Thursday, March 14, 2013

Country roads, city streets

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Lima, OH – We’ve added another state to our total as we work toward visiting all 50 US states. At this point we have only a handful more to see; I think we’re now up to 41. And it is so interesting to see what variety there is in terms of geography, character, history, topography – you name it.

Rolling hills and fenced paddocks carpeted with the blue grass of Kentucky gave way to long stretches of urban landscape as we entered Ohio, passing through Cincinnati and then Dayton on our northward route. We were blessed with lovely clear skies and sunshine, although the temperature was quite cold.

The car was covered in frost this morning when we got up, before sunrise, to prepare for our departure. It was slightly different today because, in addition to our normal battening down of the hatches, we wanted to winterize the RV to protect the plumbing from freezing as we enter the cold north again.

We actually pushed the envelope a bit by staying in the RV as long as we did – the low last night was in the 20s Farenheit; not really camping weather! But we had our tank heaters running, the furnace blowing, and we ran the taps dry before we went to bed last night, so the icy grip of winter was kept at bay.

Four large jugs of pink RV anti-freeze went into the plumbing system as Val worked the siphon and I ran the cold and hot taps of the sinks, shower and toilet till the pink stuff flowed out. We drained the grey, black and fresh water tanks and dumped more pink down the drains to finish the job. I think Val was relieved to know the systems were protected again, now that we’re back in the land of deep freezes.

We’re now in a comfortable hotel room in Lima. The town was established in 1831 and named after Lima, Peru where quinine bark originated to treat the “swamp fever” or malaria that plagued local residents. The town was a centre for oil, locomotives, tanks and school buses over its history, and boasts a population of just under 40,000.

Even if we only perch in a hotel by the Interstate and move on the next morning, it’s fun to learn a bit about the places we glimpse on our homeward journey.

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