Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Holy Toledo!

Yeah, I know.  It's an old joke.  But here we are in the parking lot of America's RV Park in Holland, Ohio, just a few miles from Toledo. Two hundred and one miles southeast of Grand Rapids, Michigan, our stop yesterday. The weather has warmed 10 degrees from yesterday, and we're considering getting the short pants out again!

We left the rv park at about 11 this morning due to the fact that it was so cold and damp outside that we didn't want to get started.  Add a fuel stop at Meijers, a chat with a local gentleman, and there you are: eleven o'clock!

The trip was reasonably uneventful, since the roads are in good shape compared to our California roads. One thing we have noticed is that trucks are allowed to carry larger loads outside of Cali, and pull more trailers.  In spite of that, and even with a lot of traffic, the roads don't seem to take a beating like we've always heard.  I think CA needs to get with the program!

This truck passed by, and while it didn't have the maximum number of axles and tires that we've seen on some, it had a lot!


Eight axles means thirty two tires which equals a whole lot of money!

Our route took us east out of Grand Rapids to Lansing, where we visited the Capitol yesterday.  Then southeast through Brighton to Ann Arbor, past Ypsilanti and Temperance into Ohio. The traffic increased tremendously as we got close to Detroit and continued on to Toledo.  We're in the thick of Blue Collar country, here! Lots of trucks, for sure.

Our premium site at Walmart (yeah, I spent the extra money) is near a light pole and near another motorhome.



The Phaeton parked next door is owned by a local couple that are on their way to Florida. They expect to make it to Mississippi tomorrow, some 700 miles.  Wow, that's a lot! We hope to drive about a third of that! 

A P.S. to yesterdays post:  After our visit to the Michigan State Capitol, we went looking for a post office.  We had been hoarding some correspondence that finally percolated to the top of the to do list, and we thought that Lansing would be a great place to it.  Across the street from the Capitol we found the Federal Building and Post Office.  There was no parking, and no public entrance, so we deduced that it was there to support state government activities. A GPS search yielded a list of post offices, so we picked the closest one and took off.  Here's where it gets interesting: The post office that we were taken to is the only drive up post office in the country.  About the size of a drive through coffee kiosk, there was only one person staffing it. When I asked if they accepted packages, the answer was "yes, if it will fit through the window." Asked if padded envelopes were available, the answer was "no." I wish I'd had the presence of mind to take a photo, but I was so dumbfounded that I didn't quite know what to do! The next post office on the GPS list was a "real" post office and we were able to complete our business. Google "drive up post office Lansing" and you'll get a pic!

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