Summer 2022 Day 4

335 miles today, beginning with a bit of driving around Columbus (but not including the planned visit to Antrim Park due to a road closure and subsequent detour into unfamiliar industrial areas that chewed up too much time …) and then picking up I-70 West where I’ll spend the next few days.

I ended the drive in Effingham IL and the car gave an outstanding 55.7mpg for mostly 71mph highway driving.

It’s been four years since I’ve been on this route and I have to admit I enjoyed it more now than I did then. It could also be due to things being greener in early June than they were in mid-July of 2018, but I don’t think all the bird sightings hurt, either – a Great Blue Heron, two large, white Egrets, a couple of smaller herons, three Bald Eagles, and a number of hawks.

The problem with heading west through Ohio, however, is that eventually you hit Indiana and the roads go right to hell. That seems to be true no matter what route one takes, and even the rest areas are noticeably shabbier in Indiana than in Illinois.

(That’s Indiana on the left and Illinois on the right.)

Effingham is a sleepy Midwestern small town that’s spread far beyond its original borders (or so I believe). My other blog will talk more about the wonderful brewpub I stopped here for, but here’s a view of the downtown area where that pub is located.

Wide streets, little traffic, low buildings … small town Midwest.

Tomorrow is the longest driving day of the trip at 609 miles but it also brings another favorite brewpub from the trip four years ago. I’ll end in Hays KS, my last stop before the Rockies!