29. Apr, 2016

29. Apr, 2016

29. Apr, 2016

WEDNESDAY 17-09-08 

We had a very peaceful nights sleep with me again having removed the battery from the alarm clock to avoid the sound of the tick which becomes very noticeable amidst total silence. We also enjoyed total darkness as there was no light pollution either. 

This morning we left John Bryan State Park. We wouldn’t have stayed longer even if we’d wanted to, as the chainsaws arrived right near our pitch just as we were leaving. We didn’t stop to see if there was anybody to take our money as we felt they had offered us nothing anyway, we get better facilities, but not the peace, in a Wal-Mart car park, but it was an enjoyable experience in its own way, and again encouraged us to be self reliant when things don’t go according to plan. 

Our route took us to Cleveland via Columbus, Ohio, or rather the outskirts of it. After Columbus we left the I71 at junction 204 and travelled instead along Hwy83 North which was very rewarding. Not only did we manage to find a water tap (you wouldn’t believe it could be so difficult) and take on about 30 gallons, but enjoyed a leisurely pace along the road enjoying the views and small communities of clap-board homes. This road was taking us in a straight line to a ‘T’ junction with Hwy 6 which runs along the shore of Lake Erie where we planned to take a right turn and use a Rest Area further down the road for the night.

When we were getting close to the ‘T’ junction we entered a small town by the name of Avon. They had a ’Best Buy’ store located beside a Wal-Mart. I decided to pop in and buy a replacement compact camera for The Chef to use as the last one gave up on us a few days ago resulting in her having to carry the heavier and bulkier SLR around. The defunct compact camera was less than a year old and so I will attempt to get my money back on it when we return to the UK. I bought a nice little Canon 10.0 MP for about $200.

With that done we popped next door to discover the worst Wal-Mart we’d ever been in. It was odd, they sold hardly any food at all and we struggled to buy even some of the basic commodities. Staff were filling empty shelves and The Chef concluded it must have been a new store which had just opened. So we moved on towards our Rest Area aware that we would have to find a better store tomorrow. 

We reached US6 and got our first view of Lake Erie, a big piece of water ahead, and hung a right. A few miles down the road we came across our Rest Area, but it wasn’t a traditional Rest Area at all, more a picnic area which was very misleading information from the road atlas publishers, and so we were forced to continue on to a Wal-Mart in Cleveland for the night. Nearing Cleveland the journey became a nightmare. It was rather like driving in London, and in addition there were road works and impatient drivers. We eventually arrived at the Wal-Mart store with me vowing not to repeat the journey back down to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the morning. We popped in to the store to complete our shopping only to find that this store was as bad as the last one. We came out almost empty handed. 

LOCATION TONIGHT: Wal-Mart, 3606 Mayfield Rd, Cleveland Heights, Cleveland, OH 44118. (Now @ 1868 Warrensville Centre Rd, South Euclid GPS: N41.508015 W81.538679)

29. Apr, 2016

29. Apr, 2016