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.
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| We had a pretty cozy spot last night |
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Entering Indiana |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| The wiper is about to take out the highway sign! |
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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!
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| 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 |