NY Interstate

 Well, I got my "welcome to New York" assessment .... not in the form of a speed trap ticket this time (although there were State Troopers in the bushes :)) but in the form of $60 for the toll road.

The overpasses are very low (no height limit shown) .... I found myself ducking my head under each one, sort of like when you go into underground parking and you duck your head as you enter, (they are about a mile apart), like that would really help!  My coach cleared just fine, but in driving around off the interstate I found all the overpasses are too low for my coach.  I read somewhere that in New Jersey, I think, it is a real problem.  I saw a sign in a couple of the rest stops that the max height limit for the state is 13ft 6in. I didn't see that sign anywhere else, nor in any of my travel books.  The official speed limit for the state is 55mph.

Something different along the interstate .... they have Text Stops every 35 miles or so .... no facilities, just parking and a public phone or two.

Also, instead of rest areas, there are service stops .... they have a gas station, small auto repair, a fast food restaurant, a small convenience store and a rest area.   The facilities change at every service stop (about 35-50 miles apart) ... different brand of gas, different fast food chain, etc.  The gas is competitively priced and the food is all the major chains. The one I stopped at had a Mobile station, an Edy's Ice Cream, McD, Boston's Best Pizza and a nice convenience store, they even had Starbucks.  ... eating areas, clean rest rooms, and local crafts and/or food stands.  I got a slice, a cone and a diet coke and never had to get off the interstate!  I'm sure this is a convenience for the state as well, not having to deal with the tolls for travelers to get off/on.

No accents yet!  I was expecting the "eastern" accents and no one I've encountered anywhere has one!  I asked and was told I needed to go further East!

The weather is cooler as I travel .... about 15 degrees cooler than northern Ohio.

The challenge of living in an RV

The challenge of living in an RV is not the square footage .... At about 400 sqft, it probably has the same room as a studio apartment, perfectly adequate, except you always have to put everything away.  The laptop can't stay on the desk; the toaster on the counter; the magazine rack by the chair.  You do have a "yard," but again, all that has to find a storage place as well.

The challenge is in actually "doing" things.  Take cooking, for instance.  You have adequate counter space to prepare the food ... but that is the same counter space that you need when you wash dishes, or use the stove top.  And when you use the convection oven, you can't use the microwave ... and to switch back and forth you have to find someplace to put the hot rack.  So it becomes a logistics problem ... you have to use the counter top before you use the stove; you have to use the microwave before you use the convection oven; and you can't wash dishes during the process.  And then the ultimate challenge ... where do you put the dirty dishes while you clean up the stove and then wash them?

The cupboards hold the items you need to live .... but if you want to cook (or do anything like paperwork, etc), you need to take other items out of the cupboards to access and remove what you need ... in the meantime you have all this "stuff" laying about with no place to put it.  And then, of course, you need to make it all fit back in the cupboards.

So, bottom line, the inside of my RV ALWAYS looks messy.  :)

But the trade off is .... fresh air, seeing something different, going where you want, meeting new people, experiencing life .... and reading anytime you want.

It's a great life!

Cuyahoga National Park

I did something different and took the train through the Cuyahoga National Park. The train gives you a few options... You can pay $3 for a hike and bike ticket and get off the train anywhere you wish and hike or bike back out. There is a Towpath that runs through the entire park. Here is a picture of the path.

Or you can buy a coach ticket and get off and on whenever you wish, or there is a ticket to sit in the dome car but you do not have the option of getting off and it is a three-hour trip.
I opted for the coach ticket and got off at Boston Mills to walk the 4 1/2 miles to Brandywine Falls and back. It is unbelievably humid today, which is not making the walk as pleasant as I had hoped LOL 

This is what I was expecting ...

Cuyahoga Valley National Park in northeast Ohio is home to a breathtaking 65-foot waterfall that flows from Brandywine Creek.

Because Ohio is experiencing a dry year, this is what the falls look like now ...

The walk turned out to be a little more than I expected .... rated moderate to strenuous .... but when I stopped to rest on the return trip, this is the sight that greeted me when I turned ...

It was a nice day.  I passed on any more sightseeing and went back to my home.

Besides humidity, Cleveland has traffic.  A nice thing is they have Express Lanes (sort of like the diamond lanes at home except everyone can use them). They moved much faster than the "local" lanes because you can't enter or exit except in certain places.  They did help and I was glad to use them.

What are the road "rules" for Amish vehicles?

I drove down to Middleton, which is a large Amish community and realized I do not know the proper road etiquette for encountering horse and buggy.  Do you pass, or drive very slowly behind?  Or is it the same as passing a car?  When coming from the opposite direction, do you slow?  Will you spook the horse?

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland Heights is a very old part of town .... actually labeled "historic".  Some of these homes are absolute mansions.

When I got off the highway (I90) on my way to Big Al's Diner for breakfast, I must have driven through the Jewish part of town, evidenced by the Synagogues and the "kosher" meat markets, before I drove through Cleveland Heights.

Big Al's Diner was an experience.  I ordered a plate of fried green tomatoes just to try.  They were good, kind of "sour" tasting.  I also noticed the use of "pop" as a beverage choice, and of course grits are available for every breakfast choice.  This establishment was featured on TVs Diners and Dives program.  Quite the place.




On my way out of town I drove by the University of Ohio and through a very poor part of town.

I was lucky enough to find this tho ,,,,

And every time I drive to I-90 to see the sights, I pass this ....

Along State Route 45 outside of Country Cousins, a log-furniture company in Austinburg, you'll find the world's largest rocking chair. While it's unknown who built the chair, the big seat has been sitting in Austinburg since the '60s.

My campground in Jefferson, Ohio

In Jefferson, Ohio I am staying in a Thousand Trails campground.  It has the usual  .... pool, fishing lake, play ground .... (here is a picture of one of the two lakes)



Yesterday, in honor of the holiday weekend, there was a parade of decorated golf carts and bicycles.  Last night there was a DJ with music and fireworks.  Today was a wiffle ball game, etc.  The weather has been perfect and it has been a good weekend for the families.

A popular game I see at the campgrounds is Corn Hole.  The first time I encounter the game was in Oklahoma, but seems to be popular everywhere in the MidWest.

Ohio "cities" are called corporations, not cities

Drove down to Warren, Ohio today to pick-up some shorts I ordered online.  It was a nice drive down Hwy 11 (about 40 miles).  I did confirm something I thought was interesting .... While being in Ohio I noticed that all the "cities" are called corporations, not cities, i.e. Warren Corporation limits .... there are some Townships along the way, but no cities that I have seen.  When you are driving on the highway you see a sign for the next town and Corp after it.  Different.