The Trip West - Day 1 & 2

October 20. The day we leave for Arizona. Can't believe it is finally here. The day begins at 4:30 am to finish up last minute tasks involved with closing up the house and packing truck and trailer. It is 31 degrees when we get up and a heavy frost covers all. Auspicious. Mary has done an unbelievable job of cleaning out all foodstuffs, especially freezables and perishables. The downstairs and upstairs pantry's are almost empty and this morning we will remove the last of the items in the freezer downstairs and the freezer and refrigerator upstairs. At 8:30 Mark Garland and his son Joe show up right on time to winterize the house. This they have completed by 9:30. After a run down on what I need to do to get everything running again when we get back, they are on their way and so are we. Well, almost on our way. We still had to pull all electrical plugs for major electrical appliances, cover the furniture and other exposed surfaces, shut off the propane, and finally hit the main breaker in the house to turn off all of the power. One last look and we were on our way. For 6 months. Still having a hard time understanding that.

The first part of our trip, which got under way at about 10:45, was slow. Up the mountain to Dummerston Center, down to Brattleboro, and then heading west on Route 9- up over Hogback Mountain, Searsburg Mountain, and then down Woodford Mountain into Bennington. Uneventful  just the way we like it. On into New York State and Troy and Schenectady, then to the New York State Thruway. We are using the Ez Pass for the first time. About 12:30 we make our first stop at the Pattersonville Rest Area, stretch, pee, and unwind for the 3 of us.

About 180 miles later we make another, this just west of Syracuse. Strange, I'm sitting in the truck with Molly waiting for Mary to come back from getting me a cup of coffee, when I notice a guy get out of his car with his camera and take a picture of our Airstream. Interesting. I'll bet he was thinking " I didn't know they still made them".  Another interesting experience was having a Hobby Lobby tractor trailer pass us. Mary and I both raised our middle fingers to salute it as it went by.

About 6:25 we hit Buffalo and what looked like rush hour traffic and the rain started to get serious. Thought we were in for a lot of trouble when all of a sudden the traffic that had been going along at 65 mph, stopped. We were backed up for quite a while before we started moving again. Turns out it was an accident / police stop in the east bound lane, that had everyone stopping to 'gawk'. Unbelievable. Just as soon as we got by, the traffic picked up and we were on our way. Made it down through Jamestown and Chatauqua and crossed over the Pennsylvania State line about 7:30. With a Welcome Center right there, we decided that we had had it for driving for the day.  8 hours plus of actual driving time, and 430 miles was enough. We found a spot and set up camp for the night, mixed in with all the tractor trailers.

After a nice beer and a glass of wine, a light meal of chicken pieces, hard boiled eggs and carrot slices, it was time for bed. But not before trying out the free wi-fi that was available. Compliments of the State of Pennsylvania. Of course, with all the traffic noise, the rigs pulling in and out of our area, we also had the benefit of a train somewhere close, that let us know of its presence by blowing its horn. This occurred many times throughout the night. Anyways, we did manage to get some sleep.

And then day 2 began.  Sleep had been erratic, but at least we got some. We hit the road around 5:30 and drove for about an hour and a half before finally pulling in to a McDonalds in Austinburg, OH. Took the opportunity to review our trip for the day and then we were back on the road.  We put on about another 100 miles before doing a gas stop in Bellville, OH. Back on the road again and then a lunch stop at McDonalds in Dayton, OH. Took advantage of their free wi-fi to plan our nights stop which turned out to be New Lisbon Family Campground in Straight, IN.  We utilized iPhone app for Passport America to identify a site in our path that offered a 50% nightly discount and then went to RVParkReviews.com to get reviews of the park. Confirmed what we suspected, so dialed the number and made a reservation for the night. We got there mid-afternoon and were pleasantly greeted. We got a nice site, which was amazingly level.

We got 30 amp service, water, sewage dump and free wi-fi, all for $12.50 a night. After getting ourselves all set and hooked up, Mary and I sat down for a cocktail. Much needed relax time.  We had put on 400 + miles for the day, driving for about 8 hours. Time to recharge for tomorrow. Prior to a nice supper, Molly and I took a nice walk around the area where we were camped. I didn't realize that a small pond was part of the place. I would guess that people (when the weather is nice and there are actually people other than us there), actually put boats in the water and quite probably fish.....

A View of the "lake"

A view from the "lake" to I 70

Molly and I on our walk

My pal Molly

Proof that fishing may occur here

Random Ramblings from Day #2:
We travelled on Interstates 90, 271, 71, and 70
We travelled in or around major cities of Erie, Pa, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.  In Cleveland, we passed the Progressive Insurance Mother Ship. No, we did not see Flo. Also, VERY important for future reference - do not travel eastbound through Cleveland during morning rush hour. In and around the Progressive "campus", eastbound traffic was backed up for miles.
In skirting Columbus, noted signs for Dublin, Ohio, which is location of Jack Nicklaus' famous golf course.
When exiting Ohio and entering Indiana noted a distinct difference in road quality and terrain- from flat farmland to modest hills and trees.

Hopefully we all get a nice sleep tonight so that we can have a good day tomorrow. Plan on leaving early. We've got about 460 miles to put on tomorrow. Our target is RV 66 Express in Marshfield, MO which is about 20-30 miles east of Springfield, Mo. The Mother Ship resides in Springfield and we intend to visit it - note: Bass Pro Shops.