Traveling East

Walmart Camping

We’re on our way East to visit friends and family in Vermont. We got as far east last night as Richmond, Indiana, and pulled into a 24 hour WalMart to rest for the night. With our terrific comfortable motor home, this is comfort camping, and we thought it would be fun to show how easy it is. We were the fourth camper setup in the lot last night, and the others were all much larger that we were.

Setting up was simple for us, we just have to raise the vent in the roof, and crank open the windows. We usually take a walk around the parking lot to work out the knots from sitting for too long, and a trip inside the WalMart for any needed supplies, then settle in to rest.

Last night Jim found a football game on the tv, and sprawled out on the bed, comfortably resting, remote in hand, while I stretched out across the two front seats to read my book to the light of the streetlight streaming in over my shoulder. It was a couple of hours to relax before bedtime, and a good antidote to the heavy people intensive day long meetings we’d attended.

We spent the day at the Indiana Green Party Annual Congress, where we elect new officers each year and plan our actions and strategies. It’s always a good time seeing old friends and we’re impressed, each year, with all the hard work that’s being done by these friends to help improve democracy in each community. To my surprise, I got elected to be the Indiana Green Party Co Coordinator for the next year. There’s another person to share the job, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else ready to step up, so I figured it was my turn. Hope I can handle the job well.

Sunday Afternoon:

Back on the road. This is the big mileage day, and there’s not much for me to do but play on the computer. Thank goodness for the laptop and two good betteries. We stopped just across the State line into New York at a beautiful Rest area on Chatauqua Lake. What a beautiful place-and full of history. A sign said that Chatauqua Lake is 500 feet above the level of Lake Erie, although it's only 6 miles away. The water from Chatauqua Lake drains into the Gulf of Mexico, while the water from Lake Erie drains into the Atlantic. Amazing, and there's a continental divide, right there.

We're traveling along highway 86, skirting the southern edge of Lake Erie and the hills rise around us, opening like generous arms. The color is increasing in the trees as we travel north and east, getting brighter all the time. Funny how it seems to start high on the hills and move down the valleys, unevenly, decorating the slops in beautiful color. Lots of tourists out now, this is sure the season.

So, I’m in the back of the motorhome, tapping this into the laptop as Jim keeps clicking off the miles on our way to Vermont. It’s a long day, looks like we’ll have in over 500 miles before we get to where we plan to spend the night at a motel in Bath, N.Y. --we've been camping for two nights now, and we need a bath to be presentable when we meet family tomorrow.

We’re doing better now, but just came through almost 40 miles of road construction, where cars were reduced to one lane each way and 45 mph maximum. Slow going that way, but it sure does let you see the countryside.

More tomorrow.