Day 36, Saturday, September 24, the journey home

Once again, it rained on Friday night, but we are used to that routine. I think it rained at least some more than 50 percent of the time on this trip. What gives with all the rain this year? Rain or sun, though, it's all the same to me.

Because of a chore I had to do on Saturday morning, I got a later start than I wanted to get, 9:30, but I still hoped to reach my destination for the night, a KOA camp just off I-80 south of Cleveland, 520 miles distant. My plan was to do the 500+ miles on Saturday, more than I had done in one day on this trip, and pushing it for the poor dogs, and than I would have less than 350 to do on Sunday to get home, so I could arrive between 2:00 and 3:0 Even with a 9:30 departure, I still hoped to make it to the KOA by sundown, probably 7:00 that far south.

The only thing remarkable about the trip down on Saturday was the splendid display of fall for the first few hours, but then summer came roaring back in. There was not a speck of crimson, red, orange, yellow or brown in a single tree. But summer not only in the colors but in the heat, too. I dont think i have experienced a day over 70 degrees in four weeks. But today, the AC got turned on for the first time in weeks. I was ready to turn around and had 1000 miles north, from whence I had just come, and wait till fall invaded the Mason-Dixon line. But I could tolerate that. What I could not tolerate was the hallmarks of civilization displayed by the ugly props thrown up by humans once we hit Detroit and beyond. Boy, we really have screwed things up in places.

We pulled into the KOA at precisely 7:10, 10 minutes over my prediction, an achievement that even I am impressed with. Of course, as I roll along the highway, I can calculate my ETA and adjust my speed accordingly, so the achievement is really not that remarkable. The reason I chose the KOA was not because it was the only camp at the 500 mile point, or right off the interstate, but because they rent out these little bare bones cabins for the price of what I pay for my favorite hotel when I go to New York with the dogs, for two hours, that is. The last time I stayed in a KOA, the first time I ever rented one of their Thoreau-sized cabins, with with Leben and Erde. The date was 9/11/01. What struck me about the KOA when we pulled into it was the sharp contrast to what I had been experiencing the entire trip. Incongruous is the beet word. Instead of isolation, few people, and no kids, this was the weekend for their annual Halloween party. So, as I type these words and look out over the camp, there must be at least 100 kids running chaotically in as many directions dressed as witches, bears and wolves. In fact, there are more kids before my eyes now than I have ever seen gathered in DC since I lived there.

Enough for today.

Ed

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