The Hall Family Travels Blog

We weren’t supposed to be in Wisconsin…or Indiana…or Michigan…or Illinois… or Iowa. We were supposed to be making our way west toward South Dakota when a refrigerator problem forced us to completely reroute our summer road trip.

Time to Be Flexible

You know the saying, “You make plans and God laughs?” Well, we’re not necessarily very religious, but I couldn’t help thinking someone out there had a sense of humor as we faced a choice: continue toward South Dakota and the route I’d spent weeks planning, or drive nine hours in the opposite direction to fix our refrigerator. (If you missed the story behind our fridge coil replacement, you can read all about that decision here.)

There wasn’t much debate. We knew we wouldn’t make it very far before the fridge became a bigger problem, so we hopped online, mapped out a new route, and started booking campsites.

We could have been frustrated that our plans were interrupted. We could have rushed there and back in just a few days to stay on schedule. Instead, we decided to embrace the detour.

One of the things we love most about this lifestyle is the freedom to be flexible. We aren’t tied to hotel reservations or vacation deadlines, so rather than seeing this as an inconvenience, we turned it into an adventure. Over the next two weeks, we traveled through five states we’d never camped in before, discovered a few unexpected gems, and made memories we never would have experienced if everything had gone according to plan.

Sometimes the best parts of a journey are the ones you never planned.

First Stop of the Detour: Wisconsin

Thankfully, this entire detour happened to have Thousand Trails resorts along the way, so we were able to book every campground using our membership, making fuel our only added expense.

We ultimately needed to end up in Shipshewana, Indiana, but coming from southern Minnesota we were about nine hours away. Not wanting (or needing) to make that drive in one day, we made our first stop at Blackhawk RV Resort in Milton, Wisconsin.

The campground was huge, with nearly 500 sites made up of both weekend campers and annual residents. It was the first time we’d seen so many stationary RVs with porches, decks, and even small buildings built onto them as extensions of their homes. It was fascinating to see.

A Water Fight Welcome

We quickly realized this campground was a popular destination for families who loved to have fun. We arrived early in the afternoon and, without taking the time to read the activity schedule, set off to explore after getting camp set up. Within minutes, a group of strangers drove up in a golf cart with water guns pointed directly at us.

“Are you playing?”

The older woman in the passenger seat was wearing a birthday crown, so we assumed she was simply having fun on her birthday, driving around squirting people. On such a hot day, we welcomed it and happily let her soak us before they drove away.

Little did we know, this wasn’t just one woman’s birthday game. We had unknowingly walked into a campground-wide water fight…completely unarmed.

As we wandered through the campground, we were ambushed over and over by families armed with water guns and buckets. We didn’t mind one bit. It was hot, everyone was laughing, and it was such a fun way to get the entire campground interacting with each other. Later we discovered there was also karaoke that evening. We skipped it since we were tired after a long travel day, but it definitely added to the campground’s lively atmosphere.

A Quiet Anniversary Celebration

We only stayed two nights since we needed to get to Indiana, so we didn’t spend any time exploring the rest of Wisconsin. Instead, we relaxed around camp, cooled off in the pool (the boys were thrilled to finally have one again), and celebrated Dustin’s and my 12th wedding anniversary. We never would’ve guessed we’d be celebrating our anniversary in Wisconsin, but we treated ourselves to ice cream with the boys, and honestly, that felt pretty perfect.

Just like that, our first stop was over, and we were back on the road toward Indiana.

Stop 2: Indiana

The drive to our next destination wasn’t exactly our favorite.

Driving our long rig through Chicago’s tight streets and heavy traffic was stressful enough, but what came next caught us completely off guard.

The Toll Road Surprise

Having never driven through the area before, we relied on our GPS. Even though I had selected “Avoid Toll Roads,” we somehow ended up on multiple toll roads anyway.

At first, I wasn’t too concerned. I’d been on toll bridges before—you pay a couple of dollars and move on. Apparently, that’s not how they do things in Illinois and Indiana.

Our first toll booth charged us $37.80 to travel just six miles. A little later came another $4.90. Then, just when we thought we were finished, we were hit with another $53.00.

Nearly $100 in tolls to drive roughly 20 miles.

Needless to say, we weren’t exactly feeling welcomed. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if another bill shows up in the mail for a toll we somehow missed. From that point on, we paid a lot more attention to our route planning.

Big Campground, Short Stay

Finally free of the toll roads, we arrived at Twin Mills RV Resort in Howe, Indiana. Like Blackhawk, this was another massive campground with more than 500 sites split between both sides of a main road.

We spent plenty of time at the pool and even played a round of mini golf before heading into town on our one full day there to buy an ice chest so we could empty our refrigerator and freezer before our appointment the following morning. Luckily, this campground in Howe was only 15 minutes from the repair shop in Shipshewana.

Early Rise to Shipshewana

Our alarm went off very early the next day since our appointment was at 5:30 a.m. We drove over in the dark, dropped off the trailer, and headed into town for breakfast.

We found a local restaurant called Country Corral and were pleasantly surprised by the prices. Our family enjoyed a full breakfast, complete with coffee and hot chocolate, for just $32.

After breakfast, we explored Shipshewana and wandered through the famous flea market. Since it was Wednesday, we happened to be there on one of the only two days each week that the Shipshewana Flea Market is open. As one of the largest flea markets in the Midwest, it definitely lived up to the hype.

Shipshewana is also home to one of the country’s largest Amish communities, making it a unique town filled with handmade shops, horse-drawn buggies, and a much slower pace of life. It’s definitely somewhere we could see ourselves visiting again.

Later that morning, we picked up our trailer with its brand-new 12V refrigerator coil installed and hit the road once again—this time making absolutely sure we avoided every toll road possible.

Stop 3: Michigan

Once the refrigerator repair was finished, we could’ve simply turned around and retraced our route, only setting ourselves back about a week from our original schedule.

But…we were already sitting on the Michigan border.

There happened to be another Thousand Trails campground only about an hour away, so we looked at each other and thought, Why not? Let’s add another state sticker to our map.

I’m so glad we did, because Michigan ended up becoming one of our favorite stops of the trip.

A Small Campground with Big History

We stayed at Bear Cave Campground in Buchanan for five days. Compared to our previous campgrounds, it was much smaller, with only 135 sites, but each campsite was spacious, and we found ourselves preferring the quieter, more intimate setting.

The campground sits in a wooded area along the St. Joseph River and has a camp store, arcade, game room, large pavilion, and, of course, a swimming pool that quickly became our favorite daily hangout.

The campground gets its name from the cave tucked beneath a small waterfall on the property. It’s the only naturally formed cavern in Michigan, is estimated to be more than 25,000 years old, and even served as a hiding place for enslaved people escaping through the Underground Railroad.

Unfortunately, cave tours are currently closed for the foreseeable future, but you can still walk to the waterfall and look through the gate into the cave itself.

For our first couple of days, we stayed close to camp, catching up on work, relaxing, and enjoying some slower days before heading out to explore.

Exploring St. Joseph

One Saturday, we drove into St. Joseph, where a large craft fair happened to be taking place. It was fun strolling through the booths and browsing all the handmade items before making our way to Compass Fountain, an enormous splash pad where all four of us cooled off on an 80-degree afternoon.

From there, we headed to Silver Beach on Lake Michigan. If I hadn’t known better, I would’ve thought we were standing at the ocean.

The sand was incredibly soft, the water stretched to the horizon, and the steady breeze created waves that looked remarkably similar to the California coast. We played in the water for quite a while before lifeguards cleared everyone out because of dangerous currents.

On our way back to the truck, we grabbed free samples of Culver’s frozen custard at the craft fair just as the skies opened up. One minute we were playing on a sunny beach, and the next we were sprinting through a downpour with ice cream in hand, completely soaked.

It was one of those unexpected moments that turns a normal day into an adventure!

Another Day, Another Beach

We loved the Lake Michigan shoreline so much that we decided to explore another beach the following day.

Our morning started at Galien River County Park near New Buffalo, where we walked the boardwalk across the marsh and spotted a muskrat happily munching on lily pads.

From there, we headed to Warren Dunes State Park. When I pictured Michigan, towering sand dunes were definitely not what came to mind.

We packed a pop-up tent and lunch, spent a few hours playing in the waves, then challenged ourselves to hike up one of the massive dunes just for the fun of running back down.

Free Ice Cream? Yes Please!

As if the day couldn’t get any better, the campground happened to be hosting an ice cream social that evening. We finished the day with free ice cream loaded with toppings before, naturally, ending one more evening at the pool.

It was one of those days where everything just seemed to fall into place, and it left us all wanting to come back and explore even more of Michigan someday.

Stop 4: Illinois

On our way out of Michigan, we once again ran into some GPS troubles. Our route led us onto several neighborhood roads with maximum weight limits that we didn’t meet, eventually directing us toward a tunnel with a nine-foot clearance.

Absolutely not happening!

Thankfully, Dustin has quick reflexes and realized what was happening before we made the turn. Needless to say, we may need to look into better options for RV-specific GPS routing.

A Campground Built for Family Fun

Our campsite in Amboy, Illinois was our last Thousand Trails resort on this little detour. O’Connell’s RV Campground was another huge resort that seemed to stretch in every direction. We walked the grounds multiple times and kept discovering new areas to explore.

The coolest part about this campground was that it had three pools and two water slides. Naturally, we had to check those out on our first day.

The slides worked great for Dustin and Colten, who zipped right through them and had a blast. Jax and I, on the other hand, kept getting stuck from too much friction and found ourselves awkwardly scooting our way down. Either way, we all ended up with scraped backs from the slides and decided the swimming pools were probably a better fit for us for the rest of our stay.

The campground also bordered a river and had a small lake with a sandy beach area. We decided not to swim in the lake since the water looked a little murky, but it was still a fun area to explore. The resort also had a camp store, family fun center with games, puzzles, and crafts, multiple playgrounds, mini golf, and paddle boat rentals.

Overall, it was a pretty cool campground with plenty to keep families busy.

Oil Change and Fried Chicken

We enjoyed the freedom of not having anywhere we needed to be and spent most of our time relaxing by the pool and taking walks around the campground. We did have one real-life responsibility to take care of though—we needed to get the truck’s oil changed.

A little reminder that this lifestyle isn’t just an endless vacation. Real life still happens, even when your backyard changes every few days.

While we were in town, we browsed a few thrift stores before heading back to camp. On the way, Colten spotted a KFC and, for some unknown reason, had been determined to try it. Luckily, it happened to be Tuesday, when they were running a deal for an eight-piece bucket of chicken for $10, so we figured, why not?

He finally got his KFC experience, and thankfully, it lived up to the hype.

Stop 5: Iowa

After four nights at O’Connell’s RV Campground, it was finally time to reconnect with our original route toward South Dakota. We added one more state sticker to our map with Iowa, where we planned to stay just two nights to break up the drive.

We didn’t have reservations in Iowa and planned to simply show up at a campground and hope for the best. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at Kennedy Park Campground in Fort Dodge. It was a huge community park featuring a large golf course, a lake, wide open grassy areas shaded by mature trees, and a spacious campground with plenty of open sites. It was nothing like we expected, especially for just $25 a night for a full-hookup site.

The weather on our first day was perfect—74 degrees with a light breeze. After our five-hour drive, we spent the afternoon stretching our legs, walking around the park, and exploring everything it had to offer. The lake was more marshy than swimmable, but it still added to the beauty of the park.

Finding Unexpected Gems

Around every corner, we found something new. One end of the park had a fun playground for the kids, while the other led to the Children’s Forest, where walking paths wound through wildflowers and whimsical Dr. Seuss characters were carved into old tree stumps. It was such an unexpected little gem.

We tried to do most of our exploring that afternoon and again the following morning while temperatures were still comfortable because our one full day there fell during an extreme heat warning, with temperatures climbing into the 90s. We spent the hottest part of the day catching up on grocery shopping before retreating back to the air conditioning of the trailer.

Back on Track

Overall, this little detour put us about two weeks behind our original timeline. But honestly, I don’t think we would’ve changed it.

We got to explore new states, discover new campgrounds, and learn that a wrench in the plans isn’t always a bad thing. And yes, the refrigerator upgrade was absolutely worth it and something we were glad we took care of when we did.

More than anything, this detour was a good reminder to stay flexible and not let changing plans create unnecessary stress. Time was going to pass whether we spent those two weeks frustrated about being behind schedule or embracing the adventure in front of us. I’m so glad we chose the adventure.