Our last morning on the road and we were heading out of the hotel parking lot at 8am behind one of the many Model Ts. We followed the antique car down to the gas station about 200 yards where we topped off our tanks and made our way back to I-70 east.
There was rain just on the southern edge of I-70 moving slowly east and north. We stayed dry for the first 90 miles but then the roads became very wet and the rain had made its way across the interstate so we stopped to put on our rain gear and get some fuel.
It was another 1.5 hours to lunch and the rain was off and on with the roads varying from being very wet to very dry and back again. By the time we reached lunch in Morgantown at Tropics, the rain had stopped and the sun was out and the temps were climbing into the mid 70s.
Lunch was very good. The restaurant has Hawaiian influenced dishes. Michele and Rob had a very tasty chicken sandwich with teriyaki and pineapple.
After lunch we rode another hour before stopping for fuel. We met a nice couple that asked if we were “hitched” (the license for our trailer). They had recently returned from a trip to Yellowstone. She said that she was worried the super volcano would erupt while they were there. LOL
The remaining 90 miles to home were uneventful save for the increased traffic and and additional “car show”. We saw several classic cars caravanning along I-68.
We arrived home at 3:45pm. Our trip was over but what a great time we had and so many memories. We visited 11 National Parks or Monuments, 18 states, 3 provinces, gazed at countless stars, and covered 8500 miles over 24 days capturing all of it with about 4000 pictures.
We were on the road at 8am. The morning temp was 63F and the skies were clear. Today we made our way south east along I-74 until we connected with I-70.
At our first stop we took a closer look at the weather. Rob had been monitoring rain that had been over Indianapolis since the early morning. We were still about an hour away from Indianapolis so we continued on to our lunch spot about 30 minutes further along I-70.
We ate at McAlisters in Brownsburg just west of Indianapolis and the rain was now moving slowly in a northeast direction. Rob estimated that we were about 1.5 hours from the leading edge of the rain. The weather south was clearer and Rob contemplated diverting to Cincinnati along I-74 and then I-75 to miss the rain. As we rounded the southern side of Indianapolis, Rob took another look at the radar and the rain was now moving a bit quicker and clearing along our original path so we decided to stay on I-70.
That turned out to be a good decision as we saw some slightly damp roads but never any rain.
We did experience the horrendous IL and IN roads. The seams in the road are so raised that we would occasionally get air when we hit them.
The OH police were also out in force today. Michele was commenting on how we had seen more police patrolling the roads in Ohio than all the police put together from our past 7500 miles. Just as she was talking about that, a sport bike came roaring past us at about 100mph. Just as we crested the hill, Rob saw a patrol car in the median and sure enough, he pulled out and took after the motocyclist. Not only did the motorcycle get caught but on the other side of the road there was another vehicle that had been pulled over and was getting a performance award.
We made it to the hotel at 5:30pm and were met with a surprise. The Model T Jamboree was staying at the hotel and there were 15 or so Model Ts of all varieties in the parking lot! We walked around and looked at them. Some were in beautiful condition while others were very rustic. All were really neat to look at. Some of the cats were from as far away a Arizona. We suspect most of them had been trailered to the event.
After washing up, we headed to Pappy’s for dinner. Michele had connected with her friend, Mechele, and she was going to join us for dinner.
Michele and Mechele caught up during dinner and then back at the hotel for a bit. It was good to see Mechele again. Next time we are in the area, we will plan on stopping much closer to her so she does not have to drive so far.
Tomorrow is our last day on the road.
We said our goodbyes to Michele’s mom and departed St. Paul at 8am. We immediately got on I-35 south. We rode for about 2 hours before taking our first break and to take on fuel. Today’s scenery was all corn and soybean.
The winds were very still for most of the day. We saw a few windmills and they were completely stationary.
Our next stop was in Waterloo, IA at the Wishbone for lunch. Rob noticed when we pulled into the parking lot that the right low beam light was out. He quickly replaced the headlight before lunch.
After lunch we rode for about another hour before stopping for a bio break and fuel. We were only 177 miles away from our day’s destination.
Traffic was pretty heavy as we approached Cedar Rapids. We connected with I-80 and headed east into Peoria. We made the last 177 miles non-stop and arrived at 4:40pm.
We headed out for dinner for real Texas BBQ at the Hickory River Smokehouse. It was a short walk from the hotel. We noticed on the walk over that there were a bunch of classic cars gathered in the nearby Home Depot parking lot.
After a yummy dinner, we walked over to have a closer look at some of these cars. There were two 57 Chevy Belaires (one sedan and one wagon). Both were in really great condition. The was also a xx chevy pickup. It was in electric blue and was very stunning. The owner had taken 5 years to restore it. He upgraded the suspension, and drive train to modern era specs (he used a 2005 LS-1 motor).
We walked over to Culverts for some desert and watched one of the prettier sunsets we have seen on this trip.
Tomorrow we head for Ohio.
We left this morning at 7am and continued east on I-94. Today would be a short day, only 245 miles. We stopped for fuel and a leg stretch after about 2 hours. Traffic began to pick up as we approached the St. Paul area. We were lucky again today with the wind. It was blowing about 20mph steadily from the west which was perfect as we traveled east.
We arrived at the house on Summit Ave at about 11am. Michele’s mom drove us all over to Grand View Grill for lunch. Jerry and Rob went over to the Cathedral of St. Paul and then on a tour of the James Hill mansion while Michele and her mom went to a yarn store.
After the tour we all went over to Cossetta’s for dinner. We stopped at the scenic over look of the Ford Power Plant Dam on the way back to the house.
Tomorrow we make for Peoria.
