2 hours to Toledo, we'll get close enough to Chicago tonight to pass it tomorrow and head straight for Wisconsin. Fine. Now it's dark, and it's late and it starts to rain. Something tells us to get off the Interstate. We pull into a gas stop, by some unused pumps, with cover overhead. Then it starts to rain, like Noah and the big boat rain. 2 miles south of Broadview Heights, Ohio (thanks Dave's GPS) it's 8pm. I think my last words to Dave were, "this was too easy". We were eatin up states, yum yum yum. I turned on the NOAA side of my CB radio and heard...."Flash floods in Cuyoga county..." look at map. Yep, that's where we were. Cuyoga county. "Tornado watch, Delaware and Ashland counties..." Excuse me? Tornado watch? Nononononono. No wonder everything was in black and white. Look at map, where are Delaware and Ashland counties? Southwest of us. "Winds headed in Northeast direction..." Uh huh. Right. So if we stay here or head to Cleveland we could have a tornado tailgating us. I don' think so Lucy. We waited out the rain. I opened up my computer for the first and only time that I would ever open it on the trip. It was the only time I had 5 minutes to sit still. I so love this image. Click on it to see the full size version. DaveT has captured the moment perfectly. Note that Dave has put over 50,000 miles on his 2.3 in less than a year. Wrote a few words, the rain stopped and we went west again. Eightyeightyeightyeightyeighty. Let's take 80. What do you think? Yes, let's take 80. As we neared Toledo I called 800 numbers for our favorite hotel chains, found a nice Quality Inn that was on Interstate 80. Exit 59. What do you suppose we found across the street from the hotel? A 24 hour BBQ joint named Johnny's. "It Jest Don't Git No Better!" True enough. Hey Earl, whaddaya think? Day One, 586 miles, New York City to Toledo Ohio. It's about midnight by the time we hit the beds. We are the Toledo Rain HenZ

10 Day One- 1/4 Lap of America Part 1 Day 1, NY to Ohio~~ Part 2 Exit 29~~ Part 3 Road Find, PA~~ Part 4 Accident Scene~~ Part 5 Amish~~ Part 6 It Leaks! ~~ Part 7 Ohio~~ Part 8 Youngstown, OH~~ Part 9 Cleveland, OH~~ Part 10 Toledo Rain HenZ~~

1/4 Lap of America Frank Lloyd Wright Gumball Page May 21-30, 2001 Esmerelda's Home Page