Thursday, March 29, 2018

Good Sleep, Damp Driving Day, Cool (Cold) Arrival at Wapakaneta

When I first jostled myself on Thursday, Mar. 29th I noticed I was alone in bed with Clemson. It was 5 minutes before 6 and with the light on downstairs I knew Bill was up for the day. It is rare that he comes to bed at the same time as me but we all retired last night at 10:30. We washed and had our morning drink together and something to eat. Bill had his cereal and I had some yogourt, granola, homemade applesauce and wheat germ.
We had a pretty cozy spot last night

And to give credit where credit is due
I advertise Cracker Barrel in Effingham, Il
The manager was very welcoming
Before I tell you that we hopped on the road, I wanted to share these pictures with you. Last night when we were walking back from supper, we could hear these thousands of birds flocking the trees. What you see as black, are not leaves. These trees are bare of greenery. They are birds. I immediately though of Alfred Hitchcock and his movie The Birds. So very weird, I was fascinated!


Cool, eh?
Okay, onto the day. It was 7:20 when we pulled out of the CB lot, nice and easy and instead of jigging around to the Flying J, we went down I-70E to the next Exit 162 to the Pilot to fuel up. Once more we lucked out and got .08/gal off our 24 gallons of diesel. The temperature was 48F and the rain began, enough for the wipers to roll fulltime but not full power.


We pulled into a Rest/Welcome Area just west of Terre Haute, IN at 8:45, er, wait a minute! Our clocks just changed so now we are on EST the same as back home. It is 9:45 am. We took a walk and answered nature’s call. The rain has slowed a bit but it is always different off the highway without traffic spray anyway. Bill picked up an Indiana map, always good to stay current with those. And they’re free!


there we are, sidled up close and personal with the big guys
It actually makes us look small!
We are finding certain parts of this interstate in desperate need of repair but then other spots are smooth as glass. Mostly it is worse on the small bridged sections where cement meets asphalt but I’ve heard Bill mutter “We’re not travelling this Interstate again!” There are sections along this stretch, near Cloverdale/Putnam, IN where the median between eastbound and westbound traffic is filled with trees. I like and prefer that when you can’t see them so close.

It doesn't feel so much like an Interstate with a 'forest' median
As we approach Indianapolis, we watched for the bypass of I-465 which takes us around the expanse of the city’s heart and that worked quite well. Again, two heads and four eyes (6 counting my goggles) are better than one, especially in the rain. We follow this around the outskirts and it changes from I-465S to I-465N and who I-465W as it subsequently drops traffic off its tentacles to Hwy 65, 74 and then us at Exit 44B onto I-70E again towards Dayton.

Entering Indiana 
Trying to read signs in the rain is not always easy
but at least there are two of us
We needed the sign on the right to catch the I-465 bypass
There’s our sigh of relief for the day. 100 miles before our next turn so our next focus is a stop within the hour to make some lunch. Soon enough, at Greenfield, IN we found the spot. A large Rest Area with plenty of overflow parking way at the back. This would be one you can stay overnight in if you needed to. It wasn’t too busy so Bill found a good wide spot and we opened up the slides and made lunch.

The Rest Area but we didn't need their facilities,
we opened up our home instead
This is where it gets challenging for me. When I’m trying to avoid bread and crackers, what do I eat? We can’t warm up anything when it is a rainy day, at least not in the microwave. Our panels are not charging the batteries so they are on the low side. The key is not to dirty too many pots and dishes either so while Bill made a sandwich, I made a lettuce salad with cottage cheese, olives and cheese. Yah, it filled the hole at least and I stuck to my plan. It wasn’t that enjoyable though to be honest.

I'd love to know what Clemson thinks about all this
All he cares about is our company and Daddy's coat
Back on the road 30 minutes later and we should be good now for the remainder of today’s journey. Less than 130 miles to go. By the way, when we stopped last night and opened things up, we saw no damage, surprisingly. Stuff was jostled around in the dish and medicine cupboards. And yes, I use ALL the tricks to prevent too much movement and breakage. This highway today is worse still and peeking in cupboards at lunchtime, so far so good. I’m afraid to look in the closet until we stop for the night.


We crossed into Ohio, under the blue arch at 1:00. With 15 miles before our left turn onto I-75N I notice my sweetie showing signs of fatigue. Fidgeting and yawning and readjusting his position. I look on our gps for the next Rest Area and find one 24 miles down the road on I-75. Two long days on the road can take a toll on anyone and add the steady rain to that, makes it even longer.

The big circle merge onto I-75N
After driving a few miles, we are both thinking the same thing. “Aaaah”, the road has cleared up like night and day. What a relief! I’m still afraid to open the closet. We hit a huge bump in the road where we couldn’t move into the other lane. Now we have turned north onto I-75 and Bill has his second wind.  “Let’s keep going, it’s only 35 miles”. He’s the driver and I’m as anxious as he is to arrive and put down stakes (so to speak) for a few days.

Going under  I-70E which we just got off
We have never been to the park we are heading for but it is a membership park and supposedly very nice. There could be a soak in the hot tub in store for someone tonight! Leftovers to warm up for supper so the night should be easy for us. I-75N is starting out good so far with decent ravel roads. I can’t help but wonder just how many rv damages result from rough, 'uncared-for' highways.

We travel 60 mph in a 75/70/65 mph zone. Sometimes, we drop below that like on these wet days. What we saw after a traffic slow down 8 miles from Wapakaneta was pretty scary. Coming from the north, a large SUV type vehicle had somehow left the pavement and rolled over the guard rail and landed upside down against the cement overpass pillar.
The wiper is about to take out the highway sign!
The worst thing we saw today
We sure hope they got out alive
That is terrible to see BUT you always envision how bad it could have been. Yes, they were probably badly hurt, which is very sad, but what if the vehicle had rolled across to the northbound lane and involved other vehicles? Things could usually be worse, at least in many cases. We carried on, in the rain, until we came to our Exit 111 and got off this racetrack.

As soon as we turned onto Bellefontaine St. we noticed the TA Travel Centre that I’d found on the gps for fuel. This is the lowest we let our tank go simply because we knew it was here, so close to camp. Sitting at ’19 miles to empty’, we left a big deposit. Unfortunately, no discount here. We paid $3.05/gal. It is 2:30 and we have a hop, skip and a jump to go. Yay!

Another rain shot, couldn't resist
Isn't it lovely? NOT!!
At 3:00 we were set up on Site #23. Bill drove up to the office to tell them what site we are one. It was our choice which I absolutely love. The opportunity to pick our own site raises the parks to my Top 10 list too. It is yeuchy with rain and our jackets were pretty wet when we came in but we turned the fireplace on plus our Blue Flame heater and the Suite was toasty warm in no time!

Here we are all set up on a nice long site


Already, I feel that I’m adjusting to the cool temperatures. It was 44F when we pulled in and all I felt was wet. Brrr. It doesn’t mean I’m going to like being cold! So, telling you that we are settled and safe, I’m going to stop typing. It was a pretty good day’s drive, at least we made it in good time and without incident. I hope you’ve had a good day too. If anything exciting takes place after this, you’ll hear about it tomorrow!


It is cozy inside so if it doesn't stop raining,
NO one will be going to the red building for a hot tub tonight!
Good night from Wapakaneta, Ohio
Thank you for stopping by today! I love to hear from you and will respond to every post in time.

18 comments:

  1. I hate seeing accidents. That's one reason I always go 55-60. I try to keep Sargento snack breaks in the fridge for lunches on the go. No microwave and really filling. Hope the rain lets up and the sun comes out. Looks like a nice park.

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    1. yup good reason to keep it slow not to mention the fuel savings.
      Sargento snacks? are they low carbs?
      thanks we are hoping the rain stops too even tho it will be cold here for the week.

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  2. Whew! Your drive certainly did make me appreciate our warm sunny spring day here in Oregon. One of our first. You are also inspiring me with the no bread and crackers thing. Mo and I are going to go that way as well, with an official start date of April 2, after Easter dinner of course. :) no flour, sugar, potatoes, rice, pasta, or something like that. keeping the carbs low but not following any other rules like keto or paleo. As I said, you are an inspiration, Patsy.

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    1. definitely enjoy your nice sunny days!
      good luck with your low carb lifestyle. it worked well for me in 2010 and I need to get as firm now as I was then. but I did focus on paleo meaning lots of good fat. i believe in the health benefits too .
      thankyou for your comment. it is always nice to hear from you.

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  3. Thanks Patsy for all your information. We have changed our way home. Can't wait to meet up with you again.

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    1. You're welcome! Hope it was helpful.
      be safe guys!
      looking forward to our next connection!

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  4. Wow, I'll bet you're both tired. Driving in the rain is never fun but for two days in a row would be too much for me. Like you I agree that seeing road signs in the rain is difficult and I commend you both for getting through the areas without any difficulty.

    Enjoy your stay.

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    1. Those long travel days do take their toll, glad that you arrived safely. Enjoy your time time there and the pool and hot tub await you. We do enjoy that park as well. Will most likely see y'all next week.

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    2. Re: rough roads and damage. We hit a level crossing on California 95 yesterday, and our bathtub is toast. I wonder if my warranty will cover it? ;)

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    3. oh no! that is terrible!
      good luck with getting it replaced.

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    4. Thanks Deb. I'm glad we did the long days now that the weather has changed. it will be cold here for the week but I guess it is preparing us for Ontario.🤔

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    5. My silly comments are not going where i want tonight.
      thanks George. I'll be checking out the pool and hot tub tomorrow.

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  5. Glad you made it to your park and now have some downtime. As soon as you started talking about the birds my first thought was the movie. My sister and I were scared to walk under a big tree that was on our way to school after watching that movie. When our three children were older we rented it for them to watch and it seemed to hoaky compared to the special effects of the day :-)

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  6. Rain sure adds stress to a day of travelling. Hope Bill gets a nice long soak in the hot tub. He deserves it!Enjoy your time there.

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  7. Wow! Those birds are certainly something else! Enjoy being there for a few days and Bill can relax a bit! Well, you too of course :) I'm trying to get back into our way of eating, but after being at Don and Dana's it sure isn't the same. haha. Hopefully the weather improves for ya!

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  8. All that rain and cold temps didn't seem to face you and dampen your spirits. Bet you are glad to stay put for a few days. Hopefully the sun will be out and the ground will dry up. I never thought of packing boots but some areas sure get more puddles than others. Wishing you a nice stay.

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  9. Lots of rain. Hope the rain has quit before you have to move on. Enjoy your stay.

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  10. Glad to see that you made it safe and sound to your destination. It's never nice driving in the rain, but I can't imagine doing it with my house hooked on behind!
    That $3.05/gal for diesel sounds low to us ......while in Kitchener yesterday we saw regular unleaded gas for $1.30 per litre! In Hanover it is still a low $118.9...I say "LOW" with tongue in cheek. We are getting warmer days soon and was actually able to hang bedding outside on the line this morning. That is a sure sign of spring in my books.

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