15 July 2024 Springfield OH to Joliet IL

 

Once again, we got the hell beat out of us on I-70. The first 30 miles after we crossed into Indiana were the worst! Once we got on I-69 north of Indianapolis, the roads were much better. We did hit some traffic in the ongoing construction on I-80, but otherwise had no major slowdowns. We arrived at the Hollywood Casino around 4:30. We checked in at the hotel and drove to our site ($64 per night plus a $50 security deposit). They did not have sewer hookups but there is a dump station behind the hotel (which we later figured out we could not get into). They also did not have WiFi in the RV Park. Later that evening, we heard the tornado sirens going off outside. Just as we started to checkout what was going on through our various weather apps on our phone, we received a tornado warning on our phones. We called the casino hotel and they told us to get to the hotel ASAP. We grabbed Keira and ran out through the driving rain to the truck. We noticed security going trailer to trailer telling people to get to the hotel. We spent an hour in the interior hallway of the hotel with other RVers and hotel guests until we got the all clear from the casino security. We later heard 7 tornados and a derecho has gone through the area. Power was out at the hotel, casino and the RV park. The Wanderer and Behemoth were not damaged. We did find water on the floor of the bathroom where the wind blew so hard, it forced water up into the air conditioner! There were wind gusts of up to 105mph according to the weather service. The front brought cooler temperatures so we opened the windows and ran the vent van to pull cooler air into the Wanderer. The next morning, the power was still out so David went up to the hotel and found out the power was off all over the area and they did not know when it would come back on. We decided to get out and head further west. They agreed to give us a refund for the second night.  We’re still waiting on it. Leslie found an RV park 178 miles away in eastern Iowa for us to stay a night. This would also reduce the drive for the next day.

Our site at Hollywood Casino RV Park

Hunkering down in the hotel hallway with no power waiting for the tornado to pass.

13 -14 July 2024 Dayton Visit

 We stopped off in the Dayton area to visit with Jason and Michelle. We tried to organize a get together of the 6 cousins that live in the Columbus/Dayton area (Chad, Janae, Landon, Jessica, Sofie and Jason) but everyone was too busy. We went over to Michelle and Jason’s house on Saturday to visit and have a BBQ.  We took Keira to meet their dog Simba. It was a little challenging. On Sunday, we met them at the Cheesecake Factory in the mid-afternoon for Jason’s birthday lunner (Lunch/Dinner). We had a great visit and caught up on all the family news. Unfortunately, we did not take any pictures!

12 July 2024 East Sparta to Springfield OH

 The interstates in Ohio need some work. It was a bumpy ride down I-77 and across on I-70. It was an easy four hour, 130 mile drive with one stop for lunch. We are staying at Tomorrows Stars RV Resort ($67 per night, no discounts) off US40. We have stayed here previously when visiting the Dayton area. 

22 June – 11 July 2024 Canton in 2024

 We had a wonderful visit with family and friends. We spent lots of time with Veronica, and got her out to dinner as often as we could. We noticed her walker was broken (the rear wheel was off the axile and rubbing against the brake) and worked with her to pick out a new one for her birthday (It got delivered the day before we left). Leslie even got her a Yellow Duck bell to adorn it! We took her down to Bergholz to visit Aunt Joyce one day. We had fun visiting Aunt Joyce in Bergholz. The old apple tree behind the house is looking great for being 100 years or more years old. Sometimes we think that as that tree goes, so does our family. On another day, we took her down to visit her sister Katy. To top off our visit, we hosted her 87^th birthday at one of her favorite restaurants, the Twisted Olive with her family (Katy, Cheryl, Bob and Darlene). We were able to visit with Cousin Amy before she had to head out of town to help a friend. We also drove up to Streetsboro to visit with our friends Mary Ann and Bill at their campsite. David got several maintenance items done on the Wander and Behemoth and Leslie got a lot of cleaning done inside, as we travel, so does the dust!  All in all, a great visit. 

The family apple tree

Aunt Joyce hiding from the camera

Veronica with her new walker

Her rubber ducky bell

Veronica's Birthday Party

21 June 2024 Archibald to East Sparta, OH

We have done this drive several times before. It's pretty boring along the toll road and we made good time. The toll road cost $33.75 from mile marker 26 to where we got off for I-77. They have finished the road construction at I-77 and US30 that has been going on for a decade and the road was nice and smooth through the area compared to the teeth jarring surface that was there forever. We are staying at our usual, the Canton/East Sparta KOA ($89.48 per night with KOA discount). We are in one of the deluxe pull through sites at the bottom of the hill with a patio, table, fire pit and grill. These sites are the easiest to get the Wanderer into verses the sites on the hillside. Keira was very Happy to have a dog park to run around in again!

18-20 June 2024 Sauder Heritage Village

 David spent most of all three days we were in the Sauder Heritage Village working. We both caught up on chores. The weather was very warm (we were under extreme heat warnings the entire time) with the heat indices near 100F. We did visit the Sauder Furniture store to see if they had anything we might like for our future home. We ate one night at the Barn Restaurant on site. David ran up to the bakery for fresh donuts one morning. We walked Keira around the lake each day. On our last night around 5PM, the power went out in the entire RV park from all the RVs and the hotel running the air conditioners on full. Luckily, some clouds moved in and kept the temperatures down until they got the electric repaired around 11:30PM that night. It took until 2 in the morning for the air conditioners to catch up and cool the Wanderer down. 

17 June 2024 Frankfort, MI to Archibald, OH

 We have done the drive down through the center of Michigan on US127 three times now. The road needs some TLC in several places. It was a 286 mile slog down to Saunder Heritage Inn and RV Park ($46 per night). We knew it was going to be a long haul because we have stayed here several times and knew what to expect. We drove into a heat wave for the area (99 degrees) but some cooling rain came through later in the evening.