First Day!!! (continued)

I think this pretty much sums up driving through Ohio! We were all just so excited to be on the road. It's hard to believe.



1:02 pm : Indiana / 290.1 miles

So, apparently Indiana is the boyhood home of Abe Lincoln. We stopped in Richmond, Indiana and had a picnic lunch that we'd packed in Pittsburgh for exactly this location. We spread a blanket on the lawn in Glen Miller Park near the base of the "Madonna of the Trail". It is a huge statue of a pioneer woman and her two young'uns. The 9th statue of 12 erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The park and the statue are along the National Road (or Trail), and sit at the sight of the 1st tollgate to the west!

Mummy walked aroung in the grass looking for things, but she found nothing. She said, "Looks like they haven't had rain in a lot of Sundays. It's dry. Real, real dry."

I smoked two cigarettes.

Mycol's very anxious. He counts every minute and tries to keep us on our toes. He won't let us "waste" any time enjoying a break from the road. He wants to get to San Diego, dammit!!! By TUESDAY!!!!! (He's CRAZY!)

Another thing Mycol likes to count: the minutes until his next bite of food. He is ALWAYS hungry!!!

I said, "Indiana. The Hoosier State." Mycol said, "Who's YOUR state?"

What's on the radio in Indiana? Hellfire & Brimstone or country music, take your pick.

We stopped in Centerville, Ind., which is a really neat small American town with the "Antique Alley". OOHHHH! Mycol was very nice to oblige us while we browsed the antiques. I found a postcard from 1908 and a baby's photograph from ???? at Wheeler's on Main St. Mycol found Jesus. I think he's following us.



Mummy thought we should each be someone from the Oregon Trail. She's gonna be Merriweather Lewis, Mycol is Clark, and I am (uhoh, I don't know how to spell this) Sacajawea - or Sacajamila.

In Jamestown, Indiana we pulled over for gas. It was kind of a scary little place. Anyway, it'd been hot as hell. Before we left Pittsburgh, Mummy put bottles of Desani water in the freezer. By the time we were in Jamestown she'd been trying to drink the few sips of water that have thawed around the ice. The ice in the bottle looked like.....well, here's how it went:

Ma: "Look, an ice arrow!"

Me: "Too bad you can't get that out of there. It looks like an ice rocket."

Ma: (laughing and holding the bottle up and jiggling it so that Mycol and I can get a good look) "It looks like.....What it looks like is......"

Me: "An ice penis!"

Mycol: (shaking his head) "Dirty old grandma."


6:34 pm : Illinois / 459 miles (crossing into Central Time Zone, reset clocks to 5:34 pm)

Pulled into Knoxville, Illinois around 8:30pm. Tired and hungry. Have been on the road for 13 1/2 hours. Get a room at the Super 8 because it's the only thing around. The good news? Let me rephrase that. The great news? We are right across the road from the Knox County Fair and we have just enough time to catch the last hour of flat track motorbike races!!!!!! While eating 'fair' food!!!!









My mom was thinking of catching the shuttle back to the Super 8 (where she saved us $10 for being overaged). But she really enjoyed the motorbike races, so when she saw the sign for monster trucks, well, she forgot all about taking the shuttle.




Finally, back at the hotel room and ready for a good night's sleep. Mummy plops herself down on her bed.

"Ouch!", she says.

"What?", we say.

"My bum hurts!"

"Dirty old grandma."

At the end of day one we have spent $155.03. This is more than we'd like it to be.

$2.25 - Gatorade
$1.00 - Sunchips
$2.73 - 2 small cones from Dairy Queen
$4.37 - antique postcard and photo
$30.35 - full tank of gas
$3.58 - coffee, tea, Chexmix
$89.00 - double room at Super 8
$22.00 - food at the fair for 3

Anything else we ate or drank on the road we had brought with us in the cooler.