I left Ally’s place yesterday morning, and tonight I’m at my friend’s place in northwest Ohio. Yes, that’s a lot of miles. Here’s how it all went down.
Among my friends who were interested in seeing me while I was in New England was Eldon, who I’ve known since sometime in the 1990s. He lives in an RV these days after a messy breakup. Sound familiar? Anyway, his home base is Ohio, but he was back in Maine getting the RV’s registration and inspection renewed. I’ve been flat out busy trying to fit everyone in who I wanted to see (and failing in some cases — too many people, not enough time), but Eldon was planning to drive from Maine back to Ohio over July 4 weekend.
This became my New England exist strategy. It was perfect. I’d get to hang out with him for a few days while traveling and sharing this life we now find ourselves in. It gave me a solid plan for leaving New England. He had to get back to his home base in time for work on Wednesday. Although I generally prefer not to blast across long distances in a short time, I didn’t mind blasting across Massachusetts and New York to get to territory I haven’t lived near most of my life that much sooner, particularly because the never-ending New England rain is continuing through the foreseeable future. So I spent the past two days testing my theory that I can, if necessary, drive the Transit much longer and farther than I could drive my E250.
Escape to New York
It was rainy when I left New Hampshire, of course. My destination was the Charlton rest area on the Massachusetts Turnpike (or, as I know it, the Mass Pike). He drove there from Maine on Sunday and spent the night. We met, I handed him a radio, and we were off, basically following I-90 all day. Traffic eased up once we were past the I-84 split, and continued to be easy the rest of the day. Wouldn’t you know it, the farther west we went, the less rain there was, until it stopped entirely when we entered New York. It’s been sunny and warm, like summer is supposed to be, ever since.
We stopped for lunch at a New York rest area. We both made our own lunch because we didn’t like Roy Rogers, our only restaurant option. Fortunately, since we’re both driving our homes, that was easy. By late afternoon we made it as far as Rochester, which seemed a good stopping point for the day. Eldon really wanted to eat at a Texas Roadhouse, so I found him one. There are no legal Chateau Walmarts in the area, but there was a Cracker Barrel with good online reviews.
First, though, he suggested we go see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the movie theater down the road. We arrived just as the ads for the 7:30 pm show were running, got in for $10 each (a bargain by today’s standards), and even had those fancy leather reclining seats to lounge in. Spoiler-free review: Forget that Kingdom of the Crystal Skull exists, go out, and enjoy a fun end to the Indiana Jones series. The only one who was unhappy was Lister, because this cut into so much of our usual evening snuggle time, but after we parked at Cracker Barrel for the night I made it up to him.
Entering the Midwest
This is probably the quietest Cracker Barrel I’ve ever stayed at. There was plenty of space for both of our long rigs as well (my van and trailer, plus his RV and trailer, hauling some freshly milled wood back from Maine for his next project). I had Eldon take the lead, and he led us across western New York, the sliver of Pennsylvania that touches Lake Erie, and into Ohio. Pennsylvania has a very nice rest area that I never knew about before.
We stopped for lunch at the first Waffle House either of us had seen in a long time. (I now remember why some of us call it “Awful House.”) We also fed our rigs with the cheapest gas I’ve seen in a long time, then crossed northern Ohio, with only a bit of traffic across Cleveland. Soon we exited I-90 onto Ohio Route 2, which took us the rest of the way to the RV park where he lives.
We got both of our rigs situated in his site. I had to detach the trailer and park next to it, but that’s okay. Then he took me for a tour of his area. The first stop was an old church turned into an arts and crafts place, with a TARDIS sitting out front. By pure luck, I was wearing a Doctor Who shirt, so I had to take the photo opportunity. We went by a few other places and ended up at the general store at the RV park, which is really more of a clubhouse. Eldon bought me a tasty local beer and we hung out a bit.
The tour continued afterward, with him showing me around the place. It’s a stone’s throw from Lake Erie, which you can get through a canal that leads straight there from the RV park. He also showed me his next home, an old fifth-wheel camper left on the property after its previous occupant passed away. It needs some work, but that’s what the wood in the trailer is for. He’ll get the fifth-wheel moved to his pad, left there, and hook it up permanently, never intended to be on the road or move outside this RV park. Since he’s established this as a home base, it seems a good way to go about it. I’m taking notes in case I find myself in such a situation in the future.
For now, though, I’m going to rest. I’ve proven that I can, in fact, put down big miles in a short time if I have to. But tomorrow, I’m not going anywhere. I don’t plan to stick around here too long, since there are more people and places I want to see, particularly those I haven’t seen before. I didn’t bother unloading my motorcycle from the trailer, because I’m only going to be here a couple of days. But I’m not done in the Midwest yet.
Smokey Da Van 