1. See the Groundhog Day festivities first hand.
2. Watched the film in a public theatre.
3. Completely unrelated, but has long been in my happiest dreams, staying in a theatre long after they close and eventually sleeping there.
Leg 1 STL-St. Clairesville, OH.
Intended to grab a quick lunch in STL. Stock up, mail local postcards and head out by 1300, putting me in at 2230-ish. None of this happened. I did not get the house cleaned either. Packed up dirty clothes, grabbed a coat and headed out of the house by 1312 to lunch. After this spent a half hour at the store and bought a thermos, 1 gallon of water, some breakfast bars and jerky. Then I filled up the truck and remembered that I needed to send out postcards still. The gas station did not have any. They said that the store they share a parking lot with might. I went back there and looked again, asking several employees no one knew and it was now 1500 and I grew annoyed. I ended up just skipping postcards and hitting the road.
I stopped for dinner at a Cracker Barrel just outside Indianapolis and realized one more hitch in my plan. Time is not static! If one adds nine hours to thirteen one does not always end up with twenty-two. Especially if one is driving east. Now looking at not getting in until nearly 0200 was not ideal, but would not really hose up my plans as I was going to stay up late on the first then spend all night up heading into the big day. I wouldn't have gotten in bed until about 0400 local anyway. Cracker Barrel also does not carry postcards anymore. The clerk however did mention that she was pretty sure the truck-stop down the road still had them.
My truck does not have cruise control so long trips lead to stiff ankles for me and I tend to linger on pit stops sometimes. I think I waited too long for my first resupply point and even after a leisurely dinner and walking around a bit in the store area, I was still dragging my gas leg. It only got worse as I headed East and my big toe started to act up as well. This is not what I wanted heading into an event where I would be standing for four to six hours. . .
The next resupply was at the Trucker's Association of America for gas and postcards, which they did indeed carry. This was real quick since it was less than twenty miles from where I ate dinner, then back on the road. I drove less than a quarter mile away from the stadium in Indianapolis on three sides as the highway looped around. And while this sort of thing is generally exciting to me, this one is especially memorable as the Super Bowl is being played there this weekend. It was just after 2100 local so there were not that many people/cars floating about but it was still quite impressive with the banners and lights. The banners had to be at least seventy-five feet long and ten wide with a giant picture of the Lombardi on them. I saw one on either side of the front entrance as I was going around and the whole place was still lit up including the sign for Lucas Oil. Really, for its size I was not really impressed with the design of this building. But, still, Brady and Manning were in there somewhere trying to figure out what strategies would give them the slightest edge on Sunday.
Kept driving east and it was dark, part of the plan as I would pass through the less exciting portion of the trip in the night. Saving new stuff for daylight hours. I stopped a couple of more times at truck stops to grab supplies and finally got in at 0240 (0340 local). Exhausted, I tried to pass out but sleep was on to me. It ducked and dodged with the best of em. I think I got about an hour and a half, maybe. Before my alarm went off at 1030.
When I went to shave, I realized that my blades were still on the counter at the house. So I am going to be scruffy for a bit. I got a call from the front desk, verifying I was planning on leaving. I let them know that I was and finished loading up the truck, cleaned out my new thermos and filled it with hot water.
On my way to turn in the room key, a guy was loading a truck with a nifty antenna on it. It was a loop fed by a giant helix looking deal. I asked him what it ran and he said amateur radio, we exchanged calls and he got a little more friendly. He told me it was a self designed and manufactured antenna that he was currently getting a patent on and that it ran from 12-29mHz on. He could get Europe on the rig. I asked about radios and we had a good ten minute conversation on geeky stuff. Never know when your going to meet a ham.
I turned in the key and got directions to the Laundry Matt (their spelling not mine, also not the name of the place). I then went to the store directly across the road and bought a new camera and some laundry soap. Then I went to the Post and sent off my card and one to my backup archivist. Then to the Laundry Matt!
While I washed clothes and the coat, made some coffee and friends. There was an older fellow there that reminded me a little of my dad who was eating peanut butter and crackers that was very interested in the pour over that I carry. We talked about the method and why I carry a scale and price of the filter holder and grinder that I had. below is the picture of the setup on the window sill in the wash shop.
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