The "Could Have Been" Tour....

Sturbridge, ME   High: 72   Low:

It's a really rainy day today...We THOUGHT about going to Old Sturbridge Village, one of the oldest living historical village museums in the country, but at 24.00 a person, it just wasn't feasible in our budget today. We'll have to save it for another time. We've got repairs coming up on the rig--a balky furnace, hopefully under warranty, a battery bay with a broken weld on the tray, which isn't under warranty, a huge diesel fuel bill yet to come as we work our way back to the midwest and you never know what else might pop up in the budget that you weren't expecting. Yesterday we put in 330.00 worth of fuel (@4.11 a gallon) to get from Maine to Massachusetts. We were expecting that...we hadn't bought any fuel since early July! This is an example of how to afford traveling full time when fuel prices are high--STAY PUT IN ONE PLACE for a long time THAT YOU LIKE! :-)

Today we are going to take it easy...Sparky is working on her photography stuff...a few online classes with Big Picture classes, a great website for scrapbookers and creative wannabe artists. There are free photography classes, some inexpensive ones, and some pricier ones to suit all budgets. It's a lot of fun and a great way to spend a rainy day. Thank goodness the internet mi-fi card works great in this wooded campground in Sturbridge, MA.

Eldy is researching routes back to Ohio....do we take I-90 or I-80? Tolls are on 90, but mileage is less. Not a bad quandry to be in, guess we'll just decide at the last minute in the morning which way we'll take!

We went to Marlborough this evening to have dinner with my middle brother, Rich, and his wife Lisa. We ate at an Italian restaurant called Allora Ristorante. It was wonderful! Do you think I could have remembered my camera or whipped out my cell phone to take a photo? NOPE! I was too excited to see him and Lisa and excited about having dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant that I forgot! Eldy and I shared a dish called "Penne a la Vodka." Peas, penne pasta, vodka sauce, mushrooms and shrimp...delish! AND I had creme brulee for dessert, my favorite! It felt like my birthday!

We left Sturbridge this morning nice and early...We traveled a bunch of I-80 roads--I-80, I-81, I-84....rain dogged us much of the way, but then it cleared up as we came into Connecticut. We crossed the Hudson River and the big bridge, the Hamilton Fish Bridge into New York and continued on to Pennsylania. What a beautiful state! We definitely want to come back and spend a lot of time there. Can you believe the leaves are changing color already? Pennsylania would be another state to see the fall colors, it's so gorgeous with all the mountains and hills.

Sparky doesn't mind the long drives. It's interesting to see the different parts of the states and places that look like they might be interesting stops, like this one...

At a rest stop in Pennsylvania, we saw something really interesting. There's an ELK SCENIC drive off I-80! A herd of about 600 are in an area of about 127 miles. You can take the drive and find around twenty or more observation points and beautiful scenic areas to observe elk. Sparky got all excited, (Uh, remember the moose hunting expedition, dear? reminds E.) but we didn't have time to stay and check this out this time through. Sparky bookmarked it on the map in the atlas for next time. The route is highway 144 north off interstate 80 to 120 to 555, to 556, and a few more state roads to loop back to the interstate. LOTS of viewing points...We'll definitely be back to check this out! Even if we don't see elk, the photo opps are supposed to be wonderful! This is just one little section of the map.

After a long drive of 425 miles, and suppertime approaching, we decided to Wally World it in Clearfield, PA. I asked Eldy why we went so many miles yesterday, and he said, why not? So there you have it...Eldo LOVES to drive! We stopped in Clearfield, PA after a slight snafu of driving past the Walmart entrance, which was on a steep hill up above overlooking the valley. We missed it! A turnaround was in order, no easy thing when you are towing the car and it's a two lane highway. But we did it. When we pulled into the lot, we noticed a lot of paving equipment. Uh-oh! This might not be a good place to overnight. The decision was confirmed by a supervisor who stopped by us and said they would be paving the entire parking lot all night! We headed about twenty miles further down the road, to Dubois, PA to another Walmart. That worked! Time to grab something to eat, and hit the sack. Eldy says we're going to do another long drive tomorrow...at this rate, we'll be in Michigan tomorrow! See you there......