Columbus and Rain

It doesn't matter where I start from or when, I always end up outside Columbus at rush hour. If I had skipped visiting my friends I would have been there before lunch. But what would be the point of that?

I'm so glad I made the trip to Cleveland to see my friends. It was like being home again.

The drive to and from Cleveland was mostly misty. From Columbus to Dayton the sky broke loose and poured. I got tired of the sound of wiper blades. It's still raining. Hoping for a cessation by morning.

To simplify directions I made a short list to get me to Cleveland. I'm using the long list now. Yay google maps!

This Motel 6 (outside Dayton in Englewood) hasn't been renovated yet and its difficult to find the entry but it's clean and well maintained. I got a nice single room around the back convenient to a scrap of land for dog walking. And at a really convenient price! Also, gas is a mere $3.05.

First Leg

Drove seven hours. Still have about two hours to my friend in Cleveland. I'll do that tomorrow.

Over two hours was spent driving up and down and up and down over mountains and across the eastern continental divide which is underwhelming compared to the one in Colorado.

They have a thing about trucks in West Virginia. They can only drive 50 mph, are constantly told the degrees of the inclines, and reminded to downshift.

Stopped at a pretty overlook rest area. Drove around in circles looking for a take away Chinese place. Mistook a tan shop for a Thai restaurant. And I think a women was giggling at my high rise yoga pants. They're so comfortable!

Staying at pet friendly Motel 6 in a brand new double room for only $52! However, I made up for it by having to get gas at $3.75.

A real adventure!

Moving out of my home and staying with family and friends has left me with little time to consider journaling my travels. I've been to Yogaville a couple times. I highly recommend it as a retreat center. Incredibly peaceful and relaxing and you get spiritual practice to boot.

In the morning I'm beginning a drive to Topeka KS. I haven't travelled that far by car for 10 years. Looking forward more to arriving than traveling.

Pip, the dog, is accompanying me. So I'll be on the lookout for dog-friendly hotels. Motel 6 has been recommended to me. They are fairly priced and even have an app.

I'm leery of the iPhone Maps app. I was steered wrong to the obscure closed back gate of the local dump instead of the front gate. Not a type of mistake I'd like to repeat when trying to find a hotel at the end of the day.

I tried Waze but it didn't work. Took in addresses from my contacts list and then just sat there. And it has over 16,000 downloads with a good rating! I'm going to consult and then get a back-up app. Or maybe one with turn-by-turn voice. There's some for $.99 that look pretty good.

Hoping I get to sleep soon. Gonna try to drive for 8 hours tomorrow to get to a friend's house. After that I plan to cut back to 6 hours a day.

Gonna be a long day.