We ride a bucking bronco across the great black swamp...


Thursday April 11, Erie, Michigan
Today was a travel day. Over our first cup of coffee I checked the weather and noticed that there were wind warnings for Horse Cave and Louisville by mid-day and while there were no warnings yet for the corridor up I-75 to Toledo it was clear that the wind was going to be a problem there as well. I closed the iPad and said to Lorraine “We’ve got wind warnings probably all the way to Toledo I want to leave in an hour.” Lorraine responded by moving into high gear with packing the inside of the trailer. I packed up the exterior quickly and by 8:40 we were on the road and out — our earliest departure since the first day of the trip when we were prepared the night before.
It’s not a complicated drive between Horse Cave and Toledo but longer than most we would attempt — 630km or so and it would take about seven hours of driving — a long enough day without high winds. We kept the route simple and direct — straight up I65 to Louisville then I71 across to I75 just below Cincinnati. Most of the early part of the day was warmer than expected, dry with just a few high clouds. Spring breakout is still in high gear in central and northern Kentucky so fruit trees and dogwoods have joined the numerous redbuds in earnest; the fledging leaves seemed to be growing as we watched as we moved further north and east. Traffic was good to Cincinnati so we were able to manage 100km an hour of net progress.
We stopped for gas and lunch (stuff from the trailer) near Florence, Kentucky just south of Cincy and managed a decent pace even on 75 right through downtown except for being stopped on I75 beyond a large funeral procession for about 5 minutes. Lorraine tried to figure out who had died that was so important to shutdown all the lanes of a major interstate at the lunch hour without success. North of Cincinnati. the wind increased mile on mile but the air was still very warm — 25C all the way to Lima, Ohio. At Lima the temperature started to drop and the wind really started to hammer the trailer. The last two hours of travel into the early rush-hour for Toledo were just hell. That portion of I75 is as dull as any highway in North America — flat, straight, featureless farmland stretching north of Dayton and all the way to the lake through the old Great Black Swamp. Many times, the trailer tried to lurch into the left lane as big-rig trucks approached and passed. When this happens over hours of driving you develop the same sensations that cause seasickness which mercifully Lorraine and I don’t get but even if you aren’t nauseous as you drive when you stop the motion continues in your head for hours. It is also very tiring driving as you need to use both hands on the steering wheel and your whole body to fight and balance against the bucking of the trailer. Without load balancers I’m not sure the drive would be possible.
Possible or not, we arrived at Cliff and Sandy’s about 4:30 — the temperature had dropped to 5C and the wind was gusting to about 35km/h making it feel more like 0C and neither Lorraine nor I were prepared. Sandy rushed out and brought Lorraine a sweater to wear as she helped guide me back in around the S shaped driveway onto a nice parking pad. I had to jump in the trailer and change into jeans and a sweater and my windbreaker to unlimber the trailer — bloody cold in the wind and I’m soft after more than a month in the southland. It did start to feel a little like being home which was nice although Lorraine and I both began to question our wisdom in coming home this week... Another week in Pensacola might have been a better idea...
I was just moving the truck after unhooking when Cliff came in the driveway and so after a little more work on the set-up and a little time to unwind we drove into Toledo for a dinner at the Pub where Sandy had worked in the late 70’s and early 80’s. It was nice to catch up with them even though I felt drunk from the trailer sway. I know from experience it will go away overnight but until then it makes me a cheap drunk — bed spins, no drinking.
We’ll hang out here tomorrow and plan to have dinner with them and Pete tomorrow night.


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