Day 4 - OK I'm in Oklahoma

 Getting to Clinton OK moves me out of much of the East Coast covid areas.  Its still here but at lower levels.  Folks here are more casual about mask wearing, much like Bandon was when we had 0 cases in Coos County for so long.  

Not too many exciting things to show in the blog today.  I got away about 7:30am leaving Mountain Home AR I quickly was on US 412 which for awhile was a 2 lane road but later widened.  

I've found that a good place to stop of a pit stop if you don't need gas and there isn't a rest area is a Walmart.  Everyone is required to wear a mask and the restrooms are always just inside the area where you enter the store.  In and out...easy peasy!

The driving day was US 412 for about half the time and Interstate the rest.  Spongy and I did make a stop in OK at a rest stop.  Susan had called and the rest stop was coming up so it was a convenient place to stop and chat!

I had my first experience with the interactive traffic feature of Google Maps.  Interstate 49 was just fine but I got a notice that there was a shorter route available.  It turned out that there was a back up on 49 that was holding people up for 20 or 30 minutes and google routed me around it through some back roads in the area.

I am headed for Albuquerque NM tomorrow, another mostly interstate day..ho hum... :)

https://goo.gl/maps/qPVj9eGrfCmPNBNa7

Day 3 - Motorvating

 As I mentioned, today was drive, drive, drive.  Fortunately it was not all interstate.  I had a nice mix of Parkway (like an interstate but the scenery is nicer), US highway and rural back roads.  The day started overcast and late.  I sacked in and did not get going until about 9:30am.  Here's that overcast sky and some of the Parkway.

Kentucky turned into Missouri and then Illinois.

Some of those country roads were fun to drive.

At one point Sponge Bob told me to go back, we missed something. It turned out to be some unusual cars and vans in front of a strip joint.  I don't remember exactly where this was but it was certainly different!

We did have some nice rest areas to stop at when on the Parkway.

...and here is your fearless tour guide...

Tomorrow's goal will be Clinton OK.

https://goo.gl/maps/KqFMAJxGKQweBGU59

Day 2 - early morning get away

Woke up very early around 5am so I was on the road before 6:30am.  It's quiet and pretty driving early on and for the first part of the drive there was lots of fog in low lying spots or where I crossed over rivers.  It wasn't really a problem for driving except one or two spots.  The rest of the time it was just scenic.

 

One of the rest stops had something that I have not seen in quite some time!

For a while I was on the same road I've traveled in my earlier trip in 2018, US 60 and American Pharoh Blvd.  This is horse country with some huge fenced in areas for horses and equally large estates. This route led to getting on the Bluegrass Parkway on the way to Elizabethtown KY.

Having left so early I arrived in Elizabethtown about 1pm and after getting checked in looked around for someplace to go.  Just a few miles away was Swopes Cars of Yesteryear Museum a vintage car museum.  It is the collection of Bill Swope a local fellow who started a car dealership. , Now there are several Swope dealerships surrounding the museum!

The fellow at the museum said there was actually only about half the collection in the museum at any given time!  Just after entering I saw this beautiful '57 Chevy.  My parents had a black and white '57 Chevy which I drove a couple of years while at Lafayette.  When I told the guy I used to drive one of those he looked at me a little funny....

Here's a small sample of the many cars that were there!

The hood ornaments on some of these cars are just incredible. 

Tomorrow is another day of mostly driving.  I hope to get to Mountain Home, AR.  Its a little over 7 hours of driving but most of the closer destinations are in higher Covid case rates.

https://goo.gl/maps/tXSARNxsXb7xsVMr6

Lift off

 After closing up the house, Spongy and I hit the road.  It was interstate highway all the way today.  I've seen a lot of Pennsylvania and just wanted to get moving.  I passed through Maryland and landed in West Virgina.  There was a really nice rest area in Maryland.

I did see a really interesting group of vans along the way...colorful!

Most of the time it looked something like this:

Tomorrow is another interstate travel day.  I'm trying to get out of Covidville as soon as possible.  Elizabethtown KY is the next stop.

https://goo.gl/maps/HMkMhn8oCx6h7eBh7

Packing up!

 Getting the Jeep packed up and the house ready for me to leave.  I have a nice new cooler that Steven gave me for Christmas that will make the trip back.  It is powered by both AC and 12v DC and will be keeping the Tastykakes nice and cool during the trip.  

I also have a new traveling companion.  We'll see how Sponge Bob does riding shotgun!  Stay tuned.

Westward

 The brief stay in Pennsylvania is about over and I will be heading back to Oregon on August 19th.  I think the first couple of days will be primarily driving for 5 or 6 hours to get out of the eastern half of the country.  Looking at the coronavirus map from he New York Times you can see the hot side of the country!  I am trying to pick my way across by staying in counties where the recent case counts are lower.  Its not perfect but I can stay away from the red zones!  

I'm not yet sure about the routing and as usual will probably decide the next day's route in the evening but the first day will be to Morgantown WV or possibly Clarksburg WV (unless I get an unusually late start).

https://goo.gl/maps/d7WPbiKqYAxf4CgV8

Post Trip Video

I found it was not feasible to make a video at the end of each day of my travels, there just wasn't enough time (or energy) to do so.

Here is one 13 minute video I've since made of my day in Arches National Park.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgudp-DzHwA