Aggravating is the discovery a few miles down the road that you paid 10¢/gal too much for gasoline. The going rate today in Ohio is $2.29 but I couldn’t get online this morning to check that out. Such are the pitfalls of travel. Driving through the countryside I found the signs advertising gun shops strangely at odds with the two hoardings that listed the Ten Commandments. At least there was no visible signs of bullet holes next “Thou Shalt Not Kill.” Plenty of traffic and State Troopers appeared to be out in force. Signs indicated areas of Drug Use, beware DUI Drivers. Not a fact featured in the state tourism brochures I’m certain.
Finding Crosscreek Campground eluded my GPS once more. At least I had a drive through the country for my troubles and I eventually found the place. Spent a quiet afternoon and evening. Fell asleep for several hours in the afternoon and spent the evening reading and writing E-mail. Alas, the formerly good Wi-Fi service here let me down.
Slept in again and got off finally around 9 AM. Today was the first I had to contend with a gusting crosswind. Every now and then I make a smart choice. I filled up my gas tank somewhere near Akron Ohio before crossing into Pennsylvania. I paid $2.29, it’s $2.59 in Erie. Ouch! Just short of arriving in Erie a tiny insect came in through my air vent and landed in my left eye somehow getting past my glasses. This is my good eye. I could feel it squirming around in there but being in the middle lane of an expressway I had no place to stop.
When I found Sara’s Campground the sign in the window read Closed--I didn’t try the door. The snow drift remaining where the snow was pushed this winter was not particularly promising. Double Ouch. Got a ticket for a site across the road--$38/night from a dear little old gal who acted as if I was the first person she’s served this year. Got a Wi-Fi ticket and it works. The campground is no shakes but the hydro works and once the curtains are drawn....
Stopped at a Dennys near Akron today that looked like a Sixties Diner from American Graffiti complete with the sound track. Brunch was good but Kindle on my Tablet refused to open the book I’ve been reading on my laptop, then told me I’d already bought it when I went to the website--well, dah! Waste of time and frustration. Dumb technology. Spent the day listening to Guardian Buk Podcasts. Alas, I have 24 hours of podcasts remaining in that series, fourteen day’s worth in total.
Sara’s at the foot of Presque Isle State Park in Erie Pennsylvania is a mini-empire. If location means everything for a business this place has it in spades. On the west side of the boulevard is a beach-front campground with a secondary to the east fronted by a series of fast food eateries on the way into the State Park. On what was the first warm spring day here on Lake Erie the line-up for the drive-through window at the burger joint was 15 cars deep, the parking lot full. It would appear to be the kind of joint frequented for generations as soon as teens can drive. The largely seasonal campsites are packed in like sardines but again think location. Fifteen miles of hiking trails and at least twice as many beach front parking lots on the sand spit and to the south an amusement park complex. Just open with a snow drift still in place beside the office whose sign read ‘closed’ the overnight spaces east of the blvd were empty. A paved platform with full hook-ups provided what would in season be cramped quarters. The Wi-Fi worked for me. A cold front blew in from the west dropping the temperature from 80 to 50 in minutes and bringing thundershowers here without the pyrotechnics. Must have sent the people eating burgers and curly fries at outdoor plastic picnic tables scrambling for cover. Only an electrician in a lift basket kept me company as the wind howled through the barren tree branches overhead.
A week later I’ve finally gotten around to completing this saga. Boring is good. Made it home on the gasoline I bought in Ohio. The look of a Lake Erie which is still frozen over was rather chilling. After the dump truck debacle which shut down the Northbound Burlington Skyway there are now two over-height sensors installed. Customs proved a painless experience. I even paused to chat before I left the booth. Stopped by the Tourism Booth for a break and to collect Bumph. Made it home without incident as predicted at 1:00 PM Sharp and found my parking space. Traffic on the QEW Hamilton to Toronto is always heavy but at least there were no slowdowns.
My last night on the road saw heavy thunder showers but nothing more violent and the air was calm for my drive. Having a soak in my own bathtub felt good. I need another. Sleeping in my own bed....
I was home a week Tuesday. Reality is beginning to set in.
Finding Crosscreek Campground eluded my GPS once more. At least I had a drive through the country for my troubles and I eventually found the place. Spent a quiet afternoon and evening. Fell asleep for several hours in the afternoon and spent the evening reading and writing E-mail. Alas, the formerly good Wi-Fi service here let me down.
Slept in again and got off finally around 9 AM. Today was the first I had to contend with a gusting crosswind. Every now and then I make a smart choice. I filled up my gas tank somewhere near Akron Ohio before crossing into Pennsylvania. I paid $2.29, it’s $2.59 in Erie. Ouch! Just short of arriving in Erie a tiny insect came in through my air vent and landed in my left eye somehow getting past my glasses. This is my good eye. I could feel it squirming around in there but being in the middle lane of an expressway I had no place to stop.
When I found Sara’s Campground the sign in the window read Closed--I didn’t try the door. The snow drift remaining where the snow was pushed this winter was not particularly promising. Double Ouch. Got a ticket for a site across the road--$38/night from a dear little old gal who acted as if I was the first person she’s served this year. Got a Wi-Fi ticket and it works. The campground is no shakes but the hydro works and once the curtains are drawn....
Stopped at a Dennys near Akron today that looked like a Sixties Diner from American Graffiti complete with the sound track. Brunch was good but Kindle on my Tablet refused to open the book I’ve been reading on my laptop, then told me I’d already bought it when I went to the website--well, dah! Waste of time and frustration. Dumb technology. Spent the day listening to Guardian Buk Podcasts. Alas, I have 24 hours of podcasts remaining in that series, fourteen day’s worth in total.
Sara’s at the foot of Presque Isle State Park in Erie Pennsylvania is a mini-empire. If location means everything for a business this place has it in spades. On the west side of the boulevard is a beach-front campground with a secondary to the east fronted by a series of fast food eateries on the way into the State Park. On what was the first warm spring day here on Lake Erie the line-up for the drive-through window at the burger joint was 15 cars deep, the parking lot full. It would appear to be the kind of joint frequented for generations as soon as teens can drive. The largely seasonal campsites are packed in like sardines but again think location. Fifteen miles of hiking trails and at least twice as many beach front parking lots on the sand spit and to the south an amusement park complex. Just open with a snow drift still in place beside the office whose sign read ‘closed’ the overnight spaces east of the blvd were empty. A paved platform with full hook-ups provided what would in season be cramped quarters. The Wi-Fi worked for me. A cold front blew in from the west dropping the temperature from 80 to 50 in minutes and bringing thundershowers here without the pyrotechnics. Must have sent the people eating burgers and curly fries at outdoor plastic picnic tables scrambling for cover. Only an electrician in a lift basket kept me company as the wind howled through the barren tree branches overhead.
A week later I’ve finally gotten around to completing this saga. Boring is good. Made it home on the gasoline I bought in Ohio. The look of a Lake Erie which is still frozen over was rather chilling. After the dump truck debacle which shut down the Northbound Burlington Skyway there are now two over-height sensors installed. Customs proved a painless experience. I even paused to chat before I left the booth. Stopped by the Tourism Booth for a break and to collect Bumph. Made it home without incident as predicted at 1:00 PM Sharp and found my parking space. Traffic on the QEW Hamilton to Toronto is always heavy but at least there were no slowdowns.
My last night on the road saw heavy thunder showers but nothing more violent and the air was calm for my drive. Having a soak in my own bathtub felt good. I need another. Sleeping in my own bed....
I was home a week Tuesday. Reality is beginning to set in.
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