Happy (belated) Lei Day

Actually I began these notes on May 1. So here goes my makeup report.

Previously on our blog, we went to bed at the Circle B in West Angola, Indiana. And that's where we woke up on May Day. We headed east on IN Road 20 where we had our first Amish sighting, just like you see in the movies. These looked like teenagers. Going to school?

Then we got on the I 80/ I 90, known as the Ohio Turnpike

Turnpike equals toll roads

Now in Ohio we need to pass through Cleveland. From sad lessons learned, we try to avoid going through large cities before 10AM and 2PM, to avoid rush traffic. This was a good idea today. Cleveland is an old city. Even on the Interstate the route was serpentine and narrow.

We sighed relief when we got out of the city and saw where we left I 80 and pursued I 90 into Pennsylvania.

Gramma wears many hats for the Auswanderers. Among them is our Moving Photographer Hat. She is a delight to travel with, as is Becca, also a talented photographer. Both relish the digital photography age where you seemingly never run out of film. Among her photo categories is the "2 story houses with 4 story trees". Isn't that a clear image? For many states she has seen this housing pattern, and she has the photo collection to prove it.

What a country this is! We have seen along side our highways rich farmlands and verdant pastures with cattle and horses grazing. And as we traveled though PA there were lush forests on either side. Reminded us of driving in British Columbia.

I've gotten my days confused. We won't go into PA until the 2nd. This can happen when you travel hard and get put away wet. Hope you didn't get whip lash. Anyway, as afternoon arrived on May 1 we were still in Ohio. We exited 80/90 at Exit 218. We took 534 south and 307 east to this park.

Nothing says 'welcome to our rv park' like an immense pink plastic pig waving across the pond. Turns out the pig was one of the nicest things about this park. Our site was tilted. We had no satellite, no local tv and no internet, meaning I couldn't do a blog. So we had another pioneer night.

Here is a peek behind the scenes in Bigfoot preparing to roll. This is Gramma's room. If she doesn't protect her shelves of neatly folded clothes, her printer, dvd machines and thousands of dvds, then during the sometimes bumpy ride of the day, everything might, and has, been thrown all around. So over the years, she has collected a wide variety of bungees for the job.

In the morning (5/2) I saw a rig had come into the site next to ours. It was a Bluebird Wanderlodge. It brought a flood of memories.

I first saw a Wanderlodge in California when I was a teenager. At that moment maybe the seed was planted that one day I'd own a motorhome. Now I've had two. This neighbor is an old rig. Bluebird makes busses. You may have seen school busses made by them. They are made to last. So this is what is called "a bus conversion". It may be 40 years old. I could see it has been repainted, but seems to be going strong. A gray haired guy and a gray haired lady with her tiny dog appear to be the residents. Every rig is different. Every rig has its own story.

OK Chris. when we left this park we went on Ohio Roads 307 west to 534 north and on to I 90 east. When we got into Pennsylvania our hwy became I 86/17, and that took us into New York.

In New York, we saw a "Rest Stop" sign and pulled in. We have been in rest stops in all 48 contiguous states, some shabby, some nice. But the Chautauqua Lake rest stop should be called A Rest Resort. It deserves its own blog post. So one will be coming to your computer later.

I 86 is a great road (not even a toll one), going through beautiful country with rolling hills. Funny sign--"Summit Altitude 2021 Feet". The Rocky states would laugh. Smooth driving into the Five Finger Lakes area. Our destination is near the Keuka Lake. Doesn't that sound like an Hawaiian word?

Exit 38 was our off-ramp into the historic town of Bath, NY

We're spending the night of the 2nd and 3rd here.

We are here largely to visit this lady, Sondra Lyke, to continue our Family History research. Are you surprised? She and Gramma, both descendant of Howard and Avoca, NY settlers, are somehow distant relatives on her mother's grandmother's side. Gramma can give you details. Are you amazed at the number of relatives Gramma has scattered across the US? I am. And new ones keep popping up. The next new one is near Cooperstown. We'll go there tomorrow

Today (5/3) we will take a day to do what we call "life". We'll go to  the Post Office, Walgreen, Walmart. You know, exciting stuff.