What's That Big Round Bright Thing In The Sky? - Saturday, June 25, 2011

What's That Big Round Bright Thing In The Sky? - Saturday, June 25, 2011

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BONNIE!

Tom awoke early this morning and was up and out. He called to me as he descended the steps to the trailer. I answered and rolled over. But I eventually did get up. Basic bodily needs told me that I'd better if I knew what was good for me.

Things seemed to be all mixed up this morning but we did work at packing to get out. We had no goal except maybe a mental goal to be out as early as the two other days. Whatever it was, it worked. We were on the road by 8:30am with an ETA of 1:05pm CDT.

As we were working I was getting warmer. Then I realized that the sun was already shining. We haven't seen the sun in I don't know how long! What a beautiful day!

But after the first half hour on the road we were heading into the clouds again. I hoped that things would clear.

We passed a huge wind farm just north of Bloomington-Normal bypass. It was so long. The farms are usually only five or so turbines in line with each other but there are many lines of this turbines. This farm must have been at least a half mile long. But the amazing thing about this wind farm was that none of the turbines were spining! And two of them were "facing" the opposite direction than all of the others.

We stopped just inside the Indiana border for a map. We had to ask for it. There was a sign on the wall to ask the attendant for a map. So I looked around and about 10 minutes later I saw this older man coming out of the employee's room dressed as a maintenance person. I asked where the "attendant" was so I could ask for a map. He said, "That would be me." There were a few more people looking around the attendant's desk. So he went into his "office" and came out with 3 maps; just enough for everyone to be satisfied. They, too, were 2009-2010 maps. More budget cuts.

Two things about this gentleman: he was in his seventies and his shirt had a patch on it that read "Attendant Supervisor."

There was a clock on the wall in the lobby of the Information Center that gave the time as 12:40pm Eastern Daylight Time. Yay! We did it! We are in our own Time Zone. We are getting closer to Home.

Since it was about half way between body time and EDT we decided to have lunch. We gathered our PB&J sandwiches, carrots and Snapple and headed for a picnic table in the shade. The sun, indeed, did reappear and was warming the day as it should. As we were eating lunch the "Attendant Supervisor" passed by on the lawn mower heading for the patches of grass just past us.

Lunch finished, we headed on down the road. The next rest stop was closed and had been for a while. It looked like it. Good thing we stopped when we did. The next stop was a gas stop and that was uneventful except for the price which was $3.39. It was the best that we have seen for a while. We left the gas station with a full tank of gas and a ETA of 2:41 CDT/3:41 EDT without problems.

But, hey, problems are what keep life interesting. Our road was under construction and the way the highway department wanted us to go didn't sound like a good idea and even "The Man" wasn't saying anything about changing the route so we stayed with "The Man." We probably weren't in a construction zone as long as we would have been if we followed the highway department's suggestion. The speed was reasonable and I could find us on the map for which we just asked. :o) I was just very thinkful that we were traveling on a Saturday when the workers were not active or it would have been a lot worse. The signs even said to find and alternate route. But when you don't know the area how do you find and alternate route?

Long story short, we followed "The Man" and we arrived at S & H Campground about 4:00pm EDT. Not bad: just 20 minutes later.

We were registered an escorted to our little niche in this world. It's a good thing we were because we weren't given a map. And it seems that none of the sites are numbered or named. When we leave here for church tomorrow I wonder if we will be able to find "The Puppy" again. :o) We were put up on the hill and in the back. There are some "regulars" here but here is where the "one nighters" are put. We are near the washhouse . . . if you go through another person's site.

Two sites down from us there is a double site that is used as a road to the washhouse. My guess is that they don't use that site until the place is really packed and then they will put two Rvers in that site.

A note of interest about gas prices: We passed through a small town which was selling gas at several stations for $3.19. Then, at a few stations in another small town a little further down the road, gas was being sold for $3.09! I hope we can find those stations again.

Tom's in bed and I'm ready for that last walk to the washhouse. Talk to you tomorrow when we will still be in IN.