First a picture or two. Hey - they squinched up pretty nicely!!!! Where are we? And, NO, the interstate does not go to either the Atlantic Ocean or Italy.
We are in: (TaDa) Pennsylvania and Ohio! Yup, there are vineyards all over the place near Lake Erie (the water is Lake Erie. No comments...). Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes, which has given it a little of a complex I think. Like the South China Sea, which is also pretty shallow, when storms blow across Lake Erie, things get scary on land really quickly. When there is a bad snowstorm, for example, the waves can be blown so hard and high against the shore that they splash in ten feet or more. Add cold air and the picture is NOT pretty.
Onward we go, having decided to travel when the weather is relatively cooperative.
More pictures, and you may laugh, but rest stops can be found in some of the prettiest places on the Interstates. Of course, if you're driving through Texas (the roads were built by sadists with a holding capacity the size of Lake Superior, I swear) and parts of Oklahoma (where signs along the Will Rogers Turnpike trumpet "Free Restrooms: No Purchase Necessary" and we all travel back to the 1930s), the beauty may be lost on you.
One thing I DON'T understand about Texas (well, I don't understand a lot of things about a lot of things, but this is the Texas category): why do they have pretty nice picnic areas with no restrooms. Yup, have Johnny swallow that pint of Koolaid. Not to mention Susie and hers...The welcome area for Texas on I-40 i 151 miles inside the border. Beautiful as all get out. But 151 miles in. ExCUSE ME? And, honey, there are NOT a lot of towns in that 151 miles. (Town names some other time...).
Okay, some random rest stops: This is Texas Canyon. It's in Arizona. The trouble with taking a picture like this is that there's no way to actually see the various colors not to mention the rocks that are just sort of balancing on top of each other as if they're going to fall momentarily. They're not. At least not yet. And this is not the highest point of the canyon. But it sure is impressive. I'm adding another picture of Texas Canyon, taken at sunset. The picture isn't retouched (I've been there at sunset) and the difference is incredible.
Next are two Indianas and an Ohio (they're rebuilding some of them, so the surroundings aren't all that great yet. Find the older ones. They're pretty darn nice.
Then the Eastbound I40 welcome center in Texas, which is right across the street from the Westbound I-40 Welcome Center. Just remember not to feel unwelcome because the welcome center is 151 miles from the state line (while every other state that I've been through pretty much has a Welcome Center the minute you cross into the state. OH well...
The really good rest areas (and these and many others qualify as really good) have clean rest rooms, picnic areas out of the sun, trees under which people can, oh, I don't know, REST? And that's what they're there for. Many have lovely volunteers (they're lovely because they're there to answer questions, not because they won a beauty contest. On the road, brains over beauty or brawn, thank you. Although a mixture of brains and beauty or brains and brawn isn't all that bad...but I dither...
There is one other sign. You'll see it in various guises as you move farther west until in Texas (yep, right out of the back side of that marble and granite edifice up there), Arizona, and New Mexico (of the states I travel through) the sign is clear for everyone. In two languages.
The sign says POISONOUS SNAKES AND INSECTS INHABIT THIS AREA. It means it. Trust me. However, snakes and insects aren't going to jump out at you and bite, scratch or spit just for fun. Stay out of their way and no problema! That sign, by the way, is at a rest stop along interstate 10 in Arizona.
See, you have to remember that I like driving. I like visiting places, but I REALLY like driving, so Rest Stops (especially the ones with unsual bird species or the prettier flower gardens, or both, if I'm lucky) are part of my life. I relax, take a nap, do the usual, raid the vending machines and then head out. Solo driving requires more of that than team driving. Just depends on what you like, you know?
Tomorrow? Albuequerque because I like (surprise) the drive down the escarpment to the city! How cool is THAT?
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