Accommodation

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Into West Virginia

While I will be traveling through at least another half dozen or so states on this trip, I am done adding new ones to my roster, with West Virginia being the first state to officially herald that I am back east and nearly in familiar territory.

I woke up feeling slightly disoriented this morning because of the time change. Guess what, you can get jet lag when traveling overland! 🙂

I pulled out of the Cracker Barrel at 7:45 and rolled into the nearest rest area (Midway) at 8:15. By 8:20, the kettle was on, the French press was ready, and my email was downloading. How did I ever manage in my early days of RVing when getting down to actually living in my rig was a treat reserved for when I was spending at least two nights on full hookups?!

That said, it’s amazing what can happen in a half hour. I swear my front door was whole when I left Shelbyville. What the heck happened to it?!

Can you see it? Here’s a closeup:

Not to self: find a new window frame for the front door. Anyway, what’s left is solid and the window is secure, so I can deal with this when I arrive in Virginia.

Having only about four hours to drive today, including stops, and having only three and a half or so left, I decided to spend the bulk of the day at the rest area catching up on some things. I enjoyed this bucolic view out of my office window today:

I stayed until just past two, taking the time to charge everything under the sun (literally) since I had more than 6A coming in from the solar panel:

There is nothing like a fully charged battery to make a boondocker happy!

Before leaving the rest area, I did something unprecedented: I remembered that I was out of windshield wiper fluid and actually topped it up. I usually remember these things when I get splashed with mud and am blinded. 🙂 The bugs on this trip have been nasty!!!

From Midway, it was then a rather windy but otherwise easy drive out of Kentucky into West Virginia:

I passed an amazon.com facility:

I took advantage of the fact that I am going to be in the US for a bit longer to use my latest Amazon rewards to get a ton of stuff that is being shipped to my friend’s place. I wonder if some of it is shipping out of here?

From there, it was just a few miles to where I am parked for the night, the Walmart in Cross Lanes (according to Google) or Charleston (according to my GPS). There are ‘no RV parking signs’ in the lot, but was told that that’s just to encourage folks to come into customer service and be directed to the proper part of the lot to park. You actually park as far from the Walmart as possible in front of the discount store and against Nitro Boulevard. When looking at Nitro, you need to park across from the Dollar Tree, not the Loews.

Well, the pizza I have in the oven is calling my name. It’s going to taste pretty good with the cold beer I just opened. 🙂

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Into Kentucky

I am parked at the Cracker Barrel in Shelbyville, Kentucky, and looking forward to the parking lot clearing out so I can get myself on some levelers!

Part of the trouble with figuring out tonight’s overnight spot was that Google Maps kept routing me out off of I64 and around Louisville. I did some research and learned that the Sherman Minton Bridge, which connects I64 in Indiana to I64 in Kentucky at the western edge of Louisville, was shut down due to maintenance concerns for several months. Even though the bridge has now been reopened for two months and Google knows this, it has failed to update its mapping application. Once I knew that I could stay on I64 through Louisville, it completely changed how far I felt I could get today. None of the Louisville overnighting options were on I64. It made sense to get clear of the city and then pull over. Shelbyville had a number of options, with the Cracker Barrel the only sure bet.

Cracker Barrel is a restaurant I have mixed feelings about. I love their food, but it is so unhealthy that I feel guilty when I eat there. But tonight I had a good reason to do so and I savoured every bite, including their OMG crustless coconut cream pie (which is actually a toasted coconut custard).

But let me go back to the beginning of the day. I didn’t want to get to the Cracker Barrel too early, hoping to miss the dinner crowd (that plan failed), so I had a slow mo morning in St Louis and pulled out at 10:30, with my ETA being 6PM. Huh? Oh, I was going to cross into EST today!

Miranda at Harrah’s St Louis

I did a double take when I saw this rig pull in last night!

Getting through St Louis this morning was much easier than it was at rush hour on Thursday. I was glad to be going eastbound because check out the westbound lanes:

Shortly after crossing the Mississippi into Illinois, I got off the freeway to get fuel and have visual evidence of why I loathe getting gas in the motorhome with the car attached. Why do some fuel stations have those stupid useless cement bollards at each end? Let’s just say I miscalculated my turns. A good Samaritan tried to warn me, but I saw this happening in the mirror and knew I couldn’t stop it:

I drove another 100km to the Goshen Road rest area for lunch:

Goshen Road Rest Area

After lunch, I put a capful of Turtle Wax car detergent into a bucket and diluted it with a couple of cups of water. Armed with a soft green scrubby pad, I spent at most 15 minutes vigourously scrubbing away the remnants of the bollard’s attack on my car:

There’s still a very faint line on the door and one by the wheel well, but you have to know they’re there. I’m glad that my cursory assessment at the gas station was correct; I just scrapped the paint off the bollard but didn’t do any real damage to the car. You can all start breathing again. 😉

Now, I’m going to say something that is going to leave some of you in disbelief and assured that I am a couple of cards short of a deck: the east smells different from the west. I really noticed it at the Goshen Road rest area; there was this humid scent of humus that I haven’t smelled for years. It could be that the vegetation is different.

I drove some more and crossed into Indiana:

My only experience in Indiana was at a really horrible rest area. The welcome centre on today’s route was much nicer:

I found this map interesting. I drove on the northwestmost red line on this map and was traveling on the southwestmost red line:

The Indiana welcome centre had information about the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial. I think he looks very handsome without his beard:

Lincoln is an historical figure who feels very real to me, not legendary. I think it’s because I saw the place where he died. There was a pillow on the bed that was supposedly stained by his blood. I don’t know for sure if that was real or not, but it made an impact on me.

Lincoln’s mother died of something I’d never heard of:

The NPS has a very informational page about milksickness.

The overpasses in Indiana, like those in Michigan, are painted sky blue:

About 10 miles from Louisville, it became imperative that I stop to use the bathroom and I only had a quarter tank of fuel left. So I pulled off the highway at an exit where there were several gas stations. I found one that I could easily pull into, but the roof looked low. I was very happy that they bothered to post the clearance level. It was 13′, which gave me a foot and a half to spare. 🙂

I crossed the Kentucky state line on the Sherman Milton Bridge and was then formally welcomed into the state:

It says birthplace of Abraham Lincoln, but I think of it as the birthplace of my favourite female singer, Loretta Lynn. 🙂

Driving through Louisville was easy. I stuck to the centre lane when possible. There was almost no traffic and no one honked at me!

Louisville, KY

The Kentucky welcome centre is very beautiful!

From there, it was only about 10 minutes to Shelbyville. My GPS thought the Cracker Barrel was almost a full kilometre past where it is, so I missed it. I was very glad that just a couple of kilometres down KY-56 there was a small shopping centre into which I could pull in and turn around. I saw the Cracker Barrel on the way back, but was confused by the sign that said that RV parking was thataway, leading me to think that there was another entrance. Thankfully, the next entrance was a U-shaped one, so I was able to get turned around again and finally manoeuvre myself through the Cracker Barrel maze into one of their three RV slots.

This was the first night since I left Lethbridge that I arrived absolutely exhausted so I was glad to have an excuse to have supper made for me, and even gladder that the manager was so quick to say that I could stay.

The sky has been rumbling for the last hour and it has finally started to pour. It is also very dark out even though it is just 8:30EST. I will be getting to bed early tonight so that I can pull out reasonably early tomorrow. I have a fairly short driving day planned, so I’m hoping to get to a rest area fairly early on where I can spend part of the day and catch up on some things.

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Down and Eastbound

It was a fairly mellow morning in Council Bluffs with a 10AM departure because I was out late with reader P.J. and her husband who treated me to pie. It was so nice to have a social engagement in a place I never pictured myself visiting!

Just before leaving Iowa, I saw something I wish I could have photographed. It was a billboard advertisement for a nearby pharmacy called… Stoner Drug. I kid you not. Thankfully, someone else caught a picture of the storefront.

The first milestone of the day was crossing the Missouri state line:

I was due for fuel and my GPS told me there was a truck stop in Rock Port, so I decided to head for there. Fueling is one of the nastiest RVing chores; I’m always concerned about getting stuck at an RV unfriendly gas station and not being able to get turned around so I try to only go to ‘truck stops’ when coming off a major highway. Anyway, the Phillips 66 station was visible from the off ramp including its “RV lane that way” sign and a nice clear area where I could park after fueling to use the bathroom. I pulled in beside the pump, put in my credit card, and started fueling. A few gallons in, I noticed a man circling around the rig taking notes.

“Excuse me, sir, is there a problem?”

“No, ma’am, just getting your information.”

“Uh, for what purpose?”

“In case you drive off without paying. You RVers do that a lot.”

Let me pause here to have a word with ‘you RVers who [drive off without paying for gas and otherwise do bad things]’: QUIT MAKING US LOOK BAD. PEOPLE DISLIKE RVERS ENOUGH AS IT IS!!! You keep doing that and there will come a day there won’t be room for naughty men like us to slip about at all!!!

Little did I know that this exchange would set the tone for the day.

I stopped for lunch shortly thereafter.

pastoral Missouri, as seen from the first rest area on I29 southbound out of Iowa

Like the day before, no ‘camping’ at rest areas:

I took about 40 minutes for lunch. When I came out of the rig to do one final check before driving off, a guy doing clean up on the site came to remind me that there is no camping allowed at the rest area. “I just stopped for lunch.” “Well, you’ve been here a long time!” SERIOUSLY?!

Nice rest area, though:

I pushed on south, not realising just how far south I had gone:

next exit for Amazonia

Getting around Kansas City had concerned me, but it was very easy, following I435 to meet up with I70 eastbound. It required my undivided attention, but was not harrowing in the least.

I crossed the Missouri River and passed yet another fireworks place, making me wonder what the heck is up with Missourians and fireworks?!

I pulled into another rest area and got a picture of something on which I need my readers’ opinion. What would you think of my painting Miranda my favourite colour?

Lovely rest area, by the way, right about at Higginsville:

Love the architecture of the building:

And the snazzy handwashing station:

Much as I love the prairies, I have to confess to missing rolling hills of green trees (pardon the state of my windshield):

The plan was to stop sometime after Kansas City. As it turns out Missouri is an RV unfriendly state and everywhere states no overnight RV parking! By the time I got to Columbia, I’d had enough of being honked at for going 65 in a 70 zone, being cut off by folks merging onto the highway and immediately slamming on the brakes so that I would have to slam on mine (and be honked at by the guy behind me driving way too close), driving to a Walmart where I’d been told over the phone that parking was okay only to be turned down in person. The ‘No overnight RV parking, as per Columbia ordinance bla bla bla, violators will be prosecuted’ sign just about sent me over the edge. Prosecuted? Oh, lordy, what a miserable state! Do you honestly think you’re bringing more money into the economy that way? I would have probably spent $100 at Walmart tonight in Columbia on things I needed, but I would not pay $40 for hookups I did not need!

It was just past 4PM when I rolled out of Columbia and by this point I decided that another 200km wouldn’t kill me. So I drove all the way to Maryland Heights, within St. Louis proper, to stay at the Harrah’s Casino, where they were very happy to let me stay for a few nights. Not at all the day I’d planned, but this gives me extra time to do touristy stuff here and to possibly hit a few spots of interest in Kentucky. So hurray for Harrah’s. 🙂

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In the Footsteps of Lewis and Clark

I’m parked at the Walmart in Council Bluffs, IA, which is just across the river from Omaha, NE, if you have your map out. Today’s drive was long but uneventful except for one tiny detail. When I left North Dakota, I felt seriously under dressed in relation to the weather while it is hotter than sin in Council Bluffs!

Dakota Magic Casino sits right on the North and South Dakota border. I got back on the highway and was able to take this picture before merging onto the interstate:

I pulled over shortly thereafter at the rest area in Wilmot:

It boasted a scenic overview of the Whetstone Valley, but it was really tough to get a clear shot of it:

I learned that all South Dakota rest areas have a no camping rule:

I stopped a few more times before having to make unexpected repairs at the last rest area before Iowa:

Believe it or not, all of the Eternabond tape I’d applied to the loft came loose!!! I was just driving along minding my own business and suddenly noticed flapping out of the corner of my eye. It wasn’t an emergency, so I drove almost 200KM like that before hitting the rest area. And not a moment too soon because I went to the shower to get my step-stool and, bam, the shower door toppled onto me. I don’t know who designed it, but it is not made for RV use. There is a pin that holds the door in place and when I am on a rough and bouncy road (which describes all of I29 in South Dakota) the door bounces up and down until the pin gets loose. I haven’t come up with a way to secure it and am growing increasingly annoyed with it. Once, the door even bounced right out of the frame, denting both itself and the floor!

After I rolled out of that rest … oh, wait. Eternabond! Yes, after I wrestled the shower door back in place, I applied some new Eternabond over part of the old stuff to stick it back in place. I am definitely going to be trying my hand at fiberglass this summer, so I just wanted this to hold till I get to Quebec.

By this point, the weather had gone from ‘getting warm’ to ‘infernal’, so I put on the AC and headed out of South Dakota to enter the state where two favourite fictional characters were born:

I stopped at the rest area to see if there was anything interesting there. Yup:

information about the only man who died on the Lewis and Clark expedition

The names of the men on the Lewis and Clark expedition were written around the building. Lots and lots and lots and lots of French Canadians, including:

I thought these benches were cute:

A good day of fishing on the expedition:

Driving along, I noticed smoke and, HOLY RANDOM FIRE, BATMAN:

you can’t really see the flames in the pic but they were THIS BIG

And then, the Omaha skyline:

I decided to overnight in Council Bluff since there were a number of casinos, a camping world, a Bass Pro Shop, and the Walmart as options. I was hoping Walmart would work since I had some shopping to do. I phoned the manager and he didn’t seem to like the idea, but when I said that I had shopping to do he grudgingly gave his okay for one night.

I was excited to see an Applebee’s just a couple of blocks (walking distance) from the Walmart, making this the second best Walmart I’ve ever stayed at. 🙂 I had dinner then came home to find a note on the windshield from reader P.J.! I have no idea how she found me, but she’ll be over shortly and we’re going out for dessert. I don’t care where as long as it has air conditioning. 🙂

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Summery Weather At Long Last

Today’s weather was unbeatable! I had the front door and a bunch of windows open all day. My obligations were completed by early afternoon and I then spent a couple of hours sprucing up the rig before heading out for dinner at the casino. The Monday night Mexican buffet is $16, which I thought was way too much. So I instead went to the restaurant and had a delicious chicken club-type sandwich with honey mustard instead of mayo and a pot of decaf coffee (complimentary). Gosh is the decaf good here! With tip, dinner was a reasonable $10.50. I liked that the server called me Miss. I can’t get used to Ma’am, but Miss sounds appropriate for a gal in a full ankle-length skirt and a kerchief. 🙂

The RV park is filling up and I have neighbours from Manitoba. I’m almost sorry to be pulling out tomorrow, but it’s definitely time to head off. I’ll be heading in the direction of Omaha tomorrow, which is not something I ever thought I would write. I flew over Nebraska once. It was flat! 🙂