Champaign, Illinois-D&W Lake Camping and RV Park

We decided to stay a few days at this campground in Champaign, Illinois. It was such a nice place! We aren't big fans of private campgrounds since much of the time they are treeless and everyone is stacked in, but I would definitely come back to this one if ever in the area again.

Here is a picture of the lake area:

It was very close to grocery stores and shopping but felt far away. Originally, it was a privately owned fishing pond and after someone asked to pay to stay the night, the owner began adding campsites, 3 at a time. It is now run by the original owners grandson and appears to be thriving. I was visiting with the owner when he had to turn someone away because they were full on a weekday evening!

Not too far from there was the Museum of the Grand Prairie located in Lake of the Woods Forest Preserve in Mahomet. Although there was a direct entrance to the museum, we took the route through the main park. It was a beautiful park. On our journey through, we saw a few deer and drove through a covered bridge.

The kids loved this museum (and it was FREE)! It was not huge but had enough to entertain my kids for hours.

They planted a vegetable garden,

did some sewing,

sent a few telegraph messages,

built a log cabin,

prepared dinner and

carried in the water.

While they played, I visited with another mother who shared her farm life experiences with me as they have begun to raise some of their own meat, fruits and vegetables over the past year. Very interesting!

Then before we left, we checked out their “Discovery Garden”.

On another day, we visited the Orpheum Children's Science Museum (also FREE with our museum pass). This was a small museum that has opened inside the old Orpheum theater that was built 100 years ago. It is a one-third scale model of the opera house at Versailles.

The exhibits seemed a little random and old (like they just bought different things from other museums) but again, the kids enjoyed the hours we spent there.

Jacob had a good time playing boat captain,

and they had a really cool vet clinic with cages, exam sheets to document and xrays. The “animals” had something embedded that when held near the x-ray machine, the x-ray would change to show that animals condition.

They also had a water table and these magna tiles, both of which my kids love to play with.

Our time in Champaign was short, but we really enjoyed it. We are now heading to Turkey Run, Indiana!