Summer Adventure 2013: Day 38

Day 38- July 14 to Sandusky, Ohio

Even the best laid plans don’t always come to fruition. Ed got up and made potatoes and pancakes and then we slowly got ourselves ready and the pop-up prepared to get on the road. And, here lies the problem. One pole (there are 4- one in each corner) does not lower completely. We spent more than an hour trying to raise, lower, straighten, etc. it with no luck. Another fellow camper who has had a similar camper tried coming to our rescue, but it was stuck. I went to the KOA office to see if there was any assistance available. They had a business card for Sergeant Mike who caters to campers with RV difficulties. I called and left a message, and we waited. He called back a while later and said it would be at least 45 minutes before he would be finished with another client and could get to us, and there was no guarantee that he would have the right parts needed. We decided that we would just collapse the other 3 poles and tie down the 4^th corner that was raised up about ½ a foot. A man in the RV parked beside us who was having his own issues with his truck, gave us a tie-down strap that we could use. We hoped that nothing would blow out since the canvas sides were just tucked inside. Fingers crossed and blood pressure raised for quite some time.

We kept our eyes on the rear view window; thankfully everything seemed to hold together. But, the traffic getting through Chicago was a nightmare. And, Ed’s mood got gloomier with every inch we went. It didn't help that every once in a while the camper door decided to pop open, flapping back and forth in the wind. During those moments I felt like I was in National Lampoon's Vacation, but I wasn't laughing. What else could possibly go wrong? Ed was more than ready to just head directly south, a beeline towards home. All I had to do was say the word. The kids were upset as well, since they knew that one of their favorite parts of this trip was still yet to come- Cedar Point, and they didn’t want to cancel. As we drove further east, it was decided that we stop sooner than planned so that we could find an RV repair shop closer. We used our Hotspot to access the internet and found that Toledo had both a shop and a hotel within a mile from each other. I called and made reservations and then called Cedar Point to change our reservations for one day later. They only had one camp site available for that following day which means we would have to switch to the second site by noon on the second day. Not sure how we would do this since we were going to be in the amusement park then, but we decided we'd figure it out after we got there.

We hadn’t stopped for lunch in an effort to get to Toledo earlier. This was becoming the norm. Glad that no riots ever broke out because of it. :) I made almond butter and jelly sandwiches for most of us (Ian's not a fan), which along with some snacks was enough to tide us over for quite some time. In the evening we started hunting for a place to stop and eat something more substantial. As we paid for one toll after another (more than $30 total through Illinois, Indiana, and into Ohio) we continued looking. Nothing but farm land for miles upon miles. The one and only place that we saw off the road that we originally scoffed at we finally conceded that there may not be another place to go (a Travel Center right off the toll road that housed a Burger King and Sbarros). We pulled into the lot only to discover that they asked for a parking fee for RVs and a hefty fine if one didn’t pay. Really? Do they not want our business? So, we swung back around without stopping and continued on. We never found one restaurant the rest of the way to Toledo. We paid our final toll as we exited the freeway, located and checked into the Fairfield Inn, unhooked our camper, and headed straight to a restaurant that the hotel clerk recommended a mile away – Cinco de Mayo. We had a good meal we were very hungry at this point. We chose to sit outside since the temperature was pretty comfortable. The only issue was that toward the end of the meal the bugs started coming out for their own dinner. We finished up quickly and went back to the hotel. We had to book two rooms since they didn't have any rooms that would accommodate all 5 of us. We ended being across the hall and a few doors down from each other. We decided to take advantage of the pool and jacuzzi. We were in luck that it stayed open until 11:00.

Passing by Chicago. A few other travelers that passed us by pointed at our camper to let us know that it wasn't completely collapsed. Did they really think we didn't know?