We've departed Maine, on September 28th. We spent a weekend in Ipswich, playing the grandparents. Due to a scarcity of dump stations in Maine, we carried a full black water tank to Ipswich, arriving at the sewage treatment plant at 4:30, only to find out that they closed at 3:00. We got it emptied on Monday, as we hit the road west on the Massachusetts Turnpike. I tried to stop for fuel there, but they had remodeled the Turnpike service area. In the past, non-commercial diesel had to be purchased at the auto island. No more. But I had entered the auto area, and couldn't get back to the truck area, so we went without it.We spent 2 nights in Wilbraham, Massachusetts, visiting my aunt Flo. While there, our VW toad got it's 80,000 mile checkup in Northampton. We played several card games with Flo, always a pleasure. And shared a little romantic intrigue with her grandson, who's on the verge of a divorce, and looking forward.
From there we traveled west to Elkhart, Indiana, with overnight stops at Walmart in Seneca Falls, NY, and a Flying J near Ashtabula, Ohio. We spent the weekend in Elkhart cruising some of the surplus RV stores, and staying out of the unseasonable 90+ degree heat that had been cooking a region ready for some mild fall days. On Monday, we travelled to the Elkhart Red Cross office and found it nearly deserted, even though we had volunteered to work the day. We go directions to a Lowe's and picked up a few things, and while there, the Red Cross called to say that the person that had work ready for us arrived and wanted us to come back. So we spent about 5 hours cleaning up from a volunteer event, shredding old documents, and installing a printer that had been donated. And, we got our records up to date, and new ID cards.
Fuel Prices
Here's a picture from April, 2005:
And one from October, 2007, at the exact same fuel pump in Beloit, WI:
As you can see, diesel prices are up nearly $1.00 per gallon, an increase of almost 50% in 2-1/2 years. Who says the cost of living only increases at 4%?
From Elkhart, we moved on to Rochester, MN, with an overnight stop at a Flying J in Beloit, WI, right on the Wisconsin-Illinois border. Unfortunately, it seems that we stepped out of summer directly into winter, as we've gone from 90's to 50's, with overnight lows near freezing. Brrrrrrr.
In Rochester, our old home town, we have fun with our old friends. Mahlon plays golf with his old golf buddies 3 days in a row, Consuelo does some fabric shopping and gets together with some friends to do some beading on a bracelet. This as we prepare for our checkups at the Mayo Clinic.
