Summer 2011

An easy trip today, albeit one of our longest. We got our usual early start and were on the road before 7am. Our route continues on I-80 all day. We started out on the flat farmlands of eastern Indiana and western Ohio. By the time we reached the Cleveland area we started to encounter hills and these continue on to our destination. The hills can't be compared to the mountains and curves of the western stretches of I-80, but we still get a lot of grades to climb and come down. Not long after we crossed into Pennsylvania we saw a sign indicating that this spot is the highest spot on I-80 east of the Mississippi River and it was a little over 2,000 feet. Having spent a good portion of the summer at altitudes in excess of 5,000 feet, I laughingly commented to Susie that my ears are popping.

We got to the Bellefonte/State College KOA fairly close to our estimated time of arrival. Although we encountered a number of construction sites along today's route, they didn't delay us too much. Our biggest delay was at our first refueling stop in a brand new service plaza on the Indiana Toll Road (opened two weeks ago). There was some confusion both on the part staff and me on what pump I was using and that made it a longer than usual stop.

This KOA has been our last stop before reaching home several times in the past six years. This is where we pack up the truck with our clothing and some of our non-refrigerated foods so that we all we need to do at the trailer storage facility is pack the refrigerated food in our coolers and head for home. Tomorrow night we sleep at home.