The Wind & Patoka Lake State Park

Our first day on the road was a blustery one for sure!  Worked hard to keep the coach on the road during an all day windstorm with gusts to 65 mph.  We took the state routes instead of the interstates along the way so we could see more of midwestern Americana and spent our first night (down to 36 degrees) at Patoka Lake State Park

, in the Hoosier National Forest, just a few miles outside of Birdseye, IN.

The campground was nearly empty, and although we looked for an easy pull-through site (because we’re pulling the Saturn behind us), we only saw one and it was taken.  So we unhooked the car and backed the coach into a nice spot close to the campground entrance.

We wanted to scope out the area before it got dark, so we drove to see the marina where they must have about 200-300 boat slips,
on-water cabins (moored full-time) along with the “Bunkhouse” Bar & Grill which was still closed for the season but we got to scope out the place and got a good view of the lake and marina from the deck of the bunkhouse.  This place has gotta be hoppin’ in the summer season!

Since it was getting close to dark, we drove just outside of the park and had dinner at “Two Sisters Cafe” where they served home cooked meals in a small dining room.  Kathy and I both had the deep-fried chicken strips and we got to try their home made “German Fries” which are a lot like skillet fried home fries, but they’re cooked with onion and bacon and lots of pepper — pretty tasty!