Capturing these 4 days in one blog as we were pretty much on the go for these 4 days, with no particular destination activities. Just getting from Point A to Point B. But here are some highlights:
1- Ohio – Home of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Smuckers (yumm), and Rubbermaid (awesome storage containers!) We tried to get to Cuyahoga National Park in the Cleveland Area (that even our friends from Ohio haven’t heard of!) – but with road construction, the exit was blocked for us, and I am completely bummed! How am I going to get my national park pin and stamp? Today we broke 2300 miles by day’s end!
11 days – 11 states – 3 national parks or historic monument/areas.
2. What we noticed across Ohio was lots of farmland, but VERY few crops. Land had not been plowed in areas that would have been full of plantings under normal circumstances by now. Fields weren’t even plowed from last year’s harvest. This pretty much substantiates all the OH farmers’ news reports we have heard about recently. Sad. Not making a political statement, but tariffs, soy bean pricing, etc. are at the heart of all this, and climate change hasn’t helped. We virtually saw NO farm equipment working across northern OH.
3. Toll roads that we all pay for (expecting higher quality roads) were HORRID. PA, OH, IN. Just a nightmare towing a trailer through these awful roads so in need of repair! Where are the very high tolls going??? Our toll from Indiana to Chicago area should v have been $20.00 and they charged us $55.00 on a toll booth that was unmanned, and without recourse. We have sent them an email, but no response yet … hmmm.
4. I love the digital counters for the rest areas showing how many spaces are available for parking, especially for those of us towing!
Minnesota – Rockford. Beautiful upper Mississippi River at the State line of Wisconsin and Minnesota! Windmills all over Wisconsin and Minnesota –lots of rural countryside. Stopped to get some genuine Wisconsin Cheese Curds flavored with ranch flavoring – delicious and perfect for a driving snack!
Weather has been perfect! We only had a little rain, and only the 2nd since we left Florida! A rock hit our windshield from a dump truck and we stopped long enough to call insurance and “Safelite Repairs, Safelite Replace” to get an appointment to get the windshield repaired when we get to WA and can be in one place long enough to get it fixed.
Rain had a lot to do with planting. In MI the corn was not knee high by the 4th of July! I have a cousin whose is a farmer and they had to plant some things 3 different times!
Cheese curds are awesome in beer! They get ooey gooey! We can even buy them in AZ now but Wisconsin cheese much better!
Happy Trails!
Deb