RoadNotes: On the way to Erie

Roundup Lake Campground, Mantua, OH – June 23 through 24, 2015

Today was just an ordinary travel day. Bradd and Halls was getting pretty busy and even though we had one or two adjustments we wanted them to make, it was time to go. Sometimes, you just have to get moving.

After a fairly uneventful day of travel we landed at our destination, Firelake Campground in Bowling Green, Ohio. After we got Big Guy set up, relaxed with a adult beverage and enjoyed the sunset.

the next morning we arise near 8’ish and putter around on miscellaneous things while enjoying our morning AirPress coffee. Soon it’s noon and we must make a decision as to whether we go exploring or move on the the next location. If we are moving on, as a rule we have been picking a couple of campgrounds (Plan A and Plan B ya’ know) and just showing up to grab a site for the night. While that has worked well in the western half of the United States, up here in the Northeast it’s been a whole ‘nother story.

We’re finding now that we have to call ahead to secure a spot early, and if we haven’t made a weekend reservation weeks in advance, forget it. You’re not getting in. For us this is very unsettling as we hate plans and don’t want to have to rush from campground to campground and not explore along the way. We prefer to meander as the mood strikes. This may have to change if we are to continue spending the summer here in the northeast. Boondocking is out of the question for two reasons, 1) Too hot, it’s in the mid 80’s during the day and 2) There are very few boondocking spots around that we fit into.

So, with that said, we’re aiming for cooler weather up near Lake Erie. In the back of our minds we have a potential destination in mind, but first we have to get off our butts and get going.

We like traveling primary and secondary highways and avoiding Interstates whenever possible. I know, I know, you can average a higher speed on the Interstate but it’s sooo boring. That said, adventure awaits on those US, State and County highways. for instance, where along an Interstate could you get out and check how the corn was growing?

This is my navigator hard at work.

Then, one of the county highways we chose ended up being resurfaced. So we got to see the backend of lots of trucks.

For a while US 6 was our main highway and to our surprise, is dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic. Ah, you ask, what is that?

In 1937, Route 6 stretched from Provincetown, Massachusetts to Long Beach, California making it the longest transcontinental highway in the US. Originally named the Roosevelt Highway, the name fell out of favor in the 1950’s. It was soon thereafter dedicated to the Grand Army of the Republic.

The G.A.R. was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (U.S. Navy), Marines and the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service who served in the American Civil War for the Northern/Federal forces. Founded in 1866, it was dissolved in 1956 when its last member died. The G.A.R. was very active politically, supporting voting rights for black veterans, promoting patriotic education, helping to make Memorial Day a national holiday, lobbying the United States Congress to establish regular veterans' pensions, and supporting Republican political candidates.

One thing we continue to be pleasantly surprised by is the display of patriotism we see along the way.

We stumbled onto Hudson and decided to stop and figure out where we were going. We needed to call around and see if any one had room for us. We weren’t just going to show up and get a nasty “Sorry, No space” surprise. And we needed to get Mocha some of her special cat food.

We spied a small shopping center that had a pet store and pulled in. After we had purchased the cat food and were on the way back to the RV, we noticed these cool old cars pulling in.