Feb 25, 2008

Day 2--Romeo & Joliet, IL...

Well kids, the state count for yesterday is 5—started in Syracuse NY, went thru part of PA, ALL of Ohio and Indiana, and landed in greater Chicagoland; specifically, Joliet. Driving-wise, the day was pretty uneventful—beautiful sunshine, freezing cold temps, blah blah blah.

The sights were…something. The culture became visibly more “Midwest” as we moved midwest-ward. New York was pretty simple: pretty countryside, smart-a$$ tollbooth attendants (in a good way), etc. Going into PA there were brilliant marquees advertising (I kid you not) “…fireworks, knives, swords, pepperspray, stunguns…” Too bad I didn’t need any of those. Cleveland was cold, and big, and they had straightforward dens of debauchery called Adultmart. No question there, I guess. Indiana was pretty much the same as Ohio, except no Adultmarts visible from the Interstate.

On the nature side, I didn’t realize that Lake Erie can freeze over completely. But there it was—frozen and snowy, with birds congregating in large groups. Probably complaining about all the snow, like the rest of us. I have mixed feelings about that one—we got about 6” in the 24 hours before we left MA, which was a pain in the rear logistically, but was a bit of a scenic gift, as the trees were well-flocked and really, really pretty view as I was driving thru town on that last day. And it didn't prevent us from getting out of town, so I think in the end I was grateful for that last little bit of New England winter beauty.


Well, the Cat Daddy's all rarin' to go, so I best be off. Bit of a short day today due to the weather--our target for tonite is Lincoln NE. Yum, corn...

2 comments:

Jenn said...

wow, that is amazing that you can drive for a day and see five states. Time with family is always a good thing.

Here on the west coast it takes me all day to get through one state.

Okay, we have freeways here, not toll ways. So, how much does it cost and how often do you have to pay?? This sounds spendy.

Skerrib said...

It is! From NY to IL I probably spent $15-20 total. My husband, driving the big truck, spent more like $50-75--crazy. More reasons to love the West--MANY fewer tolls.