The basement bedroom was a bit chilly, but the blankets were heavy so I stayed warm throughout the night. I woke up every couple of hours but slept well otherwise. I awoke a little after 7:00am, gathered my things and head upstairs to greet my hosts. The “kids” were either gone for the night or stayed out until some unknown hour so we had said our goodbyes last night. I said my goodbyes to my cousin and his wife and hit the road shortly after 8:00.
It was a cool start almost chilly and foggy. Not bad, visibility was good until it cleared up. Libby’s GPS had me on back roads for much of the first couple of hours. A stretch of four lane but mostly two lane county roads. It even tried to take me down an old gravel road. I opted to pass it and let the unit reroute. A lot of farmland out here.
We finally made our way to I-70 and headed for Indianapolis. Overcast the whole way but no rain. Our first real construction of the day came in Indianapolis. Our split off was closed, as was I-70, so we ended up in the middle of town. Driving miles through neighborhoods just hoping to find our way back on track. Finally, we made it back to the interstate and continued on our trek towards Ohio.
The sun had tried all morning to break through the cloud cover but never did. Not until we hit the Ohio border. The clouds broke apart just enough to start letting some sunshine in. The air was still pretty cool much of the day and the only rain so far has been a small amount of sprinkles.
We were in Indy around lunch time but and was going to find somewhere in the area to eat. After seeing more of town than I intended, I decided to push on and find something further down the road. I’m not seeing anything though, the only signs on the highway are for the usual fast food or chain restaurants. Before long it’s 3:00pm, if I’m having lunch it’s got to be now.
I pulled off in a rest stop to check the area for something to eat. There’s a couple of places a few miles off the next exit so I head to check them out. First stop is The Butcher’s Block. Semi-fancy looking joint but the parking lot is empty save a few cars. A sign on the door states they are closed for the holiday. Onward into town. Try Shan’s Pub but it too is closed. The only place open are fast food, I’m tempted but decide to head back to the highway and push on.
Just a few miles down the road I spot a sign for the Beer Barrel, sounds perfect. It’s a pizzeria & grill in Hilliard, just outside of Columbus. Nice place too. It’s fairly large and is family oriented, but they have cold beer so it’s a win. I decided on a pizza for lunch. Was pretty good but too much for me to finish myself, and nowhere to stow a pizza box on the bike.
Sitting at the bar waiting for lunch I had Facebook reminder from 2015 that brought back some memories I had just been talking about the night before. Dad and I were on the first day of our 16-state run. We’d stopped to gas up for the last time that day and Dad picked up a gas station bottle of wine. We decided to wait until we got closer to our end point for the day to grab some beer for me. We ended up at a RV camp called Mack’s Pines in Dover, Arkansas. It wasn’t until we get there that we realized we were in the middle of a dry county, one of many in the state of Arkansas. So we spent the evening doing the usual, chatting and enjoying each others company, Dad also enjoying his wine. It was soon decided that walking around the park was a good idea. We actually did meet a small group from Louisiana and enjoyed some conversation with them. I even scored a beer off of them, though it would do nothing to drown out Dad’s wine snoring. Dad was always a bad snorer and it’s difficult to imagine he could be extra but when you’re sober and trying to sleep, he’s was extra. I didn’t sleep well that first night but for the rest of the trip we made sure to check whether or not the counties we were stopping in were dry or not. It’s one of the many memories I hope I never forget.
Back to today. It’s after 4:00 already. I’ve crossed the time zone at some point and lost an hour. We’ve still got 150 miles to go to get to the camp site I’m shooting for. We left out of the Columbus area and the cloud cover has returned, darker clouds. I can see rain falling in the crop fields off the highway at some points and I’m watching on coming traffic for wiper blades. Cars coming from the direction I’m head with their wiper blades on is a good indicator I’m going to run into something.
The rain comes in burst, much like St. Louis. Not as bad but it’s still heavy and forces me off the throttle. I barely get wet through most of it which is good because I’ve yet to put on my rain gear. Probably should have back in St. Louis but was already wet before I had the chance, no point by then.
We finally make it into Streetsboro, Ohio around 6:00, just south of Cleveland. The office is thankfully still open so I can actually pay for a spot. I’m tempted to find a room somewhere though. The cloud cover doesn’t look great but the weather forecast isn’t showing any more than a 20% chance for the night. Decide to risk it, I don’t want to be sitting in a tent barely big enough for one person trying to type on a laptop but it’s part of the adventure. So far it’s only been a few light drizzles.
I got camp set up and headed into town to find something to eat. It’s only been a few hours but I’m oddly hungry again, not starving, just wanting something. First place I come to is a joint called Rockne’s. It’s 7:15 when I walk in the door and I notice they close at 8:00. After working so many years in the food service industry my first question to the hostess if it’s OK that I’m coming in so late. Everywhere I worked always closed much later so maybe it’s different but we hated, with passion, whenever someone would walk in in the last hour.
I’m not terribly hungry so just ordered a philly sandwich and side of fries. The sandwich wasn’t terrible but fries could have been a meal themselves. It was a mountain of freshly fried potato. I’d estimate about six large fries from your choice of fast food restaurant. I wouldn’t have eaten them all even if I famished.
Back at camp now. The campsite is pretty quiet save the mating sounds of all the insects. Fairly large location with a few fishing ponds and RV sights up off in the trees. The crew here is friendly but nothing like the first night in Harrison, that lady was absolutely into hospitality.
Not sure where I’ll end up tomorrow or what the weather is going to do. Probably be in New York somewhere. I’ll look at it later tonight. For now I’m going to throw another log on the fire and enjoy another beer and the company of my thoughts. Be back tomorrow night!
The Motorcycle Diaries of an Easy Rider 