March 18, 2004 (Thu) 333 miles to Home - Well it didn't get that cold last night - about 31o. Nor did it snow that much - about an inch, maybe two. We worried all night about the hill up out of the campground. Q did admirably. The road was snow covered but there was no problem at all. This being our last day on the road (for a while), we bought breakfast out - at Hardie's this time. It was a little high on fat content but we managed to stay on diet. After gassing up ($1.69) we climbed back onto eastbound I-70 at about 8:00. Except for a 3 mile backup between mileposts 155 and 158 - we never found out why - the trip was incident free. I-70 to I-81 to I-78 to I-287 the GSP and home at 2:30.
Q060931 Home
Home - #42-03
Indianapolis, IN - #42-02
March 14, 2004 (Sun) Indianapolis, IN - Jeremiah and Kim's wedding was beautiful, of course, and it was great to see all the relatives, old and new, and to meet their friends. Needless to say it was a wonderful event and a good time was had by all. I'll avoid all the details but one - the cuisine. Both Jeremiah and Kim are vegetarian and their wedding (rehearsal dinner and reception) was as well. We have no problem with meatless meals, many of ours are anyway, but we wondered what it would be like on a large scale. The dinner for out of town relatives (the "rehearsal dinner") was at a popular Chinese restaurant where it is quite easy to get vegetarian dishes. It was a fixed menu well chosen by the groom and his father. The reception, however, was "pot luck" - guests were to bring a vegetarian dish to share. We didn't know what to expect - endless variations of macaroni and cheese casseroles and green salads maybe - but it turned out to be an extremely varied and delicious spread. The proof of its success was the comment of a confirmed meat eater - he'd threatened to sneak out to get a McDonalds hamburger - "It was surprisingly good."
March 15, 2004 (Mon) Indianapolis, IN - A beautiful day today. The sun is out and the thermometer reads in the fifties. It hardly seems possible that we may have to delay our departure because of snow. The forecasters have been saying all day that we can expect three to six inches over night. It will start as rain and turn to snow. It sounds messy!
We went into downtown Indianapolis to City Market for lunch. City Market is where Frannie has a booth to sell her art work (mostly portraits) but it is primarily a large food court. Our diet didn't allow us to sample much other than the salad bar but it was fun to walk around and see what was available. After lunch we took a walk around the downtown "square". The architecture of the old (and some new) buildings is beautiful. While not a building, the predominant feature of the downtown area is the solders and sailors memorial. Built in 1937 it is ornate with statuary and is quite large - Phil says it rivals the one in Washington DC. We went into the Episcopal Cathedral there and listened to the organist practice while admiring the beauty of this old building.
Dinner at the Outback Steakhouse was another challenge to our diet. But any failing was worth the time we had with family. We were 8 1/2 - Joy's sister Gail and Phil, Joy's sister Frannie and Lee, Lee and Frannie's son's family Janusz, Tami, and 18 month old Shealee, and us. A great time together and a great meal. Thanks Phil and Gail.
March 16, 2004 (Tue) Indianapolis, IN - Well we're still here. We listened to the rain on Q's roof most of the night. When we awoke in the night to the sound of silence, we knew it was snowing but we didn't brave the cold to check until morning. Actually it wasn't too bad - a couple of inches. The TV showed minimal weather related problems on the interstates but it was still snowing and it was to continue throughout the morning. We have no reason to hurry home so we decided to wait it out a bit.
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March 17, 2004 (Wed) 402 miles to Donegal, PA - Appropriate place to stop on St. Patrick's Day don't you think?
For years I've listened to reasons, excuses, justifications, and rationalizations in defense of the unaccountable, unreasonable, and illogical fluctuations (mostly up) of gas prices. Today the answer has been broadcast in six foot high numbers. It's price fixing pure and simple. What else can explain the exact, to the penny, increase at all gas stations, regardless of brand, within a 36 hour period? We had planned on getting gas at a particular Speedway station on the way out this morning and had been watching the posted price. As of Monday evening it was still $1.53. This morning (Wednesday) it was $1.79 - up $.26!!! So was price at a Sunoco station down the highway and at another "discount" station off I-465 and all the others along I-465 and I-70.
It was 29° as we started out this morning and managed to struggle up to 34° by noon but it's back down to 31° now and the snow is coming down as if it means it. It's going to get cold tonight - We're in the mountains. We're lucky to have found an open campground although I'm not sure it's worth $28. We have electricity but the water is off to keep it from freezing and the sewer is too slow to be used. It should be quiet though. There don't appear to be many campfire groups around.
Q060598 Laurel Highlands Campground #220 w/e/s $28.16 C
Off to Indianapolis, IN - #42-01
March 11, 2004 (Thu) 449 miles to Belmont, OH - We're on the road again - a week only this time and not much wandering. Nephew Jeremiah's wedding in Indianapolis, IN is the occasion.
They started construction on the road in front of our house yesterday and the gutter area is all torn up. We wondered if we would be able to get Q out of the driveway. No problem at all.
According to our computer mapping program going "North" on the Garden State Parkway to I-287 then west on I-78 and I-81 to Harrisburg and I-76 is only 1/2 mile longer than going South and taking the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76) all the way across Pennsylvania as we usually do. It's hard to believe! Since the tolls are lower going North, that's how we did it. There was a down side though, the traffic around New York! It was horrendous! We consider Q to be a motor home, a truck, a car, an RV, or whatever best fits the situation. The folks in charge of the Delaware River crossing had their own ideas. To them Q was a truck! So the toll was $5.00 instead of $.75. What a shock! The trip across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and into Ohio was otherwise uneventful - except for the obligatory construction, of course.
We've stayed in Barkcamp State Park a couple of times in the past. It's a strange mixture of primitive (pit toilets) and modern (electric hook-ups and hot showers) but very clean and pretty. So far we are the only campers here. Maybe the reason is the expected temperature. It'ssupposed to get into the twenties tonight!
Q059897 Barkcamp State Park #146 e $15.00 A-
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