Our RV Adventure, Day 8: Cruise Control

(To start from the beginning, see Our RV Adventure: Introduction.)

Wednesday, May 8, Lebanon, Tennessee 

Before 5, roosters crow. They are anticipating, not informing us of the dawn. Then the cats use the litter box and require feeding.

At 6:47, I wake up before the 7:00 alarm. We will drive all the way back home today.

At first, I feel like a shower, then I decide it’s too much trouble moving the space heater tower and bucket with mop, broom, and cleaning supplies out and back in to the shower where we store them.

We decide that we will not launch before breakfast as we did two days ago. Cathleen wants to tour the farm before we go. We see horses, chickens, goats, sheep. They have six acres here, including a horse-riding ring. Donna gives us two dozen farm-fresh eggs for the road.

Cathleen and Donna look at the goats and other animals. Below:Horse and riding ring.

         

We leave at 10, and take the route that Donna recommends, with which Google Maps agrees. We’ll be on some relatively small state routes but avoid Nashville and the Interstate until Kentucky.

KY101 is built on a berm with deep ditches or drop-offs on either side. It seems narrow when oncoming pickup trucks speed by. A small turtle looks to cross the road. Good luck. We see many butterflies, gold and black, and pretty gold meadows, but white-knuckle hills.

Even when we get to I-65, we still have big Kentucky hills. Can't wait for good old flat Indiana, cruise control country.

It was 80+ degrees in Tennessee, but the forecast high in Naperville today says 67.

Cathleen takes over driving at a gas station. The easiest way to get out is around the fast food drive-through, but a semi comes the wrong way around and Cathleen gets too close to the order window overhang. Hopefully no real damage to the RV over the driver seat. (There was a bit of paint which wiped off easily.)

The Abraham Lincoln Bridge over the Ohio River into Indiana is a cool white cable-stayed bridge. I didn’t realize it at the time, what with I-Pass, but there’s a toll.

The Abraham Lincoln Bridge over the Ohio River between Kentucky and Indiana. 

We intend to stop at one rest area, but it’s full of trucks, with one blocking the entrance to the RV/truck parking. We back up and drive through the car area without stopping.

Later, I’m driving. There’s some kind of convoy, consisting of trucks from Rain-Blo, Amazon Prime, and Morehouse. The latter one passes me, annoying. Later, I am passing, and I pause when I see a speed trap. “What did you do? Were you speeding?” Cathleen demands. “You’re allowed to exceed the speed limit when passing someone who is going slower than the speed limit,” I say. “No,” she says. “That is illegal.” No comment. Other than that, I’m on cruise control.

We are hungry, and excited when Cathleen finds that Sunshine Café is at an upcoming exit and has received good reviews. Unfortunately, it is closed due to a water outage. We can’t quite sort out the symbolism there. We get back on the interstate.

We are an hour south of Indianapolis. I say we should power through to get by Indy before rush hour. I am assuming we are on Central Time as we had been in Sewanee and Lebanon, Tennessee, looking at the RV radio clock. I should know better that most of Indiana is Eastern except the 12 counties in the northwest and southwest. Indiana used to ignore Daylight Saving Time, but no more. So, it’s an hour later here than I thought. We don’t run into too much traffic in Indianapolis however. Later, at 5:30 Eastern Time, we eat at Arby’s in Rensselaer.

Cathleen with the RV in Rensselaer, Indiana. 

Cathleen is driving. Our timing for arriving in the morass of intersecting interstates where northeast Indiana meets “Chicagoland” is not bad. We get to Chicago. On I-294, I ask “Did someone shell this highway with mortars?” I always prefer the newer I-355, but Google Maps always prefers this.

We arrive at home before 8 pm, 10 hours from Lebanon, and only 2 more than Google Maps said.

Unpacking takes slightly less time than packing. We start out in the twilight, and it rains a bit before we’re done. The cats are surprised and excited to be home. I wonder what their little cat brains are thinking. “Was this all some kind of joke?” “Is this The Wizard of Oz?”

In Naperville, there is an overnight street parking ban. You can call the non-emergency police number and tell them if you or a guest have to park on the street. Then they won’t ticket you, for up to three days. Around Thanksgiving, they don’t enforce it, and if you are resealing your driveway, and it’s obvious, they won’t ticket you. I go to the trouble of calling in the RV, but Cathleen says I should ask if we can block our driveway. I do, and they say no, you can’t. After hanging up, I decide to park in the driveway, even though it’s on an incline. I set the parking brake.

I’m supposed to work tomorrow, and also return the RV, so it’s off to bed.

To be concluded...