well good afternoon everyone how are you eric from nomadic fanatic check out this
view this is illinois y'all yes what a wonderful looking sunny day in illinois although i've uh
about three counties away from where my shop is in madison county here uh we're on the road um in
fact we've got tater tot in tow behind frida both kitties litter boxes up i got a lot to show you
right now i'm just really enjoying the sunshine
and no rain spoiled rotten it's time to go camping y'all thanks for joining me i will be uploading
this video with some nomad internet linked below in the video description we're going camping
all right this is another uh state park that i haven't been to bieber dam state park and
campground there's smoky the bear over there and uh i did lose service just about one mile from
the entrance of the park i don't know that's for verizon we'll check at t on nomad internet
later 20 bucks a night here it is uh midweek so i i have a feeling that's that's why i could get in
everybody camps on the weekend that's why i try to stay away on the weekends and only camp a weekdays
there's one rv right there all right uh we're getting really close 35 34 36 37 38 39 right there
shorts and a t-shirt day that's what i'm talking about let's get old tater tot here unhooked
ah
opie how you doing you happy we got the litter robot installed for you there that's
right just plugged into power so it's doing its rotation thing there tara we're camping
that's right girlfriend we're camping in your favorite rv frida
look how quickly she came out she's like yeah i love this rv i know you do opi i know you do too
that's right all right guys if uh you missed my video last wednesday we went camping
uh with the motorcycle and then friday we talked about some issues with hauling the motorcycle
around the country therefore i said the next time we do this we're gonna bring tater tot and um i
have all but decided this will be the setup that i'm gonna have uh it's just a lot more convenient
to unhook and not that i can't back up my trailer over there but yeah there are some other sites
here that are going to fill up later not not all of these will remain empty for my entire two days
but check-in's a little late here at 3 p.m yeah it's like 305 p.m and checkout is 2 59 p.m so
there's a lot to see here i'm excited about camping we're gonna go fishing and i'm gonna
set up some stuff i don't have everything with me but i have a lot of what i need and thank
you uh my friend jerry stopped by like right as i was leaving got me an 18 pack of busch light
thank you jerry that'll that'll be my liquid fun for the weekend weekday sorry it's weekday
tara bo bara do we need to set up the kitty tent so you can be outside opie remember our little
kitty tent from uh quartzite hey remember how dry oh you're really excited to go outside hang on
hang on girl you don't even have your little harness on i know there's birdies out there i know
got old glory waving high and proud up there well not as high as i'd like because
i got some trees in the way so i had to lower my adjustable flagpole but uh she's up there
you know one of my favorite things about state parks and national parks are it's just
it's not like your normal campground or rv park obviously it's a lot quieter a lot more nature
and uh i feel like people just kind of behave a little better in the state parks
they're a little more respectful than some of the campgrounds and stuff
oh my new banner yeah i had my artist buddy uh make a little edit there and as you can
see now we got frida the class c in the background there me riding the tater tot
with tara and opie up there i'm going to be turning this into a sticker here pretty soon
but um yeah i got this little a-frame ordered from vistaprint actually two-sided and uh hard
foam and uh this is my answer solution to uh no longer putting personal decals on my rigs that way
i can just kind of stay stealth and normal i can just blend into my surroundings when i want to
when i really want my privacy and uh other times if i'd like people to come over and
ask me hey can tell me about your channel tell me about where you're from and everything then
it's a great conversation piece and maybe i can get a couple subscribers meet some new friends
you know share a campfire so uh yeah this campsite's all right we do have a big uh barbecue
grill charcoal grill there but i'm probably gonna be using my little propane fire tonight let's uh
go for a ride in tater tot and uh get my bearings straight here at the campground
and uh see what there is here yeah tater tots just the perfect little go-getter scooter
around the campground let's go check out this lake yeah and you also got to realize because
it's completely empty obviously right now but um from now all the way through the summer every
single friday saturday and sunday every single site is booked through here every single site from
now through the end of summer so um everybody camps on the weekends and nobody camps on the
weekdays it's crazy right i don't know all right and like most state parks in any state it's just
electrical hookups at our site so here's the dump station i take it water is probably somewhere else
that's okay we're only here a couple nights anyway let me pull over here and check out this
trail i love the sound of the birds chirping in the background marsh run nature trail hmm
okay gosh this is gorgeous but i also realize in another week or two the temperatures are going to
climb back to like 95 and then just stay there all summer around here all right the old fork in the
road you can go left and probably a whole trail around the water it said it was a moderate trail
or you can go right here i'm pretty sure it goes all the way around this little lake or no excuse
me they're calling it a marsh a little lookout tower here let's hop up here oh i forgot to put
my apple watch on i could be getting credit for a hike and an elevation change and everything oh
look at all that algae that is green it looks like a swamp no it's a marsh there's a difference
see right here a swamp or a marsh swamps or wetlands in which trees dominate the area
in comparison marshes feature grasses reeds and cattails in their wetland vegetation
okay but that is a lot a lot of green algae it reminds me of being in the south where
you could like look really carefully and then eventually you see a little gator head sticking up
but no not here in illinois there's also no swimming signs all around here i don't think i
want to swim in it anyway actually yeah all right let's go check out the uh main lake up here well
bummer it looks like their restaurant and bait shop convenience store and ice cream is closed
i see hours here we go oh my gosh tuesday wednesday thursday closed all three days i
check out thursday oh well that's lame dang it and ice cream sounds really good right now so
that actually really changes things because on the website it says you can buy your temporary fishing
license here at the store well you can't do that if they're not open otherwise if it were open
they even rent these little boats you can fish they uh stalk this lake
with bass and and catfish i guess and a couple other things i was really looking forward to
getting running i can't even run a boat because the stores only open on the weekends to rent it
to me does that mean it's free maybe i mean that doesn't mean oh there's a lot of water in that one
yeah i don't want it if it's free but yeah we're i guess we're just here a little too early things
haven't quite picked up but yeah i think i'll go get that temporary fishing license at walmart
tomorrow and i'll just walk off the end you know what i didn't bring i didn't bring my magnet
fishing stuff i left that at the shop i did put my tackle box and fishing pole
in the rv don't quite have everything loaded and i don't even have my inflatable rafts and tubes
but it does say no swimming in this lake either only fishing and no
motors only electric trawling trolling trolling yeah anyway all right well
now we know we won't be eating at this restaurant good thing i have the car
no i am going to be cooking for the first time in frida tonight yeah we're gonna be cooking we gotta
test out that oven really the oven is the last thing that i haven't tested i know the stove works
but i don't know if the oven works i hope so haha look who's in the window tara's in the window
how much is that kitty in the window oh i got some new i don't know if you guys saw these
this is on there because my kitties love to be up on the windshield so much and i don't want
you know crazy karen's worrying about it not being in climate control with air conditioning and solar
and heat year round and just making sure that the kitties are really comfortable so that is to
that is to inform people and kind of let them know also it's just it's i'm kind of required to do
this i got to let people know ahead of time that i am recording got cameras all the way around the rv
once again there just don't want anybody to do anything stupid um because they're always
recording both locally and over the internet to the cloud save so i believe in security i
believe that it makes me safer on the road alone as a solo traveler tara are you keeping an eye
on those birdies for dad all right thanks for keeping an eye out guess what guys i actually do
have internet no mad internet a t i actually am watching youtube watching a chad living the van
life oh drink a beer every time he says tut tuck yeah still no service with verizon on my iphone
but my atnt internet says uh well it says one bar of 4g lte all right let's do a little inventory
check here yeah we got coke zeros we got some busch lights eggs bacon milk my coffee's in there
up in my freezer i got a few microwavable dinners but um oh yeah guys the one and only i got one
so uh the stovetop works uh we know there's no propane lakes or anything so let's let me see here
having some hmm here lighting the pilot
it's not lighting uh oh
oh
is that it wait
yes that's what we want to see guys all right let's uh close that set this to exactly 400
350 here 400 right there and we'll give this 15 minutes and then check our little thermometer here
and see how we're going to set this hang on there set it like that checking it in a little bit here
i'm actually going to put a lid on the candle here turn the fan on there we go we got the flame
lit but for some reason i can't light the pilot maybe it'll get better the more we use the oven
let's see if it even gets to that 400 degrees or maintains the 400 a lot of these ovens you have to
be really careful the first time using them i've had ones that light just fine they heat up just
fine they never stop they don't stop when you hit that desired temperature even if you set it to 200
it'll just flame out until there's smoke in here let me keep a close eye on the oven here
all right i opened up the oven door one time just a peek and make sure everything was okay at about
10 minutes and it was up to 375-ish then i turned the fan off and listened i heard the burner go out
and then i heard the burner kick back in so here's our first look oven set to 400 and we are
bullseye 400 degrees guys and it just turned off put my croissant pizza see i have it on the top
shelf this metal piece that used to be right there in the middle i have it on the top shelf right now
i'm gonna close the oven that's how you cook a perfect pizza by the way you don't need those
stupid pizza stones ceramic things on the bottom you simply move the middle shelf to the highest
shelf put your pizza up here it comes out perfect trust me we're going to wait about 18 20 minutes
and you're going to see a perfect digiorno's pizza so glad the oven works perfectly opi doesn't that
just tickle your fuzz your fur yeah man tara does it tickle your fuzzy butt it sure does what a good
girl yeah good girl all right oh yeah time has come pizza's done heck yeah slide that guy off
on the inside of the box there perfect let it cool down perfect every time guys let me show you the
bottom here real quick soft and perfect every time on the top shelf it's all you got to do it's easy
what an amazingly peaceful beautiful late afternoon
sun we only got about an hour left of sun out there but man and still just me and that one rv
right there not a single person has come down here so we'll see what changes tomorrow for wednesday
delicious croissant pizza
oh my goodness whoo
oh i see you guys are mad you didn't get any pizza so you stole my seat
is that what's up i think that's really naughty opie tara did this your idea wasn't it tara
you guys are crazy fine fine i'll just go sit over here by the dinette tara
the dinette that you like yeah you guys enjoy your time together all right i'll remember that
that was quite a nice surprise shawn and jill showed up here at the campground stopped by even
even brought me some banana bread enjoy the banana bread thanks guys to get the shop in a few days
a little a little chilly tonight so i've got the
furnace on now yeah yeah we're gonna get we're gonna need some heat tonight
that was a real nice surprise just a real nice surprise shawn and jill banana bread i mentioned
last week i didn't that they uh sold out of these at the farmer's market there in east alton so they
they brought me my own banana bread i'm gonna eat it right now but hey guys i'm gonna hang out
with the kitties tonight and uh i'm gonna make another video from this place and try to get a
fishing license i might be able to get it online actually with my debit card i'm gonna try that
but in the meantime i'm gonna hang out with the kitties a little bit longer and i'll be
back to you here in a couple days from beaver dam campground have a good night guys bye-bye
you