The Big Road Trip, Part 6: The Black Hills

I love Wall Drug Store!  It's such a cool place.  We were up early and checked out of a very poor Econolodge, and immediately returned to Wall Drug Store for breakfast.  The ambience of this place just speaks to me.  There is great Native American and Western art on all of the walls, and the food is diner style, but just what I like.  And 5 cent coffee, to boot!  And the free ice water is everywhere.

After eating, we spent a great deal of time wandering around and picking up souvenirs.  The Traveler's Chapel is a nice spot, and the book store has a lot of great reads.  We considered a pair of cowboy boots, but ultimately decided we didn't need them.  All in all, we were there for 2 and a half hours.

We hit the road again at 10 and headed west into the Black Hills.  Timothy Price, who we met at G-Fest, author of "Big In Japan," told us about a neat attraction, so we took a detour to Rushmore Cave.  Rushmore Cave advertised a Mountain Coaster, something we discovered during our Spring Break trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, so we were excited to ride one Out West.  Unfortunately, they got caught up in red tape and construction was delayed, so the coaster was not finished.  They have an interactive movie/shoot 'em up 4-D ride, so we did that instead.  It was a longer detour than we intended, and we were just a bit disappointed about the mountain coaster, but it was fun.

Next stop was Mount Rushmore!  This is always a favorite stop, and it always causes my patriotism to swell.  It is a dramatic scene, cut into the side of the mountain, and it can be seen for miles in many directions.  This was my fourth visit to Mount Rushmore, and Melody's second, but it is still awe-inspiring.

It was very crowded, and very hot, with temps souring into triple digits.  We took the requisite pictures, then headed to the cafeteria for a really delicious meal.  While it's not the same building, I can't help but be reminded of the dramatic scene in Hitchcock's NORTH BY NORTHWEST, when Cary Grant is shot in the cafeteria at Mount Rushmore.  That movie is what inspired me to want to visit the memorial.  Well, that, and the pictures and stories my father told me about his visit to Mount Rushmore with his father and brothers back in the 1970s.

After eating, we walked through the museum area, then got some ice cream (Thomas Jefferson's vanilla!), before deciding to hit the road.  It was just so hot!  We headed out to Route 16A, the Iron Mountain Road, which goes right into the mountains and offers spectacular scenery and views of Mount Rushmore through several tunnels.

Next was Custer State Park.  This park is known for it's wildlife, and the huge herd of bison that typically hangs around the main roads through the park, providing great photo ops and entertainment.  We stopped at the new visitor center, where park rangers were telling guests where the best spots were to see the buffalo.  He gave us some tips and their last reported location, and told us some incredible stories of some of the stupid things guests do to get pictures of the bison, endangering their lives in the process.  He told us that a woman was gored just the day before when she wandered too closely to a stubborn bull.

Back on the road, we wandered thru the park and decided that a few dirt roads would get us closer to the last reported location of the herd.  We ended up in some very remote areas, but we never found the herd. After more than an hour criss-crossing through the back roads, we decided to exit the park.  Our only wildlife were the wild mules who beg for food.

We headed to Custer, SD, a really cool little town we stayed in during our trip to the area almost 8 years ago.  It hasn't changed a bit.  The only sad thing was seeing the old Flintstones' Bedrock City amusement park, which was rundown when we were here before, was now closed.

We went north and soon arrived at another favorite spot in the Black Hills:  the Crazy Horse Memorial.  It's still a dramatic sight, even if it appears that no progress has been made on the mountain, which is being carved into the likeness of the great Lakota leader,Crazy Horse.  The memorial itself represents all Native American tribes, and is the largest sculpture in the region.  It's impressive.

We watched the film about the creation of the memorial and what it represents to the people there, and we explored the site.  We got some souvenirs, and marveled at the spectacular memorial.  Then we headed to our last stop for the day:  Deadwood.

Deadwood is a real wild west town, and worth seeing.  It's just a bit over rated, though, and the lodging reflects that.  I made a reservation at Cadillac Jack's, a casino that, while on Main Street, is very far from the touristy area worth visiting.  I was very disappointed, particularly given how expensive the rooms are.  I wish I had done my homework.  It's a very nice place, but not at all what we wanted, and definitely not a kid-friendly location.  It was already late, so we didn't get a chance to explore in the town itself, and we ate at the hotel's restaurant, which was fair.

After a restful night, we were up early.  There was no breakfast to speak of, so we just checked out and looked for a place to grab a donut or something.  The town was slowly waking up, but there really wouldn't be anything open until much later, and we had a lot of distance to cover this day.  We did drive up the mountain overlooking Deadwood to visit Mount Moriah cemetery, where we visited the grave of Wild Bill Hickock and Calamity Jane.

We enjoyed our 24 hours in the Black Hills, and I wish we had more time to visit.  There is so much to see and do, but since we had visited the area before, and we had a lot of the country yet to see, we headed north and west out of Deadwood and set our sights on Wyoming....

Have a great day, everyone!  And best wishes, blessings, and thanks to our many Veteran's who keep our freedoms alive and well in this wonderful country.  May God continue to bless America!

The Big Road Trip, Part 5: South Dakota

The Midwest is flat.  And while I identify more with the friendliness and inherent values of the people in this part of America, the topography leaves me feeling.... well, flat.  With two cross-country trips already under my belt, I look at this part of the country as just a necessary bridge from home to the excitement of The West.  But it takes a long while to get from there to there.

We left the hotel in Charles City, Iowa, filled with the excitement of the journey still riding high.  We headed west and north towards Minnesota, but we had to dodge a lot of road construction, which significantly hampered our speed.  There wasn't much to see in this part of Iowa.  Again, the flat land just stretches forever, and we found ourselves getting lost in the music playing on our car stereo.

A word about our playlists:  our stereo has a hard-drive with almost 4000 songs handpicked by both of us.  My daughter, Melody, enjoys mostly modern pop, and leans towards alternative rock.  She loves Twenty One Pilots, Imagine Dragons, and Panic! At the Disco, among others.  I'm more of a classic rock fan, from the 60s thru the 80s, and I like the Eagles, Steely Dan, ELO, Yes, and U2, and jazz, with the James Taylor Quartet, Brubeck, Don Ellis, Count Basie, Louis Prima, Stanley Turrentine, and Bela Fleck & the Flecktones leading the way.  We compromise a bit, with the Monkees, Paul Simon, and the Police being common ground.  We made a deal before the trip that, from the time we hit the road each morning thru 11 am, we would listen to my music, and from 11 to 6 pm, we would listen to hers.  From 6 pm to when we stop would be mine again.  This worked well for us, though I ended up getting the short end of the deal when she struggled to get up in the morning and our starts were later than I like.

We crossed into Minnesota at 9:20, and stopped at the Welcome Center.  I perused the brochures for areas of the Gopher State that we would be passing through, and nothing jumped out.  The Spam Museum seemed to be the highlight, but it meant we would have to backtrack to the east a little too far.

Back on the road, we veered onto I-90, and passed through one construction zone after another, all the way to the South Dakota state line.  Once in SD, one of my favorite states, the speed limit jumped to 80 mph.  That's the fastest legal speed limit I've ever driven.  However, Jeeps aren't really built for speed.  Their ability to go practically anywhere is their appeal.  Cruising along at 80 alongside an 18-wheeler resulted in a violent shaking and vibrating of our hood, which bothered me a lot.  I may look into different kinds of latches for the hood, rather than the stock semi-elastic ones.

We arrived in Mitchell, SD, at 1:30, and we stopped for lunch at a Ruby Tuesdays.  While it wasn't our first choice, and I didn't necessarily want to do a sit-down restaurant, it was something familiar and we could actually eat light at the salad bar.  It was a good meal, but the place seemed to have a large prevalence of flies.

Right down the road is the iconic Corn Palace.  "The World's Only Corn Palace" is Mitchell's big tourist attraction, bringing a half-million tourists each year to see the corn murals along its walls.  It was conceived as a gathering place for the area's residents to enjoy an annual fall festival, a celebration of the end-of-season harvesting of crops.  The first Corn Palace was built in 1892, but was replaced in 1905.  But the second building was soon deemed too small, and the current building was completed in 1921.  It is redecorated each year with different colored corn and a different theme is designed for the murals.

This was my third visit to the Corn Palace, but Melody's first, and we picked up a few souvenirs and traded a few corny puns.  We were back on the road at around 3:30, and we continued west on I-90.  There were a few other touristy stops I wanted to make, but we wanted to get to the Badlands and Wall Drug Store before it got too late.  But we made one more stop, at the 1880s Town, near Murdo, SD, at 5 pm.

The 1880s Town is collection of authentic Old West buildings gathered from all over the West to form a very cool "town."  Many are unrestored, and look rather rundown, but their authenticity is what makes them so interesting.  Some are some fixed up with furniture and props from the era.  It was fun walking from building to building, exploring them all.  There is a working saloon, as well, and we got something to drink and a snack.  There is also a small museum with props from the Kevin Costner film, DANCES WITH WOLVES.

We were back on the road at 6, and anxious to reach the Badlands.  We arrived in less than an hour, and entered the National Park...just as a thunderstorm hit the area.  So it made for a gloomy, if somewhat spectacular drive thru the park.  We were excited to see a bit of wildlife, too, with a couple of bighorn sheep on the side of an overlook.  The storm clouds over the rock formation made for some incredible scenery.

It was almost dark when we left the park, and we headed north into Wall.  We drove directly to Wall Drug Store, the iconic tourist trap.  It is a place I really love.  I don't know what the appeal is, exactly, but the combination of location, era of establishment, food, and memorabilia, just strikes at the road trip enthusiast/tourist in me.

We arrived 15 minutes before the cafe closed for the night, so we got a nice meal (the bison burger is my favorite).  After eating, we walked around a bit, but the entire place was getting ready to close for the evening, so we headed out to the Jeep and drove the few blocks to our hotel.

Wall does not have a large number of hotels, and those it has are not the nicest places.  Our Econolodge is the latter.  It is an old, rundown motel that charges way too much.  I've stayed there before, and should know better.

We covered 562.3 miles for the day, 1674.4 for the trip so far.  God continues to bless us with safety, health, and happiness.

Have a great day, everyone!

The Big Road Trip, Part 4: The Field of Dreams

We left G-Fest XXIII, and the Crowne Plaza O'Hare in Rosemont, IL, at 2:20 pm, and worked our way through a maze of highways and roadwork to I-90 west.  After some pleading and arm twisting by my wonderful daughter, Melody, I agreed to make another stop at Mitsuwa Market in Arlington Heights, to get her another Bubble Tea.  She is addicted.

The highway was not very scenic, and the on and off again rain was disappointing, but after passing Rockford and entering western Illinois, the sun came out and the drive became gorgeous!  We stopped at a scenic rest area near Galena and grabbed a few pics.  We also visited with a nice couple from Iowa who had been traveling all over the country on a motorcycle.  We told them about our road trip and asked for recommendations for places to see in Memphis, where the wife used to live.

We continued west and stopped in Galena after seeing signs for President U.S. Grant's home.  Grant had lived in Galena just prior to the Civil War, and returned to a hero's welcome after, receiving the house as a gift from the town.  It was just a few years later that he was elected President, and he spent very little time in Galena.  We arrived too late in the day to visit the house, but we walked around the grounds and took some pictures.

We soon reached the Mississippi River, and we crossed over into Iowa for the first time.  Dubuque was a really nice town, and we found Iowa to be more scenic  than we imagined.  We continued west towards Davenport, heading towards the legendary Field of Dreams movie site.  The GPS took us on an unexpected drive that ended up being more direct than what I had mapped out, but ended up being on dirt roads that stretched forever through corn fields and farm land.

After cresting a small rise, the road went back to asphalt, and there it was:  The Field of Dreams!

There were a couple of guys on motorcycles pulling out of the long driveway to the house as we pulled up, and there was one lone car in the gravel parking lot.  We pulled in and it became clear that the site was closed for the evening.  We parked and quickly took some pictures.  It was so quiet!  You could actually hear the corn swaying in the slight breeze that was blowing.  While Melody really had no reference, since she hadn't seen the movie, I was in awe to be there.  FIELD OF DREAMS is an incredibly impactful movie, and it was just so cool to be there.

We hopped back in the Jeep and headed out.  We didn't disturb anything while there, since I was nervous about being there after their posted hours, and back at the main road, I checked the GPS to see if there was a place we could stop to eat.  We had been driving for 200 miles, and while we vowed to avoid fast food, we wanted to get down the road as far as we could and that meant a quick stop.  We found a Hardees right in Dyersville, and stopped to eat.

We ate quickly and I figured out how far I wanted to drive, knowing how far we had to go tomorrow without wearing ourselves out tonight.  I made a reservation at the Sleep Inn in Charles City, Iowa, figuring another 100 miles or so would allow us to stop by 10 pm or so.

We walked out of the Hardees and saw a sight that haunted us for the remainder of the trip.  It was a lapse of judgment that would never be repeated, but never forgotten.  And it was only through God's grace that it wasn't worse than it was, or could have been, which is either a statement on the town and people of the area we were in, in the heart of America, or God was really looking out for us.  Or it was a combination of both.  And we agreed then and there and that we would never tell a soul what it was that happened.  So there.  That's the end of it.

We jumped back on the highway, watched an amazing sunset, and just kept thanking God for the incredible trip we were on.  US 20 turned into I-380, and we turned northwest near Waterloo onto US 218 all the way to Charles City.  The Sleep Inn was very nice, as was the staff, and we quickly settled in to sleep.  Our mileage for the day was 311.9, and we were at 1112.1 miles for the trip.

To be continued...

The Big Road Trip, Part 3: G-Fest XXIII

G-Fest XXIII, Chicago (Rosemont), Illinois.  G-Fest is the largest regular gathering of Godzilla and Japanese monster fans in the world.  It's a family-oriented convention featuring presentations by fans and actors and crew from Japanese Godzilla films, including topics of interest, contests and gaming, new and classic kaiju  movies, a dealers room, and lots of fun. 

After arriving on Friday and attending the opening ceremonies, introducing all of the guests, daughter Melody and I crashed for the night.  We were excited to be at G-Fest, and we were looking forward to the beginning of our big road trip.

The Crowne Plaza Hotel O'Hare, in Rosemont, is a wonderful venue.  The rooms are very nice, and the views from the higher floors are actually kind of cool, as planes on final approach to O'Hare airport fly right by the windows (and they are appropriately soundproofed, too.  During G-Fest, the hotel airs rare TV shows and movies with a Japanese monster (kaiju)/sci-fi theme on the in-house TV channel, so during our downtime, we enjoyed watching some of the programs we wouldn't have a chance to see otherwise.  The hotel is fairly large, able to handle the needs of the convention (except for the long wait for the elevators), and we like that the convention has a home that we've become comfortable with.

I woke up early on Saturday morning.  I went down to the main level and got some breakfast stuff for us, returning to our room to eat.  I allowed Melody to sleep in, and I went down in time for one of the early sessions with Akira Takarada, star of the original GOJIRA (Godzilla).  Takarada is every bit the big star, and hearing his stories of his time on the sets of movies and working with other actors and directors in Japan, is just so interesting.  I particularly enjoyed his stories about Nick Adams, an American actor who starred with him in INVASION OF THE ASTRO MONSTER (aka, MONSTER ZERO) in the 60s.  He was interviewed by JD Lees, the publisher of G-FAN Magazine, and the organizer of the convention, and was translated by Robert Scott Field, an actor who played professional baseball in Japan and learned the language and lives there now, and is a popular guest at G-Fest every year.

After an hour with Takarada, the next session was with Bin Furuya, the suit-actor who played the original Ultraman, and acted in many other kaiju movies and TV shows.  ULTRAMAN was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid growing up in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, back in 70s.  I watched the show on Channel 20, which had a wonderful lineup of shows for kids each weekday afternoon, hosted by Captain 20 (Dick Dyszel).  I loved hearing Furuya's stories about the show, and the show he actually acted on (instead of being a suit-actor), ULTRASEVEN.  August Ragone, author of the wonderful book, "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters," interviewed Furuya, and Field again translated.

Melody joined me during the session with Furuya, and after it ended, we went to the Dealers Room, which has so much great stuff for sale.  Melody got a few t-shirts, and we enjoyed browsing through the merchandise.  We then walked around the convention to see the sites, including the wonderful model and art gallery.

We then went to another session, this time with the wonderful actress, Hiroko Sakurai, who starred in ULTRAMAN, and also its predecessor, ULTRA Q.  This was her first trip to the US, so it was great to see her excitement and humbleness on display as she met with her fans.

We lunched on some leftover Giordano's, then went to see a session with Tony Isabella, prolific writer and comic book historian, as well as the founder of the First Church of Godzilla (see Facebook).  He shared a nice history and slide show about monster kaiju in the comics, and I loved hearing about his love of monster movies.  I've long wanted to see him at a G-Fest, so this was pretty cool.

We went on a drive to one of our favorite places when we come to G-Fest, Mitsuwa Market, in Arlington Heights, where we got some goodies and some Japanese carry-out for dinner.  Melody got some Bubble Tea for the first time, and thus began a new addiction...

Back at the Crowne Plaza, we ate, then went to the Main Event of every G-Fest:  The costume parade.  We got some good seats since we arrived early, and we watched the Final G-Pardy, a trivia game in the same format as the Jeopardy TV game show.  Following that, there were raffle drawings for some neat prizes, with proceeds going to "G-Fans Helping G-Fans," which helps needy folks in the G-Fan family.

This year's costumes were very good, and the parade lasted more than an hour.  There are simple costumes, and some that are very elaborate, and all are inspired by Japanese Kaiju movies and TV shows.  The participants vary in age from young toddlers to the most "experienced" folks in fandom.  It's a fun party, and one of the highlights of every G-Fest.

Following the festivities, we headed back to our room to watch movies on the in-house channel and rest.  Sunday morning, we got room service for breakfast, which was really great, probably our best meal of the trip so far (and definitely our most expensive!).

We checked out after getting ready, then we spent the rest of the morning wandering around the convention and making some last purchases at the dealers room, including meeting "Big In Japan" author Timothy Price, and artist Alan Barnes.  We shared with Timothy that we were taking a big cross-country road trip, and we chatted about our mutual love of roller coasters.

We ate lunch at the hotel's restaurant (the Front Desk gave us a voucher for a free meal when the hotel staff forgot to pick up our room service request for a Saturday breakfast late Friday night), then we hit the road.

It was another fantastic G-Fest!  I feel like we missed out on a lot of stuff this time, given how late we arrived on Friday, and then hitting the road on Sunday afternoon.  But this was one of the best G-Fests with so many wonderful guests, and the sessions were as enjoyable as ever.  But we were also excited to be hitting the road to continue our trip.

Have a great day, everyone!

The Big Road Trip, Part 2

The biggest problem with traveling on the road with a teenage daughter is her propensity to crave sleep above the adventure of travel.  I'm the type of person that wants to be on the road at sun-up, but... Let's just say it became a challenge for both of us as the trip wore on.

Day 2 of our trip would take us to our first and only destination:  Chicago, IL, for G-Fest XXIII.  G-Fest is the largest regular gathering of Godzilla and Japanese monster fans in the world.  It's a family-oriented convention featuring presentations by fans and actors and crew from Japanese Godzilla films, including topics of interest, contests and gaming, new and classic kaiju  movies, a dealers room, and lots of fun.  My daughter and I have been going for about 5 years now, and I went to several of the first G-Fests back in the 90s.  It's held each year in mid-July at the Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare, in Rosemont, IL.

Making the trip to Chicago each year means trying to vary the route a little bit so that is doesn't get old, because it tends to get old.  We've flown, taken the train, and driven the turnpikes.  This time, I decided to take the "southern" route across Ohio and Indiana, and then drive north into Chicagoland.  We left our hotel at 7:35 a.m. and headed west on I-70.  It wasn't long before we hit the mother of all traffic jams.  There was an accident just east of Columbus, OH, and traffic came to a standstill.

The cell phone is a masterful tool, and has changed the face of travel.  With this little device, we can check our route and traffic issues on the spot, find restaurants and pit stops along the way, including making reservations at hotels, and find every roadside attraction in existence, as well as stay in touch with our friends and family through online social media.  Oh, yeah... we can also call and talk to people with it!

Upon hitting this traffic jam, we found out that there was an accident ahead that had completely shut down the interstate.  We quickly found a detour around the incident, and we were able to continue on with a minimal delay.  Just east of Indianapolis, we stopped for gas, ran into a Wal-mart for a few needed supplies, and then had lunch at a Cracker Barrel.  We were back on the road at 1 p.m. and headed towards Chicago.

Unfortunately, it was rush hour on a Friday afternoon.  Traffic was really bad.  We criss-crossed our way through the Chicago suburbs, sticking with highways instead of surface roads, and hitting pockets of stop and go traffic all the way to Rosemont.  We arrived at about 4:30.  Given the itinerary of G-Fest and not wanting to miss any of the afternoon sessions, we decided to go eat dinner first.  As is customary, that meant a stop at the nearby Giordano's, which is some of the best stuffed deep dish pizza I've ever had (yes, even better than Uno's and Lou Malnati's).  We weren't disappointed.

After a delicious meal, we headed over to the Crowne Plaza, checked in, and made our way to the intro session for G-Fest XXIII!  It was fantastic seeing so many big stars from some of my favorite Japanese monster shows and movies, and I received personal greetings from Akira Takarada, Bin Furuya, and Hiroko Sakurai, as they passed us after the session.

We were really excited to be back at G-Fest, and, exhausted from the 463 mile drive, we decided to crash for the night back in our room.

To be continued...

The Big Road Trip, Part 1

It was July 14, 2016.  We were planning to hit the road at around lunch time, but my boss found it necessary to keep me around the office well past noon.  By the time I finished taking care of the things that my boss needed me to do, it was 3 p.m.  I quickly said my goodbyes, wrapped up the office chores, and headed towards home.  I picked up my daughter from the church day camp, and we rushed home to load up our Jeep.  The only good thing all day to that point was that we had packed everything the day before, so it was just a matter of moving it all from our living room and into the back of the Jeep.

At 4:30 p.m., I locked the front door and we pulled out of our neighborhood.  I felt the stress drip away off of my body, and I felt really good for the first time all day.  Daughter Melody said a prayer asking for God's safe hands around us as we traveled, and for good health and happiness along the way.  We were beginning our cross-country adventure, our biggest road trip ever.

We headed out Route 32, dodging traffic and hoping any delays would be short.  Heading west on Interstate 70, we hit a fairly major jam through Frederick, and then stop-and-go traffic all the way to Hagerstown.  Things cleared out and we were at speed to Hancock, where we stopped for dinner.  The Park N' Dine was a favorite of my family's since long before I was born.  Hancock was the halfway point for us when we traveled from home to my grandparent's house in little Hopwood, PA, where my father had grown up from the age of 10 to when he left home after high school to get a Federal Government job at 18.  When we visited my grandparents, we almost always stopped on the way to their place at the Park N' Dine to eat.

We arrived at 6:30, 95 miles from home.  We sat in the front part of the restaurant, which is the original diner section, instead of the main dining room towards the back.  The owners had added on to the original building over the years to expand with its growing popularity, eventually taking over the attached gas station.  Even with the expansion, we always had a long wait for a table when we stopped here to eat over the years.  Its popularity has obviously diminished over time.  The place was not at all busy tonite.  I ordered my favorite dish, the hot turkey sandwich, loaded with gravy and mashed potatoes with dressing.  Melody got chicken tenders and broccoli. It was delicious!  Our young server took great care of us, though it took a while to get our food.  It was 7:30 by the time we pulled out and returned to the road, jumping onto I-68 west.

Our next stop was at the Hill Top Fruit Market in Grantsville, MD.  We spent ten minutes of mad rushing around the little store loading up on snacks for the trip.  They have miniatures of just about every kind of candy currently being made, and Melody got a bag of her favorites.  I got some fruit and nuts, and a few sugar-free items, and we returned to the road.  It was 8:30 p.m.

We continued on US 40, the National Road, through the mountains towards Uniontown, PA.  It was rough going due to it being a 2-lane road, and getting stuck behind cars that had difficulty maintaining the speed limit because of the changing topography kept our speeds down.  We were not making good time.  It was almost dark as we crested the Summit of Chestnut Ridge and headed down the mountain towards Hopwood.  There were heavy, dark clouds all along the horizon, and we ended up hitting rain before we got to the base of the mountain.  As it was already dusk, it got dark very quickly, and the rains came down hard.  I could barely see.  Even though I was very familiar with the area around Uniontown, the road we planned to take, Route 43, was new and I didn't know exactly where the exit ramp was located.  With visibility practically at zero, I missed the exit, so we took the Route 51 exit and stopped at a Sheetz to wait out the storm.  It was a good pit stop for us, and I was able to get a cup of coffee.

I had hoped to get somewhere into mid-Ohio by the time we stopped for the night, but our late departure, the off and on heavy traffic, and now the weather, combined to knocked us off our schedule.  It was time to begin making our plans for the night.  The weather app on my iPhone told us that we would likely exit the immediate storm very soon, but there were bunches more west of us, where we were headed.  I used the Choice Hotels app to see where we might want to stay along our planned route, and I picked out a Quality Inn in Cambridge, Ohio.  It was 9:30 p.m., and the GPS estimated our arrival at around midnight.  It was well short of our plan for Day One of our trip, but that would be my limit for today.

Back on the road, we pulled out of the big storm a few miles down Route 43, but the rain continued in spurts for the remainder of our drive.  We didn't make another stop, having gassed up in Keysers Ridge, MD, just before crossing into PA earlier, and we arrived at our Destination at 11:50 p.m.  It was clean and comfortable, and sleep took over quickly.  We were 315 miles from home.

To be continued...

Have a great evening, everyone!