreation Area. Swimming beaches at North Marcum and South Sandusky are managed and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers. An adjacent Illinois Artisans Shop & Visitors Center is part of the Illinois State Museum system and is operated by the Illinois."
We stayed at site 104 which was just about 100 yards from the lake. The Corp of Engineers has done a great job with the layout of the campgrounds and the amenities. This site wasn't far from flush toilets and the shower house was a short bike ride downhill. (Of course, there's the uphill ride on the way back) I was impressed with the shower houses, which were very clean and well maintained.
We've loved bike riding for many years, have ridden many trails in Illinois and Missouri and have to say that the bike trails at Rend Lake were well thought out and designed. They're paved trails with rolling hills. We rode the segment between North Sandusky campground which connects to the South Sandusky Beach recreation area and beyond that, the spillway. Kudos to the Corp of Engineers! We enjoyed the rides with many places to stop and take in the scenery or wildlife.
All in all it was a great trip, the weather cooperated and we even had some beach time at the South Sandusky Beach Recreation Area. If you need groceries, the quaint nearby town of Sesser, IL has a Dollar General, grocery store and of course, a well-known custard shop, The Custard Stand, which was a stop for us, not once, but TWICE! Yes, it's that good. If you would like to see more details of our trip, please watch our YouTube video, like and subscribe for more adventures to come.