finished first leg

"Where we must go..."

5:55 AM EDT. Ian and I hit the road. We were ultimately bound for Glendo, Wyoming to view the solar eclipse, close to the centreline. "Thunder up! Here we go!"

I was tired. Not very chatty. Needed more coffee.

8:07 AM. We made a quick stop at Ingersol OnRoute for fuel and a biobreak.

We took the highway 402 to Sarnia. Passing the exit for Petrolia reminded me of my very early childhood. It was ironic passing near Wyoming, Ontario. I pointed out the Chris Hadfield airport to Ian.

10:56. We were through the border into Michigan. The young man in the booth was friendly and knew about the eclipse.

11:09. We made a quick stop at the rest area along Interstate 69 near Capac, Michigan. No wi-fi, unfortunately. Ian surrendered the driver's seat.

I got to drive the war rig, shiny and chrome. While I had towed before, mostly open car trailers, I was a rookie with a recreational trailer.

Photo shot with iPhone. Copyright © 2007 Ian Wheelband.

11:45. Near Cook Park in Flint, Ian shot me driving. I was dialling into the lag in the truck, the mass of the trailer, the strange aerodynamic effects of the Jay Feather.

1:34. From a Meijer store in Dewitt, just north of the interstate, we bought some food and beverage. Then in the parking lot we enjoyed a real lunch. It was rather nice. New for me, having a kitchen and a fridge and a table, immediately accessible.

I found Space Rock beer from Shorts Brewing Company, made in Michigan.

I drove next segment. Ian was quite correct: the RV trailer was well-behaved.

3:53 PM. Fuelled near exit 29 before I-94 west.

Time zones! I hadn't thought that through fully. I knew that during the eclipse I'd be shifted compared to friends and family in Ontario. But I hadn't thought about how the time would change for Ian and I during the road trip.

I also found it strange that Ian's Garmin and my Streets and Trips software didn't show the lines.

It was around Michigan City, a bit east of Chicago, when the time zone changed. Minus one. We subtracted one hour for the central time zone.

We were extending our days as we drove west. Lengthening the day. Making 25 hour days. Slowing down the Sun.

There were a lot of impatient stoopid drivers near the Windy City. And a few crazy smegs who eat schlanger.

We passed damn close to the Joliet prison... It would have been fun to drive 'round the place and stage some pix. Alas, we were on a mission.

6:42 PM CDT. Bye bye, Chicago. The road was slow, frickin' slow, with lots of traffic.

7:42 PM. I photographed the crepuscular rays ahead.

8:29. We arrived the KOA LaSalle/Peru campground. Free wi-fi was included, yeh! They had very nice bathrooms, clean and modern. Impressive.

Ian showed me the wheel block and ramp storage location, the socket wrench for the lifts, how to set the scissor lifts at each corner of the trailer. He then showed me how to set up the external propane barbecue. Other particulars outside and inside.

I enjoyed a good steak on the external BBQ! We ate al fresco at our picnic table listening to the loud cicadas (or whatever they were).

My smartphone time was not updating correctly. I switched it to use GPS time.

Pulled out the futon-style coach. I've actually slept in this space before in the trailer.

11:30. Crawled into bed. It was very humid. The crickets were really going. I was happy and relieved. What a lovely day.