May 19, 2011, 7:08 AM: Avery, Ohio, ten miles south of Sandusky: Miles traveled 515.
Derek here: Torrents! That pretty much describes all of yesterday. It rained all day with the exception of an hour at most, and the sun actually showed its welcome face for about ten minutes. There were times when the rain came down so hard that we had to slow down and use our flashers. We spent most of the day on I-80, traveling through the hilly countryside of Pennsylvania. We passed a sign informing us that we were at the highest point on I-80 west of the Mississippi, at 2250 feet elevation. The vegetation is incredibly beautiful, full of that lush springtime green that doesn't occur any other time of year; the rain makes the trees and fields seem to glow and show their color even more vividly. Crayola needs to add a 65th crayon to their big box of 64 called "springtime lush green in the rain."
I downloaded a free APP on my I-phone4 called "Gas Buddy." It's pretty amazing…the screen shows our location on the road, and superimposed are little miniature gas pumps that show the price and also how current the pricing is; most info is only one hour old. If you click on a pump it gives you directions how to get there. Gas prices have hovered everywhere within a few cents of $3.80 per gallon…once we got out of tax hungry New York.
We stopped for the night at a Super 8 along the Ohio Turnpike just south of Sundusky, Ohio which is on Lake Erie. A few miles further south of us, in Milan, Ohio is the birthplace of Thomas Edison, which we wanted to visit, but it doesn't open until 1:00 PM, so we're going to miss it. However, good news…Marcella has agreed to venture off the Interstate a couple of hundred miles and we'll head south to Kokomo, Indiana, the home of "Big Ben," the world's largest steer. This critter died in 1902, I think, and someone had the good sense to stuff him for future generations to see. And, if that's not enough, in the same complex that houses Ben is the world's largest Sycamore Stump. Can't wait! Haven't been this excited since my tenth birthday. Is there anybody that doesn't like the sound of the word "Kokomo?" It feels good rolling off your tongue.
After we see the steer and the stump, we plan to head back to I-80 going through West Lafayette, Indiana, the home of Purdue University, where I spent a couple of years in graduate school and also one summer teaching. I haven't been back since I left in 1967. I had a great job there as the night clerk at the Travel Lodge Motel until one night a fellow stuck the barrel of a 357 magnum revolver right against my nose. I gave him the whole store. The experience required a change of underwear.
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