Ashtabula....say that three times fast!

7:19 am - Wednesday - May 2nd - 62º F, 45% humidity, wind 10 mph out of the south....clear blue skies with a forecast high today of 78º F.......rain on the way late this afternoon.

Tuesday morning dawned clear once again with a light wind coming from the west.....a perfect cruising day when the air is clear and the wind is at your back!  Our first task of the day was to 'pay the rent' as we fondly refer to the task of buying diesel fuel.  There was a Speedway fuel station just south of I-70 so we headed there.  Our fuel gauge was showing just over 1/4 tank, so it was time.  I thought we would need about 125 gallons and we took on 129.....so that means we still had 51 gallons of diesel left in the tank.  We paid $3.09/gallon parting with $399.98 cents.  For the second tank in a row we averaged over 7 mpg.....7.09 mpg to be exact.  

Before we merged back on to I-70 with the Newell train there was was a task which needed doing.  I have been a fan of college football for a long time, and almost every year I watch the rivalry game between Michigan and Ohio.  I've been to the 'Big House' in Ann Arbor, MI and taken a picture, but I've never been to Ohio Stadium where the Ohio State Buckeyes play, so we took the VW out of the trailer to drive 22 miles into Columbus to take my picture.....

 The back of the 'Horseshoe'

 ...and the front of the 'Horseshoe'

My 'Big House' picture from late April of 2012

.....by the time we returned to the Newell it was almost 10:30 am, and by the time we put the VW back in the trailer it was 10:40 am.  We were back on the Interstate within minutes covering the same ground we did in the VW, except just before Columbus we left I-70 to take I-270 around Columbus where we then picked up I-71 north  towards Cleveland.  

Initially there was a lot of construction in progress on I-270, and it was pucker time for me, but eventually we reached the end of the construction zone and it was clear sailing.  I just held on to the steering wheel and enjoyed the view.  Eventually as we neared Cleveland we merged on to I-90 which will take us all the way to Boston where it will be only 100 miles on I-95, or so, to our destination.

We stopped at Rest Areas twice on the day, but both were quite small, and not very good opportunities for walking, so we worked on stretching instead.  We covered just over 200 miles Tuesday, and arrived at the Elks Lodge in Ashtabula, OH around 3:30 pm.  The lodge is about 6 miles north of I-90 right on the shores of Lake Erie......seems more like an ocean, no?

 On the beach at Lake Erie

This is one of the more scenic Elks Lodges at which we have stayed.....we can the lake from the Salon of the Newell.....pretty sweet!  After plugging in the coach (they offer just 20 amp service here....no water, or sewer) we walked into the lodge to make a donation for the three days we will be staying here.  There is no daily charge, just a donation requested, so I wrote a check for $30.....$10/day for 3 days!

We sat at the bar sipping two draft brews and enjoying the view of Lake Erie.....$1.75 each.....it just gets better and better!   We walked down to the beach and took a few pictures, then went back to the coach to rest for a little before we walked back to the lake to take sunset pictures.......

.....we each took a drink (I lit up a cigar) down to the patio on the edge of the bluff which overlooks the lake and sat for about 40 minutes watching the sun set in the western sky over Lake Erie.....sunset here is 8:21 pm.

We are just a little over 700 miles from Southwest Harbor, ME now and will be slowing down our rate of travel to take in some special sites along the way.  We've got 14 days to cover this distance!

Before I close this day's missive I would like to hear from folks with RV's who have visited Boston, MA.......need input on where you parked your RV, and how you accessed Boston.  Plus need suggestions on what are 'must see' places there.  Thanks!

Thanks for stopping by!

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