A found jewel

So the last time that I blogged we were stopped for the night at a rest stop. One of the great things about traveling with Honey is that Honey is home wherever we take her. The night at the rest stop was very comfortable because we were home. What an interesting concept. Anyway, we got up early, ate breakfast, did the dishes, cleaned up (just like every day except no showers) and were on the road by 7 am. It was still raining. It had been pouring off and on during the night. We had not unhooked Honey so taking off was easy - we just started the engine.

We went through New York. This is a road that we had been on before. It is still amazing that it looks different going in the other direction. But it was not as interesting as before, so we put in a CD and started listening to a novel. As we started thinking about lunch and the timing for lunch I commented that we would be at a certain point at a certain time unless we had to stop for gas. (Have you figured out what happens next?) Bob looks at the gauge and says that we have to get gas very soon because we are almost out. We pull off at the next exit which the signs say have a Mobil Oil - but the gas station is closed. Back on the Interstate. The next exit has a Citgo and Bob says that he would rather run out of gas than buy Citgo, so we pass that one. (We may have to eat our words.) The next exit has a sign for a Mobil. We pull off and it is closed also. (What is going on?) The next exit has a sign for a Sunoco and Mobil. Both of them are closed. By now the gas gauge is almost on empty and we are really nervous. If this continues we will be in serious trouble. We go into a convenience store and ask for the nearest gas station. It is a few feet down the road in the other direction and some off brand - which Bob usually refuses to buy - but we filled. what a relief!

We continued through New York and then through the very upper part of Pennsylvania. Then into Ohio. We realized that if we stopped we would get to Cleveland during rush hour. So we pushed ahead and got through Cleveland pretty easily. (It was strange to see how much it had grown in the last years. The boonies were full fledged cities.)

We still had no particular plan about where we would stop. We kept driving. We were getting tired and just a little irritated with each other. We got off the interstate and started pulling into every place that had camping. They were awful. Very narrow sites. Nothing to see or do. They actually looked dirty. The people camped there did not look like anyone I wanted as a neighbor for even a night. We thought about another rest area, but neither Ohio nor Michigan allow overnights in rest areas. There was a state park down the road. I called and they said that they had two sites available, nonreserveable, available on a first come first serve basis. They thought it might still be available when we got there in about 45 minutes. So we headed for the campground. It was the Maumee Bay State Park in Oregon, Ohio. (They pronounce Oregon funny and laughed at how we pronounce it.) We did get here when there was still a site available. This place is a real jewel. It is right on Lake Erie. (It was built many years after I left Ohio which explains why I had no idea that it was here.) It has very nice size sites - as large as any we have seen. There are bike paths, walking paths, a beautiful beach and several swimming areas. There is also a lodge with a restaurant.

We spent the day doing laundry, then taking a long bike ride, then a couple hours on the beach. We went to dinner at the lodge and had a great dinner. The temperature was in the high 90's and the humidity was about the same. It was really hot and uncomfortable. We actually turned on the air conditioning in Honey while we were out for dinner - Honey holds the heat very well which is really nice when it is cold, but we wanted to be able to sleep tonight.

We have decided to stay here until Sunday morning - it is just a really pleasant spot and very inexpensive. In fact, some of the best camping that we have had on the trek have been in state campgrounds. The exception is New York - the state campgrounds in New York are not very well taken care of, they are very expensive, and most of them are closed this year for budget reasons. But Ohio has a jewel in this place.

I am sitting outside now and there is a lovely breeze. Unfortunately the hosts just came by and said that there is a terrible storm at the Ohio/Indiana border and it is expected here in about an hour. So I will proofread this and sign off for the night. (One day of sun and then a day of rain.)