I kept checking the weather. First for Pittsburgh, Pa, since we were going to a Steelers game at Heinz Field. Then for Letchworth State Park in western New York state. We would be camping there, in a tent, at the beginning of October. I kept worrying we were going to freeze. I really wanted this vacation to be fun, for both of us. The weather kept looking good for the game, which made me happy. The state park was looking iffy though. It looked like we could have rain most every day. That was disheartening. I really didn't want us both to end up sick.
Finally, the day came to leave. We packed up our car, that was a challenge. We barely got all of the camping equipment and suitcases in the car. At one point it looked like we could get all of the stuff in, as long as I ran alongside. We rearranged again, and fit me in, too. We made sure to put the suitcase for the weekend in Pittsburgh on top of the rest of the stuff. I decided that instead of dividing suitcases by my stuff and his stuff, we would divide them by Pittsburgh and state park. That way we only needed to take one suitcase out that first weekend. everything else could just stay put. It worked better than I had hoped, decreased stress exponentially.
We left about 4:00 pm on Friday, September 30. Our plan, non specific. Our goal, just to make the drive to Pittsburgh on Saturday a little shorter. Even if we just took a few hours off the drive that would be helpful. We hopped in the car, and headed out of town.
As we drove we hit some rain. I kept an eye on the weather app on my phone. Since we had no specific goal in mind. driving in the rain in the dark, just wasn't necessary. We crossed the Mississippi into Illinois, and the rain slowed down. We kept driving down the interstate. As the sun set and darkness set in we started talking about where we might stop. I checked the weather app again and it looked like there was a pretty heavy storm brewing around Chicago and east. We stopped in a town west of Chicago, called Manooka. It was dark, so I have no idea what the town was like. We found a hotel and settled in for the night. As we were settling down to bed, at about 9:30 pm, (yes, we are getting old), I kept hearing what sounded like someone bowling in a room above us. Willie had already passed out, but I laid there trying to figure out what the people above us were doing. A few minutes later, it dawned on me, we were on the TOP floor. So, what the poop was going on?
I got up and went to the window. I didn't know what I would see, because the sounds definitely sounded like they were coming from above. I peaked out the curtains, like if the world were coming to an end in a nuclear strike, the curtains would protect me. As I looked out I say a bright light. "A storm?" I thought. I opened up the curtains a bit more, and saw, FIREWORKS! I love fireworks! I decided this was a sign that our vacation was going to go well. I sat down on the footstool and watched the show out the window of our room. I tried to wake Willie, but he was down for the count.
The next morning we got up early, ok, early for me and headed out. The rain was still around making our drive gray and dull. Of course when we got to Chicago proper, it started to storm. It was hard to see, and Willie was stressed due to the traffic. Maybe the fireworks were an omen, rather than a sign of good luck.
We powered through, following the GPS on my phone. Being rather inexperienced travelers we had much to learn about toll roads. The tolls going out of Illinois and into Indiana were manned by people, and they were very kind and let us know what to do. As we drove through Indiana the GPS took us off the interstate. We didn't know why for sure, but followed it anyway. We stopped at a rundown gas station in a rundown town to use the restroom. Being as shabby a place as it was, it was quite busy, with a line to the bathroom. A lady waiting while I was, asked me if we had been detoured off the interstate? I said we had just been following our GPS and it led us there. She said there was a big wreck on the interstate and they were directing everyone off, which explained why our GPS did the same and the number of people in line for the bathroom. We chatted a bit more, about a shared love of camping, as we all danced a bit waiting for our turn to finally pee. Willie and I left and headed back on the road, impressed that Google Maps was able to direct us off the interstate, without delays due to the wreck.
We finally got back on the interstate, and came to the Indiana-Ohio boarder. Another toll greeted us as we entered Ohio. This one did not have a human to help us along. We stopped and looked at the toll machine trying to figure it out. Willie pushed buttons trying to figure out what to do. The turnpike stayed down. People behind us started to get angry and a truck driver blew his horn, because, you know, that helps. I bent way over to try and see the the whole machine. It had two buttons and Willie kept pushing them. No ticket was coming out that we could see. I leaned farther over and spied it. Way up at the top of the machine, there was our ticket. Apparently, and this did make sense, the lower button was for cars, the upper button for semis. There it was, way up high. Willie climbed out the window and reached way up high for the ticket. As he stretched as far as he could his muscles spasmed right as he grabbed it out. The turnpike finally went up and we moved forward, but by then the damage had been done and Willie was in a lot of pain. Ok, so the fireworks were officially and omen. We stopped for some ibuprofen and food and finished the drive to Pittsburgh.
The rest of the drive was uneventful, but Willie was miserable. We had tried to make plans with a friend's daughter to see her while we were there, but Willie really just wanted to just have supper and go to bed. We made our apologies, but took her recommendation for a nearby restaurant. We went to bed early and I hoped Sunday would be better. I really wanted Willie to enjoy his football game. Luckily, it looked like the weather still looked hopeful for a nice game night.
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