On the Road - Ohio

Best thing about Ohio "oasis" travel plazas - $1 for 3 minute back massage, hard and mean and oh, so good for the long drive through OH. 

Day 3 - Indiana Dunes and The Misplaced Spre Keys

So Day 3 of our trip had a mission. We traveled from Indiana Dunes State Park to the shores of the Mississippi River in WI. The day before we left on our trip we misplaced the spare key to the truck. We looked everywhere trusting that somewhere in the packing clutter the key would show up. Nada. Our local dealer that we love was closed and we would gone long before he opened on Monday morning. We left with one key, clipped to a huge belaying carabiner and a bright yellow rope.

Monday morning we called in to our local Ford folks to check out our options. They said would need to get our truck and key to a Ford dealer so a new key could be cut and the truck reprogrammed to the new key. 

Our schedule outbound on this trip across the country is tight with all reservations booked for the first two weeks. We would have to call to a Ford dealer up ahead to coordinate a service time with our camping schedule to get a new key.  Fortunately we found Sleepy Hollow Ford in Viroqua, WI who said they could work us in this afternoon. Tight for them, tight for us, but doable. 

We slogged though early morning Chicago traffic, and up into WI with a plan to get to the campground, drop the Pod, and get to Sleepy Hollow Ford by 2PM. 

Google Maps took us off the interstate and onto state roads with two numbers then three number roads, then county roads with one letter then county roads with double letters each getting a little narrower. We went deep into farm country twisting and turning through tight valleys and up and down hills and by beautiful farms. Ahead there were clouds, then dark clouds, then dark black clouds and then, it opened up. Rain so heavy you could not see the sides of the road, and nothing really in front, as the heavy rain was washing in waves across the road. Could not have turned around with the Pod and gone even if we tried. We needed to forge on to give the Ford dealer enough time to squeeze us in. 

And then we realized that we were 

 out of cell phone range  and Waze had given up on us. We really could not supplant Google with human map reading as we did not have paper maps of county roads. Marsha reached deep into the electronics bag and pulled out the old school backup GPS to confirm we were still headed down to the Mississippi and soon we found Blackhawk COE Campground on the banks of the Great River.

It was the quickest unhook and go ever at the campsite dodging the waning thunderstorm . And here we sit waiting on the new spare key watching television and drinking free root beer provided in the showroom.

Kudos to Karl of Sleepy Hollow Ford, and the Steve Bowen of Bowens Ford in Eastford for helping us out.

Day 1 - Bald Eagle State Park, Howard PA

Day 1 - Westward Bose Tour. Feet up Bald Eagle State Park in Howard, PA.  Old friend PA did not disappoint. Lots of ongoing highway construction, green ridges as far as the the eye can see with peaks into farming valleys. Set a PR for I-80 with 10 dead deer in one day. Best 10 miles of the trip was the drive through farmland up to the park. We stayed here in the parks Nature Inn last year but first time with Pod in campground. Very nice flat asphalt spacious  camping pads with 20/30/50 electric (could use more shady sites) Water is at spigot a couple sites down. Bathrooms with showers and a lake with beach and boat launch. If it was not 93 degrees it is pleasant place to bike. Thank goodness there is a great breeze.

T-19 hours to launch of the Westward Bose Tour.

T-19 hours to launch of the Westward Bose Tour. 95% packed. Some personal items to pack, double check reservations and other paperwork, mow one last time, download any new podcasts while we are still on wifi, clean the house, eat those three New York strip steaks hanging out in the freezer, final check on pre-trip TV, Pod exterior, Pod interior, and personal checklists, hook up and run the departure checklist and wait on sunrise. First stop? Granddaughters house before she heads off for daycare for one last hug and kiss...

T-Minus 48 Hours to Launch for the Westward Bose Tour

It is crunch time! Our first major trip cross country in the Beanpod has been the focus of several months of planning and prepping. Now we are down to it. Checklists expand and items get checked off only to see the lists expand again. Life in an amazingly cool and rainy New England spring has exploded into a spate of early summer weather, but the cool weather has delayed the strawberry season and we will be gone before the berries are ripe and only a few steps away from a picking basket, a biscuit and a dollop of whipped cream. Not to be this summer but we are confident to find some on the road. No more writing this AM, it is time to get our collective rears in gears....

Chapter Three - Podding ON!

Ok, so you are going to have to fast forward a bit. Our last post was in March of 2016. We intended to do more blogging and posting bit life is just life. Quick summary:

- Bought an RV, a 2016 Forest River R-Pod 178 which we have named - The Beanpod
- We travelled th KY for Tom and Suzanne's Wedding in May 2016, checking out C&O Canal Trail, GAP Trail and Ohiopyle.
- Took the Pod to Bike Virginia and dis some excellent riding in the Shenandoah Valley.

- Celebrated the arrival of Evelyn Lois Stolz on July 25, 2016

- Bean Pod had ro go back to the factory to repair a leakiy roof, curbbing RV activities for the summer.
- We visited Acadia National Park, tent camping. Enjoyed the park, the carriage roads with our bikes and kayaking on Echo Lake.
- In spring of 2017 we did a long Pod trip to Gettysburg National Battle Field, drove down the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive, to a Pod Rally on Jekyll Island, GA. We returned by stopping at Charolette NC to visit Marsha's Uncle Jacka nd Aunt Betty. We continued to Damascus, VA aka "Trail Town" where the AT crosses. We rode the Virginia Creeper Trail.

-Celebrated the departure or Lyn Argersinger, Marsha's mom at 92, in May.

I should add that there have been a bunch of shorter Pod trips to RI and in CT, and a a few trips to visit with Janice and Dave Shannon at Wolfeboro.

And now, we are on the verge of another longer summer trip. It is our 40th anniversary coming in September and in July we will take a 7 day cruise to Alaska from Seattle. To get there we will drive the Beanpod through the Badlands, stop in Wallowa County to see Rick, Doug and Jodi will come for the July 4th holiday, and we will return to Spokane with them. We leave the Beanpod there and swing through Vancouver with Doug and Jodi who will be on the same cruise but on a different ship.

So, now 10 days out, we pick up the typing again to post our way across the USA!

Chapter Two - New Adventures

It has been a while since I have tapped away at the keys but it is time to start chronicling new adventures. This morning I sit at the AMC Highland Center in Crawford Notch, NH. Yesterday (March 17 - ST. Patrick's Day) we hiked up the A-Z trail and the Lend-A-Hand Trail and up to the summit of Mt. Tom, a 4000 footer. One of the goals in this settling out period post our large trip last summer is to finish off the the 4000 footers and become members of the 4000 Foot Society. More on that to come, but we have about 20 more each to do.

This AM we woke to a gray socked in day with pretty good snow showers in teh Notch. Our plan is to head out to Mt. Jackson (another 4000 footer we have yet to climb) from the Highland Center, about a 5 hour round trip hike. The snow "showers" have lasted about 90 minutes now and while ther ewas small patches of blue earlier, it is pretty gray and snowy right now. Yesterday was like this but more blue sky and sun, and any snow/rain showers were  short duration. The decision has been made to go out and give it a try, but we may walk for a while and bag it in favor of a trip to Jackson and Intervale.