Awake: 5:02 am Temp 31 Overcast sky Elevation 902 ft
Overnight @ Greenfield, Indiana.
This campground had a dusting of snow last night…even so, it was no
problem leaving the Heartland Resort @ 8:00am. The morning sky has that
look about it that says: “snow can happen at any time!” Through the state
of Indiana, visibility remained good…but through Ohio, we encountered snow
squalls off & on, some heavy @ times. With reduced visibility, all traffic
slowed by at least 10mph. As long as the roads stayed wet, we kept the
pace with space.
Maybe it’s the Christmas rush….I have never experienced so many trucks
lined up in both lanes as I have today….the passing lane was our place for
hrs…smoother too.
Our contact person, Melissa, continued keeping track of the snow
conditions & our progress eastbound. About 2 hrs from our destination,
Kathy gave Shirley a call in Nicktown for a head’s up on our arrival time.
Shirley commented that the sun was shinning & the snow melting.
We arrived in Nicktown @ 4:00pm….to a lot of snow around town but the
streets were plowed & some streets had cinders. Turning onto St. Paul
Street which was not plowed, there was extra snow depth at the entrance
due to the plowing of St. Joseph Street which added to the snow
accumulation…..we pulled in & immediately were stuck, unable to move
forward or reverse. We detached the Suzuki, it was also stuck even with 4
wheel drive, Kathy walked over to Shirley’s place & borrowed a snow shovel
& we dug the Suzuki out.
I tried rocking the bus with posi-traction……forward & reverse but my dual
tires just continued digging down into the grass, then the mud. We were
bottomed out with the snow & really stuck.
Down the street comes my ole classmate Barry. He’s the town’s action man,
wears a lot of different hats & has a knack for solving problems. After
looking the situation over, he comments that this is a really big rig &
it’s going to take some heavy equipment to pull it out. He tells me: “The
only one nearby to have that kind of equipment is Ralph down the road ½
mile.” Barry drives off to talk with Ralph. In less than 15 min, he
returns with Aaron, Ralph’s son, following him in a loaded 35,000 lb
manure truck. Using Barry’s heavy duty chain & putting the bus in reverse,
that manure truck pulled us back onto St. Joseph Street with little
effort. I ask Aaron if I can ride with him to make tracks onto St. Paul
Street & around our circular drive so we can drive the motorhome in those
tracks to park & hook up……he did & we were in our camping spot @ 6:00pm.
Whew! I thank the guys a lot & begin hooking up our shore power, it’s too
cold & dark to do anything else tonight.
8:15 dinner: Ivar’s clam chowder with toast & oyster crackers + leftover
eggplant parmesan.
Today’s travel: 8+13 hrs 429 miles 56.9 gal used 7.54 mpg
56.9 avg speed
It was a good day & it’s good to be home again.
High travel temp: 47 Lights out: 10:02pm
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