Once you make up your mind to go…you have to carry out the plan. Isn’t that the way it works? We decided Wednesday evening that Thursday would be our departure day. The snow was mostly to the east of us and the weather due south looked good. So we began the shuttle operation to the motor home from Rolling Meadows. I had to buy some drinking water at the store and a few last minute treats in the mean time Aleene was cleaning, cleaning, cleaning like a little bee making her favorite honey. I never realized I married a cleaning obsessed person before, but since we are having the house shown (hopefully) while we are gone it has to be in tip-top shape.
Marilyn stopped in with some cookies and had a cup of tea with us between trips to the MH and Swifter swipes and we shared hugs and the last pile (and the dog) were loaded into the Jeep. Down the checklist we went: furnace, hot water heater, computer, garbage, toilets…check, check, and double check.
At 12:05 we pulled out of Ridgeway’s parking lot…Jeep in tow and down Blue Star we headed for I-196. Roads in Michigan were a bit wet and bumpy. Into Indiana and straight south on US 421 headed for West Lafayette. Believe it or not, for the first 20 miles in IN, the sun was out and we wore sunglasses. Then the fog settled in. I had seen the yellow blob on the map in the morning which denotes fog, but I figured that by 3:00 p.m. it would be gone…NOT. That lasted 25 miles as, but as we came up to the Wabash River it dissipated and we were back to sun glasses.
Aleene called Martha (her dad’s girl friend) Flynn’s daughter to alert her we were in fact in route and would let her know when we got to Ellettsville (near Bloomington). We were there last year for a visit and knew about where the nursing home was…but by this time it was night and all of a sudden we were there. So in we went with the whole rig not realizing that there was no outlet. But, hey, we are foot loose and fancy free. Who said a little thing like having to unhitch and turn around and re-hitch mattered?
We visited with Martha while Linda and George came over from their house and had a nice talk. She is doing so well for the last years of her eighth decade. She has put on a bit of weight so her face was fuller than we had ever known, but her hair gave her away. She still keeps it neat and colored just like always.
By eight we were on our way south with the tentative goal of Louisville. This part of the journey is over state roads and stop lights, so we did not make the best time, but there was no traffic and the pavement was dry.
By ten we were on I-65 heading south and by eleven we were through Lu-a-vul and topped off with fuel, so we pulled into a rest area full of trucks. I slept about three hours. At 2:30 I got up to go to the BR and Aleene allowed as how she too was all slept out so we headed south again. By this time we had traveled 400 miles and I sort of wanted to do 500 and Nashville was a mere 135 miles south. We pounded on…through Nashville and began looking for a rest area only to realize that we had passed the last on in Tennessee…so Alabama Welcome Center, here we come.
We stopped for fuel again in TN and a country ham and egg muffin at Mickey Dee’s and twenty miles down the road we dove into the rest area…exhausted. Poor Rose. She is not used to the sleep patterns that we were offering her, so as I type this, she is horizontal and trying to catch up. It is 8:30 EST and I am not having much luck sleeping either.
We realized that if we kept up this pace we would be in Florida way too soon, so suggested that we sort of play around today (Friday) and get a campground by Montgomery this afternoon and then relax…
It is cold here. Lots of frost last night, but no snow on the ground and that’s a plus. The rig is working well…we run the generator and the furnace and are as snug as a bug in the proverbial rug.
We really have the Twenty First Century version of the pioneering spirit…why not look over the next hill…there might be a better valley below.
Peace…
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