Day 2: It’s Giving Eastern Forest

The Mississippi River is my 50-yard line of the country, dividing the East from the West. When traveling from the East, until you cross it, you are still in the East. Almost nothing confirms this as much as trees. So far, most of this trip has been on I-70 through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and although the amount of farmland continues to increase, when you see the trees through the forest, they all look pretty much the same.

At least, from the interstate. When you get out into them, even if the woods look and feel like the Wissahickon back in Philly, the terrain changes. The light is different. Even the time zone changes.

Today we spent time in some fantastic Eastern forests.

The Morning

Waking up at the cabin was nice… if a little jarring. The wave of anxiety that hits each morning on a road trip — where am I, did I oversleep, where are we going today, what do I need to do right now — is real! But it was made right by having some coffee with Angie on the screened in porch. Everyone slept well, ate well, and packed up well. We rearranged a few things (now we have a rear window again!) and hit the road by 9:16 a.m.

We drove for about an hour and a half and then pulled into a new place that Angie found for us to explore: Glen Helen Nature Preserve | Yellow Springs. This place was incredible. I highly recommend stopping for a stunning little “stretch your legs and your mind” walk. It is privately owned, so they ask for a $10 donation per car when you pull in, which is a bargain for what you find.

The main trail looped around past a beautiful little waterfall over a cave called The Grotto, then to the legendary Yellow Springs, and then past a really cool swampy marsh that we think we made by a beaver dam and you traverse via a little boardwalk above the dark water. The terrain was manageable in sneakers for the young and strong, but hiking boots would be appropriate in some spots. The shade was lush and we caught a day with little humidity.

At the parking lot there is a large, airconditioned welcome center with nice, clean bathrooms. It was a great first stop.

The Day

We left Ohio and entered our nemesis state: Indiana. We never have good luck or good roads in Indiana, and occassionally have awful experiences (like the blood filled bathroom of 2019 discovered, unfortunately, by our then 11 year old. But we wanted to give it a fair shake, and we planned to visit the Indiana War Memorial Museum and hit the kids favorite midwest fast-food joint for lunch, Culver’s.

Except we found out (before we drove to Indianapolis) that the museum was closed. Just on Tuesdays.

Because: Indiana.

So we found a Culver’s not in the middle of a major city, skirted Indianapolis, and switched drivers at a gas station. As we drove past the city you could see Lucas Oil Field, home of the Indianapolis Colts; I woke up boyo from a dead sleep because I thought he’d like to see it, and he opened his eyes, saw the stadium, said “Combine. That’s where the NFL has the combine.” and immediately fell back asleep.

Once through Indiana and into Illinois, we drove to another cool new place Angie planned for us: the Vermillion River Trestle Bridge. This was a really neat stop, and another great leg-stretch. Walking out onto the bridge was really fun, and the views were spectacular. Suddenly, a large number of dark clouds started rolling in, and having had experience with sudden Illinois lightning storms last year, and realizing standing out in the open on an iron bridge with our heads being the highest point around was no good, we hustled back to the car.

The Evening

We got to our hotel early (for us) around 6:00 p.m. We had planned to spend a few hours at the Indiana museum, and when that fell through, we didn’t replace it with anything; we figured best to cut our losses in Indiana and head for the border.

The hotel — the Comfort Suites Normal University Area — will be our only hotel on this trip out to Montana. Finding reasonable lodging is always a struggle in Illinois, and camping here is suspect as often in July we find massive humidity and massive thunderstorms. This hotel is a gem — 10/10 recommend. Very clean, spacious room with two queen beds and a pull-out sofa bed, a nice pool (small, chilly, but clean), and a great free breakfast. The shower is hot and strong, and the beds are new and firm. We got a great AAA rate for under $100 and anytime we can get a decent room for under 3-digits it’s a win. This place, even though some walls were banged up and a little dingy, was a home-run. Would stay again.

We ate the rest of the cold cuts we brought from Philly for dinner, and the kids went to the pool while I took advantage of the wifi and room desk to catch up on some work for a few hours… and to write this.

Tomorrow looks to be a fun day — we plan to stop at the boys favorite restaurante we discoved last year: the Machine Shed.

Also, we hope to stop at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in Iowa. This is a place we have visited three times before, and we always love it. The National Park Service faithfully restored and rebuilt the small village Herbert Hoover was born in, including his home, his schoolhouse, and the blacksmith shed where his father work (and a young Hoover once burned down). We love to walk around there; it just feels good. Besides, maybe harnessing a little energy from a leader who espoused a philosophy of “To Look Forward With Unbounded Hope” is exactly what we need right now.

And I really need to hit that REI (now going for the Des Moines, IA location).

These first few days are not as exciting as what is to come;but they are special in their own way. Anticipation mounts. The terrain starts to change. We look forward to crossing the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers to get to the good stuff.

We all getting closer every mile!