A Rolling, Constant Earthquake
Today we transitioned from Ohio to Indiana. From a road travel perspective… wow, what a difference. When you drive the Eisenhower Interstate system throughout America, you are sure to recognize which states are spending their state tax dollars and federal gas tax dollars on improving their system. Some states appear to be far ahead of others in interstate infrastructure improvements. Last year we noticed Wisconsin’s I-90/I-94 system from Milwaukee in the east to Hudson in the west, is one of the best we have traveled. Perfect pavement and wonderful rest stops.
The last 36 hours saw us traverse Ohio from Youngstown, to Columbus, to Dayton. Then on to Indiana on I-70 east to west, to Indianapolis and Terre Haute. The difference in interstate infrastructure was remarkable. Ohio had an excellent interstate from I-80 through Youngstown, to I-76 & I-71 down to Columbus. The only issues we had were in Akron where the system is under major construction. The corridor on I-71 west of Akron to Columbus was some of the best we traveled. A super easy drive with near perfect pavement and three lanes in each direction. You may not think that’s a big deal, but driving our rig fully loaded can present a challenge on less than perfect roads. We spent the night just west of Columbus. This morning the drive east on I-70 to the Indianapolis border was just over an hour… perfect again. We hit the Ohio/Indiana border and it all went to hell.
The difference was striking. I-70 in Indiana might as well have been a dirt road. Someone in our Renegade Facebook group once said that driving this rig down the road was like a “constant earthquake”. That couldn’t have been more true this morning. The stuff we heard rattling around in the back was a little concerning. Then just east of Indianapolis they closed the left lane and shoulder of the two lanes traveling west. We ended up in what was considered the right lane, rolling across the rumble strips that were once the right shoulder of the road. Literally tooth rattling, not to mention the narrow nature of the two lanes with trucks and cars traveling well above a safe speed.
We finally hit the eastern outskirts of Indianapolis and its beltway, I-465. Our GPS sent us south under the city and back up to I-70 west of the city near the airport. It was no better. Thankfully, we weren’t in the eastbound lanes that were backed up for some reason for at least 10 miles.
When we finally made it to the other side of Indy, we decided to stop at a rest stop just five miles west of the beltway. Bad choice. When you travel these interstate highways you not only learn which states properly manage their infrastructure, you also learn who has the best rest stops (Wisconsin is again at the top of that list). This one we stopped at was brutal. We needed multiple sanitary wet wipes when we got back to the rig.
At the end of the drive Indiana finally redeemed itself at the Terre Haute Campground. This is a privately owned RV park and the owners obviously know what they are doing. Their facility is really nice. It was hot as Hades when we arrived so we took a dip in the pool which was basically empty as it was a Monday. They have a great little general store, a game/social room and well equipped full-hookup, level sites. We actually had time to do laundry in their very nice facility. Ultimately it was too hot (90 at 9:00pm) to sit outside and watch game 5 of the NBA Championship. Besides, Xfinity wanted us to be on our “home WiFi” to stream the game. Bummer… but wait. The Winegard has an OTA antenna. We programed the channels and picked up the local Terre Haute ABC affiliate. Boom! Go Warriors!
